[16-5-2012] Just four people on board new train route costing €250,000 a year to run

[dowlingm]

Gotta agree with Traincustomer - if the line is open* then agencies using public money should be depicting the situation accurately

* though given the bustitution level on that line maybe they have cause to think it isn't.

Mind you, IE are barely acknowledging the line exists themselves - only one additional service daily will traverse the branch in lieu of the mainline during the Oola bridge closures.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Its not really on the tourist trail, beyond some nice countryside there isn't any reason to visit anywhere on the line

roscrea and nenagh are both heritage towns and attact lots of tours, and quite a lot of them from northern ireland. i frequently see two ulsterbus coaches at once bringing tourists into the town. the private tours are even more frequent so somebody in Failte Ireland is doing their job.

very off topic but interesting point - the castle in roscrea was the site of one of the first parliaments in ireland.

[Mark Gleeson]

And this mornings count is wait for it 4

[Inniskeen]

Maybe you could also help with the loadings on the 0505 from Cork, 0505 from Galway and 0535 from Rosslare.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by Inniskeen

Maybe you could also help with the loadings on the 0505 from Cork, 0505 from Galway and 0535 from Rosslare.

you're funny, you know that?

i remember the 0505 being packed to the gills every single time i took it. maybe in these recession times it may not be, but this is a mainline train you are talking about, and so is the Galway and Rosslare one. To compare them to a ministerial plaything designed to catch a few votes is a tad unfair. As i said a long time back, this is a very localised thing, a lot more people will want this service to exist than will ever actually use it. You see, the problem is that we fear this could be used to destroy the line. You are missing the big picture with your smart-arsed comments.

[Inniskeen]

I may be funny but you haven't answered my question.

The trains I mentioned and others (like the 0535 from Limerick and 0545 from Sligo) only acquire a significant load towards the end of their journey, similar really to the 0505 from Limerick !

I didn't mention the 0635 from Galway, a relatively attractive service with a reasonably good journey time. I have used it on several occasions. The number of passengers leaving Galway was 15 the last time I travelled (and it wasn't a Saturday either). The maximum number on board before Tullamore was 48 and the 3-car train was 60 -70% loaded arriving in Heuston. Maybe the 0505 from Galway does better although I suspect the pattern mightn't be that different.

I have also travelled on the 0535 from Rosslare, suffice it to say that the now defunct 0705 to Waterford would typically load several multiples of the 0535 service departing Rosslare. Again this train only picks up a significant load as it gets much nearer to Dublin.

I could go on but I don't think you can get the general idea.

[Jamie2k9]

I think the point being raised is this service is only serving 5 stations. Its not serving Limerick and any stops after Ballybrophy are of no benefit as passengers using the 05.05 are just being taken away from the other scheduled services that they used before this service started. You have to admit passenger uptake is very poor.

And this mornings count is wait for it 4

Are those figures between Limerick and Ballybrophy only, please don't say it arrived in Heuston with 4 passengers onboard and if it did it needs to be scrapped asap as its taking up a peak slot in the mornings which could be put to better use.

[Mark Gleeson]

Train arrived Ballybrophy with 4 onboard

The point here is the cost to run Limerick Ballybrophy at that time of day is massively more than the normal cost to run a train elsewhere. Despite claims of 20-40 people onboard on the branch evidence from the field indicates the numbers are rarely more than 5

Incidentally 1 of the 4 onboard would have boarded at Templemore anyway

[neoncircles]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Incidentally 1 of the 4 onboard would have boarded at Templemore anyway

Has it moved to the nenagh branch?!

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by Inniskeen

I may be funny but you haven't answered my question.

The trains I mentioned and others (like the 0535 from Limerick and 0545 from Sligo) only acquire a significant load towards the end of their journey, similar really to the 0505 from Limerick !

I didn't mention the 0635 from Galway, a relatively attractive service with a reasonably good journey time. I have used it on several occasions. The number of passengers leaving Galway was 15 the last time I travelled (and it wasn't a Saturday either). The maximum number on board before Tullamore was 48 and the 3-car train was 60 -70% loaded arriving in Heuston. Maybe the 0505 from Galway does better although I suspect the pattern mightn't be that different.

I have also travelled on the 0535 from Rosslare, suffice it to say that the now defunct 0705 to Waterford would typically load several multiples of the 0535 service departing Rosslare. Again this train only picks up a significant load as it gets much nearer to Dublin.

I could go on but I don't think you can get the general idea.

you are making a fundamental mistake. there already exists, from limerick, a service which you may compare to those other established intercity services. This service is one which has been introduced solely to serve the Ballybrophy branch line. This is the big problem here, and the fact that this service actually restricts the proper development of the line as a resource in the mornings.

more to the point, none of those services you mention only have loadings as low as four, or indeed less (which i have reported on in a previous thread)

Originally Posted by Jamie2k9

Are those figures between Limerick and Ballybrophy only, please don't say it arrived in Heuston with 4 passengers onboard and if it did it needs to be scrapped asap as its taking up a peak slot in the mornings which could be put to better use.

We know of one day when it arrived in heuston with one passenger on board. One.

Originally Posted by neoncircles

Has it moved to the nenagh branch?!

The point Mark is making is that instead of creating new passengers, it is actually using some passengers who would use Thurles or Templemore. It is therefore wrong to use those passengers as being of a benefit to the companys income. In actual fact, the company loses about €10 on each of them as the fares on the branch are lower than from Thurles/Templemore.