Press Release 2nd October 2006

[comcor]

Would there be demand for a regional service from Dublin to Thurles?

Something along the lines of a Hesuton-Newbridge-Kildare-Monastervan-Poratrlington-Port Laoise-(Mountrath)-Ballybrophy-Templemore-Thurles.

Maybe 4 or 5 times a day after the new railcars have arrived.

If it was viable, it could reduce the need for Dublin-Cork and Dublin-Limerick services to stop at a lot of the intermediate stations, while providing a more reliable service for people on the route.

[dowlingm]

Here's a thought - run one train with 3 x 3 car 2200 sets. Split off one at Portarlington for Athlone, one at Ballybrophy (or Portlaoise) for Limerick via Nenagh and run the remainder to Clonmel via Templemore/Thurles/Limerick Junction. Reassemble on the way back and thus you only need one slot into/out of Heuston, or two if reassembly was impractical due delay. Yes it would require coordination to ensure people got on the right one but let's have some signs on the doors and station managers earning their keep. You could run a similar service using one set to terminate in Carlow or Kilkenny.

[Oisin88]

Originally Posted by dowlingm

Here's a thought - run one train with 3 x 3 car 2200 sets. Split off one at Portarlington for Athlone, one at Ballybrophy (or Portlaoise) for Limerick via Nenagh and run the remainder to Clonmel via Templemore/Thurles/Limerick Junction. Reassemble on the way back and thus you only need one slot into/out of Heuston, or two if reassembly was impractical due delay. Yes it would require coordination to ensure people got on the right one but let's have some signs on the doors and station managers earning their keep. You could run a similar service using one set to terminate in Carlow or Kilkenny.

You mightn't even need 2 platforms if they did the Scottish thing where in Edinburgh Waverly and Glagow Central sometimes your train leaves from further up the platform than a stopped train.

[Rushed2nowhere]

Slightly off topic.
Will it possible to connect a 2700/2800/2900 railcar to the new intercity stock?

The reason I'm mentioning this is because if it were possible then for instance the 6.00 and 6.45 services from Gorey could run with three of the new intercity railcars and a four set 2700/2800/2900.This arrangement would would be ideal for the commuters coming from Gorey as they have to spend two hours on this train and the intercity railcars will be more comfortable.

This arrangement woud also free up two railcars and add capacity to these trains as they currently operate as six car sets.

This arrangement could also be applied to commuter trains coming from Carlow,Portlaoise,Longford and Dundalk.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Off topic is right, i thought someone had found the letter I did to the Tipp Star decapitating Michael Lowery for taking TTUG's credit, ah well.

To reply to your question I don't know. What I do know is that IE have been doing a weird mix and match on the DART recently along the lines you suggest and it is leading to problems of basic incompatibility. My guess is no, and we do know that the basic diagram for these trains are 3 and 6 car sets. Don't be alarmed, their capacity is fairly massive, the six car will hold more than a Mk3 set.

[Derek Wheeler]

Originally Posted by comcor

Would there be demand for a regional service from Dublin to Thurles?

Something along the lines of a Hesuton-Newbridge-Kildare-Monastervan-Poratrlington-Port Laoise-(Mountrath)-Ballybrophy-Templemore-Thurles.

Maybe 4 or 5 times a day after the new railcars have arrived.

If it was viable, it could reduce the need for Dublin-Cork and Dublin-Limerick services to stop at a lot of the intermediate stations, while providing a more reliable service for people on the route.

Thats how its done in the modern world. A great idea requiring only a small amount of new stock and opening up the route to many.