Official launch of new trains.

[Derek Wheeler]

As announced to members a few weeks ago, representatives of Platform 11 have been invited to the launch of the new Intercity trains on Monday 10th July.

Itinerary is as follows:

09.15: Guests assemble, Heuston Station Secondary concourse.
09.45: New Dublin - Cork Intercity train departs.
11.05: Train calls at Thurles.
11.56: Train calls at Mallow.
12.25: Train arrives at Kent Station, Cork.
Transfer to Silver Springs Hotel for lunch and official ceremony.
15.20: Train departs Kent Station.
15.42: Train calls at Mallow.
16.33: Train calls at Thurles.
18.00: Train arrives at Heuston Station.

[Navan Junction]

In a bit of hurry - will let Derek & Mark caption for the time being..

Much thanks to Barry Kenny, Paul O'Kelly and all of the other interesting people that made the trip worthwhile and interesting.

First pic from left to right: Derek Wheeler PRO platform 11, Mark Gleeson, Technical Officer, Platform 11 and Paul O'Kelly,Passenger Commercial Office, Irish Rail.

Second pic: Two of the new trains side by side in Cork.

Third pic: Interior view of the new Citygold coach.

Fourth pic: Mark Gleeson, Platform 11, at the controls of the new Mk4 DVT.

Fifth pic: Derek Wheeler, Platform 11, demonstrating the other side of the DVT!

[sean]

*turns green with envy* looks nice

[Mark Hennessy]

Originally Posted by Navan Junction

In a bit of hurry - will let Derek & Mark caption for the time being..

Much thanks to Barry Kenny, Paul O'Kelly and all of the other interesting people that made the trip worthwhile and interesting.

Awesome pictures
I hope you weren't enjoying the hospitality too much

[Derek Wheeler]

Don't be Green with envy Sean as green is a terrible colour!. A full report of todays events will be posted by those who travelled, in due course. From a corporate point of view it was a "good day out". But as we all know, there is a lot more to these trains and their performance on an hourly service than what today represented.

As for the photos, there are methods in our madness and any talk of "gricers" will be met with extreme retribution.! I mean that folks.

[Derek Wheeler]

To those who travelled today from P11 and that other shower in Meath!!!, Could you please post opinion in the members section first.

Thank you.

[Mark]

Who let those fellas behind the wheel?

[Thomas J Stamp]

Can someone repost those photos on IRN, just to annoy them?

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Mark

Who let those fellas behind the wheel?

It was cleared at the highest level

It was a good day but and its a big but not all went right, the ride was seriously objectionable at times, the set used did not have the suspension modifications. When the catering staff who are long experienced in wine pouring on trains object you got a problem but we know that there is already a fix

The PIS crashed partially, but a live reboot while moving is not advised since it gets lost, the computer system did log the fault

There was a lot of crossed fingers but for a regular passenger it was fine. To be fair the staff worked a miracle in Cork the on train computer was not loaded until after we started to board and everything worked spot on

Minister Cullen travelled only 22 miles on the train, the rest of us did 328 miles and thanks to the minister we had to skip desert

[Derek Wheeler]

Official Launch of new Intercity Trains

The official launch of Irish Rail’s new Intercity Trains on the Dublin - Cork route took place on Monday July 10th. Representatives from Platform 11, Derek Wheeler PRO and Mark Gleeson Technical Officer, attended this event on board a special return service to Cork. We would like to thank Irish Rail for the invite and opportunity to learn more about these new trains.

LAUNCH CEREMONY

Invited guests were addressed by the Chairman of CIE, Dr. John Lynch, the Spanish Ambassador to Ireland, the Lord Mayor of Cork and Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen over lunch in the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork. Guests were also shown a promotional video outlining the features of the trains and plans for the future.

VERDICT

Platform 11 welcomes the forthcoming introduction of these trains on all Dublin - Cork services. This introduction is already behind schedule due to ongoing issues between some staff and Irish Rail management, as previously highlighted by Platform 11 and the recent dispute. We call on the company to address these issues as soon as possible, in an open and accountable manner, so that customers can quickly embrace this new technology and benefit from the improvements in comfort and frequency.
The new trains were built by CAF (a leading train manufacturer) in Spain and will be capable of running at 200KPH once the track has been upgraded, modifications are made to the braking system and new locomotives are supplied. Platform 11 understands that this work depends on Government funding and that current speeds will be maintained until this happens. However, there is no doubting that the new Intercity coaches are a sign that, “we may actually get there eventually”.

Features of the new trains include,

* A new streamlined design in a new livery.
* Highest standard of comfort and customer facilities, including improved catering.
* Audio and text display passenger information systems on-board.
* Electronic route maps.
* Compliant with international standards for mobility impaired and sensory impaired customers.
* Seat reservation display panels above each seat.
*CCTV and voice communication facilities to enhance customer security.

Platform 11 has noted that the new trains are prone to a poor ride quality at certain times. While this isn’t too bad seating down, it can be problematic when trying to move around the coach and is noticeably worse than the existing trains on the route. In addition to this the Passenger Information System failed, for a while, on yesterdays special train. Irish Rail are aware of these problems and hopefully improvements can be made so the overall experience isn’t spoilt by them.

Finally, we’d like to thank our escort for the day, Mr. Paul O’Kelly from Irish Rail’s Passenger Commercial Office, and in particular the on-board catering staff, who put in a huge effort to make sure everyone had enough to eat and drink. They were the unsung hero’s of the event.

[Mark Gleeson]

Courtesy of Irish Rail we have some photos

[Navan Junction]

Originally Posted by markh

Awesome pictures
I hope you weren't enjoying the hospitality too much

I wish I could have but I was driving..!

No, I was really interested in the discussions that went on.

I'd say the run up to Ulster Transport Museum will be similar.

But a good day out is a good day out.

Remember, I just wanted to see what a real passenger train looks like...