New train carriages to double capacity on Cork-Dublin line

[PaulM]

Originally Posted by breakingnews.ie

Some 67 new state-of-the-art train carriages were today unveiled on one of the country’s busiest railway lines.

The trains – part of an overall €117m upgrade of Iarnrod Eireann’s fleet – will begin running on the Cork to Dublin line at the end of the year, as part of a new hourly service.

Daily capacity on the route will increase from 9,000 to 16,000 seats, however the two hours 50 minutes travel time will not be reduced.

The Government promised increased reliability and timekeeping on the state railway network as a result of the massive cash injection under the Transport 21 investment programme due to be completed by 2008.

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, launching the carriages at Cork’s Kent Street station, said they would greatly enhance the intercity journey.

“These are exciting times for the development of the rail network including the biggest rail investment package in the history of rail in Ireland with 253 new carriages at a cost of €501m,” said Minister Cullen.

Some 150 more carriages, costing €321m, are expected to begin service on other intercity lines next year.

The routes include Dublin to Westport/Ballina, Sligo, Galway, Tralee, Waterford and Rosslare.

“In the past five years the company has virtually rebuilt the railway network. The railway infrastructure in Ireland has moved to a 21st Century standard,” said Mr Cullen.

“Passenger numbers have increased substantially and last year Iarnród Éireann carried nearly 38 million passengers, making it the fastest growing railway network in Europe.

“All of the work carried out on the railway fixed infrastructure is largely unseen by the travelling public but with the entry into service of the new carriages we will now reap the rewards of this investment.

“The improvements in terms of time savings, reliability, frequencies and comfort will now be evident to all who use the Intercity network,” he said.

The new trains were made by Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, which also manufactured 23 new carriages for Northern Ireland Railways in 2004.

I'm not even going to go through the mistakes, 'convinient' statistics and lies in that piece.

[James Shields]

I look forward to seeing the lads' report from the launch.

[James Shields]

Cullen unveils 67 new carriages in Cork

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, today officially launched 67
new carriages to Iarnrod Eireann Intercity fleet, which form part
of a E117m upgrade of rolling stock

Welcoming the new carriages into Kent Station in Cork, the
Minister said that "the new carriages will greatly enhance what is
one of the busiest routes on the rail network. These are exciting
times for the development of the rail network including the
biggest rail investment package in the history of rail in Ireland
with 253 new carriages at a cost of E501 million.

In addition, the minister also said that 150 new intercity
carriages costing E321m will start to arrive next year for service
on the other Intercity routes Dublin -Westport/Ballina, Sligo,
Galway, Tralee, Waterford and Rosslare


This external information has been sourced from Business World,
a service of Media World Ltd.

I trust the minister actually took the train to Cork and back. The language makes it sound like he got the Goverment jet to whisk him down before swanning him off somewhere else.

[Maynooth_Line]

...however the two hours 50 minutes travel time will not be reduced.

Yet minister Cullen:

The improvements in terms of time savings, reliability...

As Paul said, there's so many "mistakes". Mr. Cullen could do with a new speach writer who can get things right (though he's probably happy with what he's being told to say now).

[IHIR]

First of all its unbelievable that all the money on new trains wont make them faster, thats a disgrace beyond words. All they did so was buy new carriages.

I'm told that to add to the hilarity of the situation, Minister Cullens train down to launch the service was late? if thats true then that says it all.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by IHIR

I'm told that to add to the hilarity of the situation, Minister Cullens train down to launch the service was late? if thats true then that says it all.

Cullen wasn't on board on the way down and yes it was delayed since a train ahead left Dublin 15 minutes late, there was nothing wrong with the press train it was ahead of time until it got to Mallow

Coming back up it left Cork 4 minutes late since people were slow to board arrival Dublin was spot on despite making a extra stop to drop people off at Limerick Junction

[Mark Hennessy]

Minister welcomes intercity rail upgrade
Barry Roche Southern Correspondent

Train users in the Republic are set to reap the benefits of the most significant investment in the country's rail network through savings in travel times, greater reliability and increased frequency of services, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen predicted yesterday.

Mr Cullen was speaking yesterday as the first of 67 new carriages to the Iarnród Éireann intercity fleet arrived at Kent Station in Cork. These form part of a €501 million invested in 253 new carriages, the bulk of them on intercity routes around the State.

"In the past five years, the company has virtually rebuilt the railway network.

"The railway infrastructure in Ireland has moved to a 21st century standard," Mr Cullen said.

"Passenger numbers have increased substantially and, last year, Iarnród Éireann carried nearly 38 million passengers, making it the fastest growing railway network in Europe.

"All of the work carried out on the railway fixed infrastructure is largely unseen by the travelling public, but with the entry into service of the new carriages we will now reap the rewards of this investment," the Minister said.

"The improvements in terms of time savings, reliability, frequencies and comfort will now be evident to all who use the Intercity network."

The introduction of the 67 new carriages later this year on the Cork-Dublin route will see an hourly service operate each way between Cork and Dublin, which doubles the frequency of trains on the route and increases the passenger capacity by over 80 per cent to some 16,000 passengers daily.

CIÉ and Iarnród Éireann chairman Dr John Lynch said that, with the introduction of the new fleet, Iarnród Éireann was "delivering tangible benefits directly to our Cork-Dublin customers", while further orders have already been placed for the rest of Iarnród Éireann's national network.

The new carriages were manufactured by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) of San Sebastian in Spain and are the first dedicated intercity trains introduced into the Iarnród Éireann fleet for more than 20 years.

The CAF carriages will be configured into eight carriage trains, comprising five standard class vehicles, a cafe-style dining carriage, a first-class section and a control vehicle.

Each eight-carriage train will provide seating for 423 passengers. All of the new carriages will have facilities for people with disabilities.

© The Irish Times

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/fin...INTERCITY.html

[IHIR]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Cullen wasn't on board on the way down and yes it was delayed since a train ahead left Dublin 15 minutes late, there was nothing wrong with the press train it was ahead of time until it got to Mallow

fair enough, my mistake, would have been a great story though. The fact that its very believable says it all. I am just back from Berlin where I saw what a truly magnificent transport system really looks like.

I cant believe Martin Cullen calls this a 21st century system where you cant even get integrated ticketing. Irelands benchmarks are so low, its depressing.
Its the same old story, the government finally introduces something that is YEARS late and is hailing itself as being brilliant.

[James Shields]

Is it known how Martin Cullen got to Cork? Or was he already in that part of the country? Perhaps he was in Killarney for the match.

Was he on board for the return leg?

Or do we have a photo of the minister being driven away to match the one of the 46A busses?

[Mark Gleeson]

Cullen met the train in Cork had lunch and disembarked in Mallow on the return

[Derek Wheeler]

Cullen was driven over from Waterford.

Its the summer holidays lads. Schools out.

[IHIR]

Originally Posted by Derek Wheeler

Cullen was driven over from Waterford.

he prob tried to get the train from waterford to cork and then finally realised there was no 21st century direct route by train .