Where are the Alstom DART Units?
 

Is it me or have the Alstom DART coaches been completely removed from service? I haven't seen them on the tracks for ages! Maybe it is the lack of comfort from the seats.

There are a number of threads in the members area, it gets a little trainspotterish to record the comings and goings not something we recommend

All 10 coaches are somewhere in Fairview, 8 of which have actually been out on tests in recent weeks

Last date on which all 10 where in service was March 2006, thereafter it fell to 6 coaches, then 4 and the zero May 2007

I have just started to see them recently.They don't look all that different. When you sit down on the seats they are rock hard. Tell me Mark, is train spotting illegal?

Actually it is illegal to take photographs without permission

The Alstom set runs the 8:08 from Malahide each morning, it seems to carry half the engineering team from Fairview along with it in case it goes wrong

Illegal to take photos ?
 

Mark,

I hope we don't have some weird special case law in place. From my vague understanding of the law in this area if you are standing 'in the street' you can photograph everything and anything you want. Standing on a platform or within CIE property is a different story. They can make up their own rules there.

I remember reading about a case in the US recently where people were approached on the street and told to stop taking photos of a 'non-descript building' in the middle of a town. Some of the people had their cameras confiscated. The building was an 'unmarked' NSA facility.

This if course set off a war of words between the two sides. One side was of the view that if you're a patriot you will do what the forces of good instruct you to do. Taking a photo of this building is compromising national security. The other side was naturally asking what specific law was being breached by taking the photos and since when did you have to get approval to take a photo of a streetscape ?

I digress a bit.

My point was that unless we had some very specific regulations in place I don't think there is any issue at all with taking photos of anything you want from the 'public highway". If we had any miliatary facilities in this country there might be some exception, but I don't think there is any such exception for the rail infrastructure.

z

You need permission on IE property, obviously if the photo is taken elsewhere IE can't touch you

Really don't care to be honest, only good thing is we no w have one more 8 coach train in service

These trains seem to have mysteriously gone amiss again. I wonder what the plans (if any) are for these trains? If there are any plans for them, I would hope that they will be fitted with comfortable seats. Not only are the current ones rock hard but, they seem to have this curve up at the sides which makes it seem that the seats are squashing you.

I am of the understanding they are set to be scrapped, which is good riddance. Although the fact that IÉ got only 9 years out of them is scandalous.

One set 8204-8404 has been gutted for parts. Its at least March 2006 since it last carried a passenger

Shock horror but a solution would be to strip the units out and refit them with the same traction equipment as the refurbished DART coaches. That ain't going to happen so a sledgehammer is the next best thing for them

How come they are being scrapped? They were still in very good condition. They just needed new seats. That's it. Other than that, it is a complete waste.

Scrapping is still speculation, however with several coaches out of service for many years and serious technical and reliability problems and large scale orders for new DART coaches in the pipeline its going to be curtains

shockingly poor return on the investment if this is true - do IE not have any comeback against Alstom?

btw - I don't think the seats are that bad, they're much better than the seats in the first batch of Japanese DARTs

Your joking! The seats on the Japanese DART's are far more comfortable than the Alstom coaches as they aren't as constrictive. As well as that, they have head rests on them which makes the journey somewhat more relaxing. Oddly enough, the design of the Alstom DART coaches is loosely based on that of the DMU 2700 Commuter fleet which were also designed by Alstom. This is because the the door closing mechanism is the same and also the interior frame is almost identical. However, unlike their electric cousins, their seats look far more comfortable and above all have head rests. Why couldn't Alstom have used a green version of these seats. Instead, Alstom went along with similar seats to the ones they used on the Luas which are equally as uncomfortable.

Well the Alstom units have a specific job title!

They form the 10 coach "Standby Wheelchair Accessible Fleet"

Given they haven't be in service in a year, and even then limited service, you will be hard pushed to find a DART driver who is actually still qualified to drive them, so they ain't much good