P11 News Item. "DART Fiasco"

[Derek Wheeler]

News Item
Issued by: Platform 11 Communications & Media Officer.

DART FIASCO

Two coaches from the original 1984 DART fleet have returned to Dublin after refurbishment in Germany. But before anyone gets excited, Platform 11 will soon be exposing the scandal behind this refurbishment project which is not all it should be and has caused undue hardship to Dublin commuters. Stay tuned.

[robdrysdale]

http://irishtrainphotos.fotopic.net/p35248675.html

http://irishtrainphotos.fotopic.net/p35248676.html

http://irishtrainphotos.fotopic.net/p35248677.html

http://irishtrainphotos.fotopic.net/p35248678.html

3 pics submitted by 227RiverLaune to IRN board.

New lights on the front. Perhaps an LCD display. Look exactly the same other than that.

[Mark Gleeson]

You haven't seen inside, things are very different but the same seats, well there are no seats inside right now they have to be fitted

[Mark]

New windows too.

[sean]

they even look better!

[Mark Gleeson]

I saw it in the flesh today it looks quite good

[weehamster]

Any chance Derek we can get some insight into this 'fiasco'.

[Mark Gleeson]

We did a lot of research on this and while a considerable number of people both here on the P11 board and elsewhere are aware of a problem no one has been able to actually get the evidence to put together a story until now and man this is good

[Gary]

So for those of us in the dark on this when does the story go public?

[Thomas J Stamp]

Soon. Main site and here will have it up contemporaniously with the press release.

[Mark Hennessy]

Well Done CIE eh?

CIÉ invests €59m in Dart fleet upgrade
Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent

Dr John Lynch, chairman of CIÉ, at Fairview Dart depot inspecting the first of the newly refurbished original Dart fleet. A total of €59 million is being invested to extend the life of the 22-year-old fleet, upgrading customer facilities as well as safety features.

CIÉ has embarked on a €59 million upgrade of the original fleet of Dart carriages which have been in use since the Dublin suburban rail service started in 1984.

The upgrade programme by Siemens in Germany will extend the life of the fleet by 20 years and bring the service on a par with newer carriages introduced since 2000.

"The original 76-carriage Dart fleet have served the people of Dublin fantastically well over the last 22 years," said CIÉ chairman Dr John Lynch.

"Now, this major refurbishment programme will ensure that quality and reliability is continued and improved, with the most modern features incorporated, to serve Dubliners for another two decades."

The capacity of the carriages will be increased in the programme and audio and visual automated passenger information systems will be introduced.

New safety features in the upgrade include the introduction of an emergency communication system in the passenger area and fire retardant materials.

The first carriages from the initial batch of 20 returned from Siemens last week.

They will go into service next spring after a testing programme.

© The Irish Times

[Mark Gleeson]

Perfect exactly what we need

[James Shields]

The capacity of the carriages will be increased in the programme and audio and visual automated passenger information systems will be introduced.

I'm pretty sure the coaches haven't got any bigger, so I'm guessing this means more standing room and less sitting room.

[Derek Wheeler]

The missile has been loaded and the countdown has commenced.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by lostcarpark

I'm pretty sure the coaches haven't got any bigger, so I'm guessing this means more standing room and less sitting room.

Can confirm after seeing the inside over the weekend that the seating capacity has been reduced to 64 in all coaches arranged as follows

At each set of doors at the cab end on one side (towards the cab) is the normal partition on the other side a full bay of seats has been taken out then the normal partition. Where some partitions where taken out in previous years some have gone back in. IE did keep the partitions they removed. Bare in mind there where no actual seats in the coaches I saw so its hard to be 100% sure what the end result will be but the seat frames are the originals repainted in white with the same grab handle now in yellow

That means a lot more room, also means the end of the seats which faced the doors which where tricky in crush loads

The door open button is now to the right of the doors just like the Japanese coaches

[Derek Wheeler]

I thought this quote from the above article was very funny.

CIÉ has embarked on a €59 million upgrade of the original fleet of Dart carriages which have been in use since the Dublin suburban rail service started in 1984.

T.A.R.D.I.S. Anyone?

[Mark Gleeson]

Certainly got a time travel thing going on

[hhf8]

so has the new one entered service?

[Mark Gleeson]

Nope still on test, February, I know which service it will run and I'll be there

The operating rules where changed and the old coaches are now allowed run in 8 car sets which makes best use of fleet. I spotted one on the 8th but thought I was seeing things

Of course IE could have done this last year, the poor availabilty of the Alstom coaches doesn't help (same 2 coaches has been sitting in Inchicore since August)

I personally travelled on a 12 coach DART once

[hhf8]

I noticed the refurbed coaches being pushed out of fairview,just got me thinking.

is their reason why there's two,(they look BRAND new) Alsthom coaches sitting outside fairview?

the 12 coach,was 3 4 sets?