Cork Area Services

[Mark Gleeson]

It appears there are major problems in Cork due to a lack of serviceable trains. Several trains have been cancelled as a result on the Cobh line.

Nothing on the Irish Rail site.

If we get details of further cancellations we will update

[Mark Gleeson]

Due to a massive shortage of railcars in Cork a large number of trains have been cancelled, of course no one is saying anything in IE about it

Morning
The 7:00 and 8:30 Cork Cobh and the 7:30 and 9:00 Cobh

Evening
The 16:30, 17:30 and 18:30 Cork Cobh and the 17:00, 18:00 and 19:00 Cobh Cork

These cancellations are expected to continue for some time

The Mk3 citygold coach set used as a standby for Cork Dublin is now running Tralee - Mallow to substitute for the missing railcars, this however leaves Cork Dublin services at risk

Buses are on standby in Mallow since a 2 coach railcar is not able to take the load where a 4 coach is normally used

The 19:30, 20:30 Cork Cobh and 20:00 and 21:00 Cobh Cork and the 5:35 Cork Millstreet remain cancelled as a result of the ongoing issues in Irish Rail, again no notice to that effect on the IE site

[Thomas Ralph]

Are the railcars dead or have they been transferred up the country?

[Mark Gleeson]

2 up country, gearbox related issues
1 in Cork not mobile
1 in Cork mobile but short an engine

[Mark Gleeson]

If things couldn't get any worse

Track Improvement Works - Cork/Cobh - Mon 7th - Fri 11th April 2008 by Corporate Communications

Due to Track Improvement Works on the Cork/Cobh from Mon 7th to Fri 11th April 2008 the following services will be substituted by buses:

Please note a 15/20 minute delay may occur

10.00 Cork/Cobh
11.00 Cork/Cobh
12.00 Cork/Cobh
13.00 Cork/Cobh
14.00 Cork/Cobh
15.00 Cork/Cobh
10.30 Cobh/Cork
11.30 Cobh/Cork
12.30 Cobh/Cork
13.30 Cobh/Cork
14.30 Cobh/Cork
15.30 Cobh/Cork

Iarnrod Eireann apologises for any inconvenience caused.

This is expected to continue for a number of weeks

[Mark Gleeson]

Things get worse

Cork/Cobh line closed, bus transfers in operation until further notice by Corporate Communications

Due to subsidence on the Cork-Cobh line services will be suspended until further notice.

Bus transfers are in operation.

Iarnród Éireann apologises for any inconvenience caused

[Mark Gleeson]

Update Cork/Cobh services will resume from 21 30, bus transfers will be in operation until 21 30 by Corporate Communications

Due to subsidence on the Cork-Cobh line services will be suspended until further notice.

Bus transfers are in operation.

Iarnród Éireann apologises for any inconvenience caused

Should of course point out the 19:30 and 20:30 trains are nearly always buses anway

[Mark Gleeson]

A 6 coach push pull set is now based in Cork which somewhat resolves the situation.

Its back to front from operational reasons, so the engine faces Dublin instead of Cobh

[Thomas Ralph]

Is that a Mk3? And I didn't think some of the platforms (Fota and Carrigaloe come to mind) could handle that length of a train.

[ThomasJ]

Cork area service disruptions, Thursday 22nd May, industrial action by Corporate Communications


UPDATE: 11.55hrs, Thursday 22nd May

Iarnród Éireann advises customers that a refusal by drivers based in Cork to work their normal rosters has potential to cause disruption to rail services in the Cork area.

The stoppage by drivers commenced following a refusal by a Cork-based driver to drive his train within his core roster this morning, to facilitate training of new trainee drivers.

Services currently affected are:

- 11.00hrs Heuston to Cork

- 12.00hrs Cork to Mallow

Bus transfers are arranged for these trains.

Regrettably, there is the potential for further significant disruption on other services to and from Cork. All other rail services are unaffected.

Full updated service information is available at www.irishrail.ie or 1850 366 222. Iarnród Éireann apologises to customers for the inconvenience caused.

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/...ew&news_id=379

[Mark Gleeson]

Irish Rail don't have agreement on the supervision of trainee drivers, someone foolishly in the company seems to want to cause trouble instead of minimising it

The arrangement that is being pushed is the senior driver is responsible for everything while the trainee is driving, doesn't appear to be 100% fair now does it

[Mark Gleeson]

As of Friday May 23rd there is likely to be widespread cancellations

Services may run in the morning and then disappear, if you are looking to travel tomorrow, travel early or make alternative arrangements asap

All services Cork area and most Cork Dublin cancelled
All services Heuston likely to cancelled
All services Galway likely to cancelled

DART services are also at risk

[ThomasJ]

Linked to the Cork situation Mark?

How come DARTs?

[CSL]

is it CTC boys going out on the picket or drivers ?

[Mark Gleeson]

There shall be no picket

All drivers who have not been struck off the payroll are reporting for work as normal

At this point few if any trains country wide are likely to operate tomorrow

[Derek Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

At this point few if any trains country wide are likely to operate tomorrow

Please spare me the damage limitation Colm. I've been there before and its a tough job. The above quote said it all and is the one I'm referring too. It was unnecessary and wrong. Perhaps a case of over eagerness instead of a cool head.

As I suggested last night, western drivers went back to work, while Dublin drivers stayed in work. Cork is where the real problem lies.There's lots of "insider" info available, but its best amalgamated to form an accurate assessment. But lets move on and be more positive.

I'll offer this up to readers. Dublin drivers are getting better treatment from IE management on the basis that they have the potential to cause real problems to hundreds of thousands. Western drivers supported Cork on the basis of a nationwide walk out that never happened, so they went back to work. Cork now stands alone. They have been divided and conquered by IE management. An end is in sight, but by numbers rather than real settlement. I have reason to believe that Cork is picked on by IE management, but nationwide there is still poor relations. Thats why I proposed a full inquiry into IE industrial relations proceedures. Morale is low in the Company. Its a time bomb. While I appreciate its historic arrangements and practises over the course of 60 years, management cannot expect to convert the company to "private sector" practises through provocation. What we have here is a classic example of old work ethics and public sector management trying to achieve a private sector result. It doesn't work that way. The Celtic Tiger has endowed a modern corporate way of working on IE management, but they have completely forgotten that it can't be applied by a hammer to a "traditional" industry with a long history.

[Mark Gleeson]

You got to admire the confidence that there will be a service tomorrow morning. There won't be any train turning a wheel in Cork station tomorrow

Cork & Kerry area service disruptions, Thursday 22nd & Friday 23rd May, industrial action by Corporate Communications

UPDATE: 19.30hrs, Thursday 22nd May

Iarnród Éireann advises customers that a refusal by drivers based in Cork to work their normal rosters is causing significant disruption to rail services in the Cork & Kerry areas.

The stoppage by drivers commenced following a refusal by a Cork-based driver to drive his train within his core roster this morning, to facilitate training of new trainee drivers.


Friday 23rd May

It is expected that service disruption will continue on Friday 23rd May.

While exact details will be confirmed in the morning, it is likely that all services from Cork to Heuston up to and including the 09.30hrs Cork to Heuston service will be cancelled.

10.30hrs and 11.30hrs Cork to Heuston are expected to operate from Mallow only, with bus transfers from Cork to Mallow.

The 07.00hrs and 08.00hrs Heuston to Cork are likely to operate to Mallow only, with bus transfers from Mallow to Cork. The remainder of morning services are expected to be cancelled.

All Cork/Cobh and Cork/Mallow commuter services are expected to be cancelled, and customers are advised to make alternative arrangements.

Some Cork/Tralee services are expected to be cancelled, with others operating between Tralee and Mallow only.

[Mickey H]

I demand proof of your ridiculous claim of no trains running at all tomorrow. As far as I can see RUI are making this up to make Irish Rail look bad (worse)

[Mark Gleeson]

There will be no trains in Cork tomorrow morning, the bulk of the driving staff has been removed from the payroll or will be by tomorrow morning.

We have been informed by various trustworthy sources that services elsewhere are at serious risk of vanishing, including DART services. We understand that the various depots country wide are debating what will happen tomorrow.

We won't know until between 9 am and 11 am if things are going to be bad or not, the morning rush may escape. However there is very real chance that there will a partial if not total suspension of service on several routes. Whichever way it goes there will not be a full timetabled service tomorrow given the ongoing shortage of drivers.

Given we have this information and believe it to be accurate we have an obligation to pass it on. We are being upfront, the least we can expect from Irish Rail is admission that there is a real risk to all services and that you should check before you travel.

There could of course be a magic two in the morning development as happened so many times, the usual rules apply check before you travel.

[Mark Hennessy]

Originally Posted by Mickey H

I demand proof of your ridiculous claim of no trains running at all tomorrow. As far as I can see RUI are making this up to make Irish Rail look bad (worse)

Seriously before you accuse us of scaremongering take a look at the recent list of cencellations. Most have a post by Mark at least 24 hours in advance of said cancelation. We aren't making this up, OK!