[article] Iarnrod Eireann urged to reopen tunnel

[Mark]

Running IC trains through the interconnector would only benefit a small % of train users. Who travels Belfast to Cork direct regularly?

[Thomas J Stamp]

There are those who will argue that once such a service is provided, by a Irish Rail Manager called Mr. Costner, that previously unheard of hoards of passengers will suddenly crawl out of the woodwork demanding a place and that these trains will resemble something from Calcutta.

This is, of course, bull. It is, curiously, the opposite side of the same coin we find by the enthusiasts... this time though its high speed electric trains from Belfast to Dublin. I'm not against electrification of the entire network but I don't have the facts to tell me if we have the generating capacity for it or not. What I am reasonably certain of is that there is nearly a zero demand for a train from Dublin to Cork outside of fantasy island.

[Mark]

Off topic but personally I would love to see a direct Dublin to Derry route opened up. Dublin, Porterstown, Navan, Monaghan, Omagh and Derry. New alignment from Navan and double track all the way.

[Mark Gleeson]

I'll ban you for that, men in white coats en route to your gaff to pick you up

[Mark]

ONE ISLAND ONE RAILWAY!

Tiocfaidh ár Iarnród!

[James Shields]

And let's not forget the extension of the WRC to Donegal and on up to Derry...

Back in the real world, I think the Interconnector has to be kept free for its intended purpose, high frequency cross city DART services. Trying to feed intercity services will lead to the same problems we have on the Maynooth and Northern lines now, where trying to fit Intercity trains into the mix leads to big gaps in the timetable.

If there was a need for a service like Cork-Belfast, it could easily be done through the Park tunnel by driving into one of the terminating platforms and have the driver change ends. As the service would almost certainly be run by push-pull or DMU stock, this could be done in less time than it takes the vast majority of passengers who aren't travelling through to disembark.

I think the number of passengers who would be travelling through from Cork to Belfast would be very small, but I imagine there would be a lot of Cork passengers who would find it useful to go to Connolly ranter than Heuston.

This sort of service might be better for a Kildare-Drogheda commuter service, though, since DART is only planned for Hazlehatch-Balbriggan.

[Derek Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mark

Off topic but personally I would love to see a direct Dublin to Derry route opened up. Dublin, Porterstown, Navan, Monaghan, Omagh and Derry. New alignment from Navan and double track all the way.

Engineers.

Spend more time on the chicks, cars and booze. Trust me, its better than here.

[ccos]

Is the PPT single or double tracked?

[Mark]

Double all the way from Platform 10 in Heuston to Glasnevin Junction.

[ccos]

Thanks Mark