Deiseach Express loadings
 

Just wondering has anyone travelled on the new, 0710 Waterford - Carlow - Heuston express and what patronage levels are like.

IÉ definitely need to pursue express services like this across the radial routes to the capital to provide a product that is highly competitive with journey times on the ever-improving road/motorway network.

The service has apparently become known informally as the Deiseach Express, recalling a train service of that name some years ago.

The what now ?
 

What is this 'express' of which you speak ? It's not a concept I'm familiar with. Is it something to do with removing padding ? :p

z

The idea is nice but

a) Punctuality could be better
b) The number of seats out of Waterford is the same as before which has resulted in problems at Kildare where a 6 coach train was the norm, only to find 3 car arriving from Waterford

I remember the time the first train from Waterford was 8 mk2 coaches

Good point Zag, I just took thye term express from a media report about the service. Express is a term that seems to have been displaced from Irish railway vocabulary....

First train is the 06:10 which is a 6-car premier unit - this normally has room at Kildare. The 'express' at 07:10 and the 7:40 are 3-piece each and replace a six piece. I presume it is the 07:40 (9:26 at Kildare) that has capacity problems.

Not on a Monday!! They are running a 3 car set on the 06.10 service every Monday morning as they can't seem to figure out how to run the Sunday timetable and have a 6 car set available in Waterford on Monday morning. The 3 car set is overloaded by the time it gets to Athy and its still stops at both Kildare & Newbridge to pile on even more. I'm having email battle with IE at the moment over it but they don't seem to give a toss.

7.10 express form carlow to dublin
 

This train is good enough, as people have already said if you can get a seat on one of the 3 carriages as they are quite full by the time it gets to carlow and aslo if you could be sure of it getting in on time sometimes its hit and miss.

I do not agree, it is not good enough to have a lottery on an Intercity route as to whether you get a seat or not. This is not a short haul commuter route where standing is acceptable, it is supposed to be a fully fledged intercity route, and the ticket price reflects this.

There was further comedy supplied by IE on this mornings 06.10 Waterford-Dublin. Doors on the left side of the train packed in after Kildare so they loaded the passangers at Newbridge via the drivers door, through the cab and out into the carriage, not what you would expect on a 1 year old train

Prize for the driver for using a bit of cop on to keep things moving, if HQ knew they would have thrown everyone off and cancelled the train

Agreed, I am one of IE's biggest critics but they have kept things moving this week as far as I can see. Just wish they put this kind of effort in all year round, they would get a lot more respect than they have now.

Thats Irish Rail's problem captured in a single event

When backs are to the wall, management and staff seem to pull together and the system works in the face of serious challenges, Wednesday evening was an example of keeping things going in the face of horrible conditions, if it wasn't for a train going on fire it would have been an excellent evening for commuting

Intercity/Regional vs Commuter
 

I think this thread illustrates a point about Irish Rail. There should be a separate set up for the Waterford-Dublin service and the Carlow/Dub.lin part, with more capacity at peak on the Carlow/Dublin part and something consistent on the intercity/interregional part. Does this go over Irish Rails head or is there some sort of a plan, I wonder?

Very good idea, the number of passangers travelling from Athy & Carlow is ever increasing. Even if they simply had the new 07.10 Waterford-Dublin service stop at Athy then that would relieve some of the pressure without affecting the timetable.

Maybe when the new Luas extension to Citywest is opened this might finally give us the alternative to IE that we need.

Meanwhile a 6-car set was running the Kildare/Newbridge service this morning (Monday).

Absolute joke. Such a short distance.

Thanks for letting me know, this is yet another thing that I can go back to them on. I am still having email battle with them....probably pointless, but all I can do is try and make them see sense

The problem is on Sunday there aren't enough trains to carry the needed 3 car set to Waterford. The go down as 6 and come back as 6

Logically there is a spare set in Dublin as a result

True, but that should not be our problem, it should be théir's. I'm not sure what incoming service to Waterford on Sunday provides the set for the 06.10 on Monday morning, but they surely should be able to organise themselves better.

There should be a way to get the train in position, even if go forbid it was sent from Limerick on Sunday evening, hmm there is an idea.

Luas from Citywest will take you an age to get into town, and the Citywest people will no doubt charge you a nice premium to park. You will also be spending a lot more time on the M7/M8. Doesn't sound like a great alternative!

The Sunday timetable shows a 6-car premier set for the 1840 - this should then do the 0610 on Monday. Presumable the 1740 should be a 2x3 giving the two 3-car sets for the 0710 and 0740.

But since the 6-car is missing on Monday, it implies that it does not do the Sunday run; even so the on-line timetable has the 6-car premier listed.

Only conclusion: the timetable is incorrect! So if someone buys a premier seat either in Sunday evening or Monday morning they'll find no premier seats...

I can get to Citywest in 30 mins from just outside Athy because of the new M9. I would then expect to get from Citywest to IFSC in around 45 mins (it is currently 30 mins from RedCow on Luas). Total 1hour 15mins door to door.
I currently drive 5 mins to Athy, and then have 1 hour 5mins to Heuston (assuming Irish Rail run on time) and then have probably 5 mins wait and 15mins on either Luas or 90 bus to IFSC. Total 1hour 30mins door to door (big assumption here that IE run on time).

There is a park and ride proposed for Citywest/Saggart and I have no problem paying a weekly fee for a secure, well kept, well lit carpark as opposed to paying a weekly fee for the IE carpark in Athy which is badly lit, crap CCTV, covered in potholes, no markings etc etc!

The biggest difference would be the option to leave work at anytime and get home, not to be held to IE's crazy timetables.

It's 46 minutes from Tallaght to Connolly, so expect the CityWest expansion to add another 10-15 minutes onto that.

While the M9 might be good, you still have to deal with traffic on the Nass Road.The P&R is more Jobstown / Cheeverstown / Fettercairn than Citywest / Saggart.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/News-Cent...-77-Diversion/

Sorry, my mistake, I thought it was connecting with RedCow, not Belgard

Along with the other stuff people have posted, remember that with the Luas you need to factor in potential wait time. Presumably it will be about 12 minutes, if half of the trams to town are going from the square.

Well if you are happy to bankroll FF/PD/Developers, it's a free country!


I can see your point there. That's always the clincher with public transport. There is always the implication that they are looking after the needs of the many with timetables. (More like the many have to fit in with whatever they trot out) The lack of flexibility on my commute is also killing me!