Any upgrade to Rosslare - Dublin stock in the works?
 

Hi,

I am a regular commuter to Dublin from Wexford since Dec of 2010. I think the service is good and have been happy with the punctuality and reliability so far. One thing I would love to see is the upgrade to 22k for all of the services. Could anybody shed any light on this. Is it in the works or am i living a pipe dream.

I know the wireless rollout for the Rosslare/Dublin line was discussed here some time ago and presented a lot of technical difficulties. Is this something that we will ever see on this line. I am happy enough with the coverage of 02 in the ipad and Vodafone on the work iphone. Between them I can work away for a good percentage of the journey but the areas of no or poor reception make it challenging to keep on conference calls etc.

Thanks,
Eain

There is a good chance that all Dublin Wexford/Rosslare services will be operated by intercity trains in the very near future

The timetable was changed recently to allow for this, so the 17:36 Connolly Wexford is likely to switch over

WiFi will be in place on all routes by end 2012, however coverage on the Rosslare line will be extremely poor due terrain and the very isolated nature of the line in parts

The signal the train uses piggybacks on the mobile phone network, so while the train has certain advantages over a dongle - bigger aerial, higher up, it can't see through mountains, which is one factors that the Rosslare route suffers from more than others.

Hopefully ALL services to Wexford/Rosslare will be 22k operated very soon. After all, it does state this on the IR website.

Ideally, one or two should be 6 coaches but we all know why that can't happen at present:rolleyes:

Thanks for the information, and the hope you have given me, especially in regard to the 22k, that would be a massive improvement over the current situation.

Is a 3-coach 22000 better than a six-coach 28000?

Well a six car 2800 would have 40 to 50 more seats and one more toilet - can't think of any other advantages. Personally I would probably prefer to stand on a 22k than sit on a 2800 !

Does anyone know if using 22033 was seriously discussed? Is it just the notion that people will be disappointed when the "cutback" comes or would Rotem not countenance running it in service as a 5-car consist?

5 car operation is not safety case, not all the intermediate coaches are the same, two of the four have extra sanding equipment so unless someone is willing to the tests to validated braking performance without a intermediate coach with sanding gear

I get this everyday and the vast majority on it are commuters going to Bray and Greystones and it frequently has a lot of standing passengers. I like the 22000s but if I have to stand for 45 minutes I'd rather do it on a commuter train. It will also take a lot longer to load and unload in the busier stations as people shuffle along the corridors.

Do you expect the 16:37 to switch over also?

They should get the DART then! For those of us commuting beyond Greystones the comfort on the 22000s is far superior.

Had a pleasant surprise this morning when a shiny 22 pulled up at 5:58am into Wexford station.

Does anybody know if this is the permanent upgrade that has been promised or an aberration :-).

Thanks,

Nope its called wrong train wrong place after a Bank Holiday

We are in discussions with Irish Rail concerning allocations of trains on this route

That's good news. Keep the pressure on! 22ks for every Wexford service is the goal that must be met.

Also seen 22k's on Rosslare services they aren't normally on, actually worse having them for a day to see them gone again :(

Thanks for the update Mark. I appreciate the work you are doing.

There has been an improvement in allocation in recent weeks

Plus seat reservation system now seems able to survive Rosslare Dublin

Well was on da 0940 Con-Rosslare last week and da wi- fi was brilliant most of da way ,well done I.E. even better than I get from Eircom anywhere.

Hi Mark & co, Do you think we will see any upgrade on this route in the near future.

Thanks

No, if you have a few million cash handy that could change

Tens of millions have already spent on the route - and as elsewhere not much to show for it. Dublin/Wexford/Rosslare service is unnecessarily slow, is often operated by sub-standard rolling stock and offers only skeletal service frequency.

I don't think Irish Rail have sufficient interest or appetite to make any worthwhile improvements any time soon.

What have millions being spend on besides the signal upgrade. I have only used the line twice before and that was 2005/6.

Track and bridge renewal, level crossing upgrades/automation, fencing and coastal defence works would account for a fair amount of the spend.

The real problem remains the inability to operate six-coach ICRs.

Indeed. It needs to be resolved in the next year.

If enough commuters/ TD's/ County Councillors on this line complain then we might see some development?

Still cant believe 29000 are being used on some Wexford services in 2013

I seen 29000 operating a few Wexford services,It shouldn't be allowed as its branded InterCity!! This line really needs an upgrade in terms of number of services and the time it takes. The upgraded signal project has had no impact on time what so ever. Personally speaking I have stopped taking the train as its more expensive for a longer journey than the 1hr30min Bus Eireann Gorey-Dublin. I would like to see 6coach 22k sets with online booking in use but I don't think the demand is there as IE has seriously run down the line

It seems that the service is getting worse. The last few weeks the normal 22's on the 7:43 ex Wex and the 18:38 ex Con have been sorely missed. Is this a permanent change ? The 29's are in bad shape. The noise and cavitation when accelerating is terrible , as is the wifi coverage. First world problem's it true but as a commuter who goes up and down at least three days a week it makes a huge difference.

One would hope that all this reformation business will soon see effect on the one line whose platform lengths actually suit 4-car 22s.

the 1736 Connolly - Wexford has changed from 4-car 29000s to 4-car 22000s in the last few weeks.

That is a permanent change

All services should be 4 coach 22000's going forward

That must be where our 22k went to for the 1805 to Longford. Gumble grumble.

I agree that any service going more than an hour from Dublin should be operated as 22k instead of a 29k. I saw somebody complaining on boards.ie about bicycles blocking the exits on a 22k operating a Docklands service. For God's sake what are they doing using a 22k for this service?

I know there are all kinds of arguments about schedules and the need to rotate rolling stock up to Drogheda for maintenance but this is messing with everyone. The shorter distance services are more comfortable for everybody operated with 29Ks while the longer distance ones are more comfortable with 22Ks.

Irish Rail need to cop on and do the same as every other rail operator in the planet and properly divide local and longer-distance traffic which have vastly different rolling stock requirements.

Well said sir

The real problem is what you've alluded to in the middle paragraph, i.e. getting the sets to Drogheda for maintenance and returning them to Connolly in time to get back in service. It's also not helped by one 22k being in Sligo from 1800 in the evening until 1100 the next morning. That reduces options significantly.

They ultimately need a new timetable to be able to roster the sets more appropriately, and also recast driver rosters where appropriate. That's something that will happen in the spring I'd imagine.