New Timetable Hazelhatch/Celbridge
 

I notice that there will be no Feeder Bus serving Hazelhatch/Celbridge station, to pick up passengers from the 17.20pm train from Heuston Station. Many passengers will be inconvenienced by this, including myself. I've just renewed my Annual Rail Ticket, does anyone know if it's possible to cancel the Annual Rail Ticket (as the train service no longer suits) and get an Annual Dublin Bus Ticket instead.

Sure contact Taxsaver and they can either refund or swap

Timetable is notorious for errors so check if its really the case

What! The timetable will be in operation next week and it's not correct at this stage. Now we really have the worst (Rail) Transport System in Europe.

For Ballybrophy to Park West the online timetable has me down as follows:

06:50 Ballybrophy
07:30 Kildare
07:44 Kildare ( this train originates from Portlaoise 07:20 )
08:23 Park West

However, why isn't the following showing up?

06:50 Ballybrophy
07:04 Portlaoise
07:20 Portlaoise
08:23 Park West

Mark - any ideas?

Must change platform at Portlaoise, same platform at Kildare

hmmmm seriously ? Doubt that.

Changed at Portlaoise this morning, 15 mins waiting time, no platform change at Portlaoise or Kildare.

Only reason I can think of why it is not offered as an option on Irish Rail Online Timetable is because the train from Limerick (stopping at Ballybrophy) is Intercity whereas the 7:20 from Portlaoise is Commuter. Still makes no sense.

How about 14min stopover at Kildare vs 16mins at Portlaoise?

The real question is which station is better equipped for a stopover. Kildare P2 is quite poor; don't know about Portlaoise.

both the trains I usually get have been wiped off the timetable :(

7.40 from HHztch is gone as is 18.05 from heuston.
Feeder bus only goes now for the earlier train in both the morning and evening (neither suit me)


how many other trains have been removed?

Seriously p*ss poor from IR.

I'm with grainne whale...i'm better off on a bus now

14 mins or 16 mins would not be a consideration for me. 2 min difference would not be a deal braker to be honest.

However, the train actually starts from Portlaoise ( so it leaves the depot there ). So to me it would be more logical to change at Portlaoise rather than Kildare in terms of seating. It stops at every station from Portlaoise to Dublin. So better get a seat at Portlaoise I would think.

As for which is better equipped? Hmmmm don't really know to be honest. There is a nice waiting room on platform 2 side at Portlaoise, albeit small. But it has heating.

Intercity-v-Commuter....but I do not know how Irish Rail have implemented their online timetable.

An argument to do the change later is the risk of an incident between the first and second train.

hmmm maybe :) but seeing as the 7:20 departs from Portlaoise depot I guess they could say hold on..........OR the intercity overtakes it further up the line?

The journey planner is designed to offer the best way from A to B.

Kildare clearly is the best change point as its
1. Least gap between trains
2. The connection will always be at the same platform
3. In the event of a service problem, the onwards options from Kildare are better than Portlaoise

In general perhaps but not in this specific case, 16 mins versus 14 mins, 2 minute gap? Don' think so, no difference imo.

It's at the same platform in Portlaoise too, who'd have thought?

Again, in general, you are correct :) but not in this specific case. From looking at the timetable for Portlaoise to Park West, majority if not all trains stop in Kildare.

The engineering behind the journey planner is very very clever and it can and does make intelligent choices. Ask it nicely and it can plan a journey the whole way to Eastern Europe, but Irish Rail have disabled that feature... It can work out re routings in the event of missed connections and so on

The connection is 14 in Kildare, 16 in Portlaoise so it will by default favour the fastest connection

The timetable does not list a platform for the 07:20 off Portlaoise, as it can use either.

Guys has anyone seen any of updated timetable boards this morning?

Tara street is still displaying ithe 2011 timetable.

Edit:they have at Clonsilla station complete with new Irish rail logos?!

Just a Query
 

How come a journey that used to take 22mins from Heuston to Hazelhatch/Celbridge now takes 30mins. The 17.15pm train (old timetable) used to take 22mins, this train now departs at 17.20pm, it reached Celbridge / Hazelhatch yesterday at 17.50pm - 30mins later. This is hardly progress. This service has been extended to Portlaoise but the train itself still just has 3 carriages, which resulted in many passengers standing - surely provision could be made to add a few extra carriages, or is it back to the 'old days again' - overcrowded trains and bad planning.

17.25 Limerick, 17.30 Galway, 17.35 Waterford all overtake it.

That's what I noticed - why change the departure time so. Those trains also serve many of the intermediate stations that are served by the 17.20. Hardly joined up thinking. Also that does not account for not putting on extra carriages.

If it left at 17.15 it woild have a longer wait until the other services pass it.

Extra carrages not the only service that needs them. Im sure they realise it soon.

As I said earlier, those trains serve more or less the same stations from Hazelhatch outwards, (as the 17.20pm). Passengers using Park West, Clondalkin, Adamstown and travelling past Hazelhatch are not catered for either. Passengers alighting at Celbridge are also fed up with the journey time of 30mins already :mad:

17:25, 17:30, 17:35 all run non stop to at least Sallins

What the folks going to Newbridge, Kildare and Sallins don't realise is that they are on the wrong train, they shouldn't be on the 17:20 as it gets overtaken by the following trains

Probably get on at Parkwest and Clondalkin, and then miss out on a connection at Newbridge etc.

Those going beyond Hazelhatch are sitting on an all stops to Portlaoise service

Yep, they managed to get seats then when we all (well a lot of us) piled off at Hazelhatch.

The Newbridge/Kildare/Sallins/Portarlington/Portlaoise commuters will quickly learn not to get the 17:20 as its faster on other services leaving later.

There is plenty room to go around its just commuters are not following the journey planners fastest journey option

And I would prefer to spend the time in my office rather than sit on a train for that length of time 'in the middle of nowhere'.

i used to get the 7.42am from HHatch (this is now gone) & 6.05 from Heuston home (this is also now gone). Alternatives take longer to do the same journey (seems to be a common complaing on this thread) and are overfull.

Since the timetable change I've noticed that it is now taking roughly the same time to get in to work/home using 67x. The difference is that the 67x runs at more suitable times. I no longer see me using the train because of this (bus is much cheaper!)


Theres the old phrase "Build it and they will come"....well IR you also need to provide a Service too.

So much for IR going to offer a commuter service as far as HHatch.


Also why does it cost more to get to the city centre with IR/bus combo from HHatch than it does from Maynooth/Leixlip (a longer journey). Seems unreasonable

18:10 from Heuston still calls at Hazelhatch and there is a 17:55 and 18:25 option

The impression that I get is that Irish Rail have downgraded the Commuter Service between Hazelhatch/Celbridge and Heuston,ie: many cuts at peak times. We have lost 3 trains in the morning between 8am and 9.10am. To be honest for this commute Dublin Bus is the better option at the moment.

Having a service that leaves 5 minutes lather and you are not happy?

BTW 18.10 is scheduled to take the same time as the 18.05 so might be an idea to check the timetable before posting.

But there's no Feeder Bus to meet that train. Celbridge/Hazelhatch Station is approx 1.5 miles from Celbridge Village and many people (including myself) depend on the Feeder Bus. In the 'old timetable' the Feeder Bus did serve the 18.05pm train. The Feeder Bus serves the train departing Heuston at 17.55pm, this might not suit everyone. Jamie, people are not thick.

According to the PDF timetable the feeder bus for the 17.55 and 18.10 services departs at 18.40 so there is a bus service.

That New Timetable should be renamed 'The Fairy Tales of Ireland' as regards the the Feeder Bus serving Celbridge/Hazelhatch Station - it's not correct, believe me. The lady who operates the service has the correct times displayed in the coach. I phoned Irish Rail about the bus connections - they told me that 'they would not know the times (Feeder Bus) until the Friday 19th', and the new timetable was starting on Monday 21st, at this stage the new Timetables had been printed.
The times departing the station (Hazlehatch) are 17.49pm, and 18.16pm, that 18.40pm bus does not run, many people were caught out the first day of the new timetable, when they arrived off the 18.10pm train. It's not surprising then that many commuters find Dublin Bus a better option, that service will leave passengers in Celbridge itself.

I asked in Heuston on the Friday before the change for a timetable covering Park West. I was told they wouldn't have printed timetables until Saturday 19th. Asked again the following week, I was told the ones they had printed were incorrect, but the staff gave me a hand edited copy of what they had. Schedules were finally on the shelf late last week but listing at least one service that doesn't exist (according to the journey planner and my hand edited copy).

We have started a discussion with Irish Rail concerning the availability of information of the Hazelhatch bus and other bus connections on the Kildare line.

Needless to say the first response was, what bus?

IR should get in touch with Sharon Birchall who provides an excellent service (Feeder Bus) - both efficient and on time, which is more than be said for the train service at the moment. Unfortunately this Feeder Bus does not connect with every train.

Hi Mark

The 17.55 is a non runner as i cant make it from work for that. There is a feeder bus for this train.

18.10 service, while i can make this, there is no feeder bus for this service. Added to the fact that getting the 67x that I get (about 5.30) gets to Celbridge at the same time and the bus ticket is cheaper means that its a more sensible choice.


Jamie, I'd suggest that you check the timetable. The 18.10 train was an existing service. It makes a couple of stops before HHatch, whereas 18.05 only made 1 stop. 18.10 does not take the same time as the 18.05 used to. As Grainne Whale mentioned there is no feeder bus for this train. So it now takes approximately 20 mins longer (once I powerwalk from the train station) than before the timetable change.

The feeder bus serves the 17:55 and 18.25 trains (departs station at 18.50). Unless an additional bus is put on, they cant serve the trains in between.

I wouldnt mind so much but the 2 trains I used to take still pass through Hazelhatch :mad: so why no longer stop?? I for one wont be renewing my annual ticket for this service.

IR had planned that HHatch would be the starting point for all DARTS to city centre and then onwards to Balbriggan. Maynooth was to be the same for DARTS to Dun Laoire /Greystones.

I guess that plans gone out the window then

Not unless you have €2.6 billion + the costs of electrification and a new DART fleet down the back of your couch or something.

"DART Underground around €2.6 billion excluding the electrification works on the Maynooth/Kildare/Northern lines and other ancillary works and rolling stock"

http://per.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads...nt-2012-16.pdf