Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan French
A starting point would be to use the existing Limerick- Limerick Junction service, which is approx. hourly, and extend trains both ways. North of Limerick, this means crossing at Ennis and Athenry, but south of the Junction we run into difficulties. Trains from Waterford and from Limerick would have to arrive at the Junction about 27 minutes past the hour, but not leave till about 50. Not ideal, but this is needed to make connections both ways. A two-hourly pattern becomes virtually impossible, unless we allow every second train to arrive about 35 and miss the connection to Dublin.
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The trick is to build a proper Cork-bound platform* in Limerick Junction with the associated bridge and lifts. Potentially the Cork-bound and Dublin-bound trains pull in at XX:00, five-ten minutes after the arrivals from Limerick and Waterford. Everyone moves to the appropriate train and then they all depart
For those hours when there is no Waterford-bound train, start the Limerick-bound train in Tipperary town.
Personally, I see the minimum of scheduling the Galway-Limerick trains to continue relatively promptly to Limerick Junction as important. It means one connection / layover in a Galway-Cork/Waterford journey instead of two. Doing Cork-Galway typically means sitting around for about 40 minutes waiting for connections and then add for padding.
* Perhaps back to back with a Waterford-bound platform that mirrors the Limerick platform.