Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson
Given the scale of difficulties two stations closed due flooding major flooding near Glenageary and the odd tree falling to provide any service is something
Given Dart carries way more people it is entitled to priority. There was probably a lot of pass signal xx at danger this morning. Given the slow speeds at Connolly a coded circuit failure is not going to be that bad. Having to run single line due to equipment damage is the real problem
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Advice from Irish Rail this morning was as follows
"Reduced speed primarily at Serpentine crossing near Sandymount; Harmonstown; Broombridge. DART/Commuter will operate with 5-10 min delay"
In reality the delays were catastrophic. This is not to criticise train crews, signal maintainers and others who were faced with horrific conditions in getting to work. I am criticising the fact that Irish Rail do not appear to be able to reliably evaluate the likely effect on services of operating constraints. This is a recurrent theme especially in respect of DART operations which are especially sensitive to disruptions to the signalling system.
As regards DART being entitled to priority based on numbers carried - this is a dubious argument given that 1) average DART journeys are very short (around 9km, I believe), 2) DART usage is similar or less than combined northern and western commuter service usage and 3) average peak loading per DART path is less than average northern or western commuter usage.
DART is now so slow that even on a good day the service is essentially incompatible with even modestly competitive longer distance commuter and intercity services on the northern line beyond Howth Junction - this issue is one of the major reasons for the flight away from the railway along the northern corridor and the deep scepticism about future investment, particularly the ill conceived Clongriffin to Dublin Airport scheme.