I was on a mark 3 from Cork to Dublin a few days ago and honestly, without agenda, the ride wasn't very good at all on the bumpy bits. It jolted enough to spill my coffee at one stage.
I really didn't find the CDE ride any worse. Again, I'd reckon the major difference is that the CDE coaches are *EXTREMELY* quiet and when you do hear and feel a bump, you notice it more.
There is certainly a difference in how the two trains ride, but I wouldn't actually say that the CDE is worse than the MK3.
The CDE felt smooth, solid and was exceptionally quiet. It is a "harder" suspension though. The MK3 can tend to be noisey, creaky and do quite a bit of jolting on poor track. It also doesn't brake as smoothly as the CDE.
The suspensions are possibly a little harder, although I'm sure that the tweaks will take care of that.
However, I don't think any suspension system can really iron out the fact that some of the tracks are quite badly worn and need replacement. Both the MK3 and the CDE run fantastically well on decent track.
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Trying to compare the CDE to the 29Ks is like trying to compare a luxury long distance coach to a city articulated "bendy bus".
But if the company that made the bendy-bus made one with an uber-crappy ride and then built the luxury coach with a similar suspension, you'd have concerns too, right?
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This is certainly not the case, the CDE rides quite well and things can only improve as tweaks are done. It seems to have a pretty decent suspension system.
There's absolutely nothing in common between the CDE and the 29000 ride or their respective suspension systems other than that they're both made by CAF. The Commuter fleet's built to a totally different spec and wouldn't have 125mph bogies. Having the commuters on intercity duty's ridiculous. Perhaps Dustin the Turkey wasn't too far from reality during his presidential campaign back a few years ago. One of his main manefesto items was to "Extend the DART to Dingle"... seems IE have pretty much done that!
On-board, it's right up there with the best of the newest high speed stock in Europe. Very plush and the decor is excellent.