Intercity Railcars now running on Limerick Route

[Mark Gleeson]

Has been some talk of this for some time however no proof until now

5:35, 14:15 ex Limerick and 11:25 and 17:25 ex Heuston

IE have pulled first class off the seat reservation system

No confirmation of this actually happening

[plant43]

Just in Heuston now. The 17:25 is one of the new ones. They look good from the outside.

[CSL]

Do they need to keep a limerick driver or two current or is that the reason ?

[Mark Gleeson]

The entire fleet is based out of Limerick currently so its easier to run them from there reliably, the first trip to Sligo was political more than anything else

There is a urgent push to kill the remaining Mk2d coaches from service

Rosslare line has always been conditional on the signaling being in place and since it wasn't and the railcars where not ready it will have to wait till December 2008, that said likely to appear on some services before that

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by KeithStephen

Was'nt Rosslare next in line........ Sligo then Rosslare

We've known since October that they could turn up just about anywhere during their initial deployment. We were banking on a mid-afternoon trip ex-Dublin, not a rush hour service. That said, the 1725 loading has been reduced a bit in the new timetable.

[plant43]

I imagine the loading has been reduced because of the removal of the stops at Naas/Sallins and Newbridge?

Interesting is that when you go and look at the detail for the 1725 it still lists first class.

[lasno]

Anybody know why no first class available. Is it available on the Sligh route?

[Mark Gleeson]

Because there are no first class seats

[lasno]

Pardon my ignorance but why are there no first class seats? Did somebody forget to order them?

[Mark Gleeson]

3 car version has no first class or kitchen
6 car version has 36 first class seats plus a kitchen

No 6 car sets have yet arrived, 6 more 3 car sets to be delivered first

[lasno]

Thank you Mark for that info.

[TheBoss]

Got this train from Portaloise this morning (6.51 am).

Not very impressed to be honest. Okay .... nice and shiny and new-looking.

But a tight squeeze ..... not much leg room ...... heating not working properly .... not a comfortable journey.

I'm told that the doors wouldn't open one of the evenings last week. I'm told that IE have the services of the engineers from Korea for a year to fix any faults.

It only seems suitable for short journeys.

[Mark Gleeson]

We have had no complaints on leg room, it is better than on the Mk4. Its much much easier get in and out of the seats as the armrests lift up and you still get a decent table. We have measurements

The AC/Heating is a problem more to do with finding the correct setting, that takes time and IE are aware of that issue, the Mk4 and the 29k suffered from that

There is a report of a defective door on one service last week, nothing unusual in that doors are always in the top 5 faults on any train. Its the first in service fault which puts the MPC at about 5500 miles which for month 1 is fairly stunning

The manufacturers (or sub contractors on there behalf) will be travelling on the train for some time to shake out bugs and to train staff in identifing faults and so it. This is totally normal.

Having spent over 6 hours on board my only complaint its the lighting is a little harsh in dark conditions

[lasno]

Is it possible to buy a coffee on the 3 car version?

[Mark Gleeson]

There is a space for a trolley on the 3 car version

[lasno]

Am I doing something wrong or is there a problem with the booking engine?
I have tried to book the 11.25am Dublin/Limerick on January 24th.
The only option available is ticket only but when I select this option, I get the following response...."in order to proceed at least one reservable leg of your journey must be selected". Well the system does not allow me to select anything except ticket only. The same applies to the 1325 service. There is no porblem with the 0925 or with any trains via Limerick Junction.

[Thomas Ralph]

It's exactly what it says - you have to be reserving a seat if you want to buy ticket online. It's a crap system from that point of view.

[Derek Wheeler]

I don't think there are reservable seats on the new railcars at the moment.

This has been covered before I think.

[lasno]

Not only is it impossible to reserve a seat, it is not even possible to buy a ticket online for the srvices operated by the new rail cars.

[Mark Gleeson]

The online system is for seat reservations not ticket sales, so you will see "Search Reservations for", "proceed to reservations" etc

Irish Rail have learned a leason from the past and have taken all the intercity railcar operated services off the reservation system until they settle down in service

Back in 2006 there was all class of fun and games when the Mk4 train would be replaced by something else causing serious chaos as the reserved seats didn't exist