Christmas & New Year Travel 2012 - Chat

[IckyThump]

i seen one today

"centra will be closing at 4pm on monday 24th december"

hope this nothice is relevant

[dowlingm]

Once again I do my annual teethgrinding that IE will shut down the network for 55 hours or so, not only foregoing the revenue but not even doing major works on the 26th to get some value out of it.

Meanwhile, in these parts...
VIA Rail Canada Statutory Holiday Schedule 2012/13
GO Transit Holiday Schedule

[James Howard]

Different countries have different traditions about Christmas. It just happens that in Ireland we tend to take it pretty seriously and a huge proportion of people just take it easy for a few days around Christmas. In the US, they would definitely take Christmas less seriously. To be honest, I reckon relatively few people take Christmas as seriously as the Irish.

The demand for rail travel on the 26th would tend to be exceptionally low so if Irish Rail can save a few quid by shutting down for the day and hence provide an extra service for the other 363 days of the year, then I reckon the majority of people would be entirely happy about that.

[Jamie2k9]

Limited DART and Cork regional is not to much to ask. Every other transport operator run on 26

[comcor]

Even operation after 3pm on the 26th.

I would have expected reasonable InterCity demand for people who need to be back at work on the 27th. Plus a lot of people go out on the night of the 26th and Dublin and Cork commuter are used to get into the city centres.

[karlr42]

Nobody should have to work on the 25th/26th. Two days off a year is not much to ask.

[on the move]

Originally Posted by James Howard

Different countries have different traditions about Christmas. It just happens that in Ireland we tend to take it pretty seriously and a huge proportion of people just take it easy for a few days around Christmas. In the US, they would definitely take Christmas less seriously. To be honest, I reckon relatively few people take Christmas as seriously as the Irish.

The demand for rail travel on the 26th would tend to be exceptionally low so if Irish Rail can save a few quid by shutting down for the day and hence provide an extra service for the other 363 days of the year, then I reckon the majority of people would be entirely happy about that.

It's nothing to do with demand or providing extra services, it's adhering to tradition. A tradition that is sacrosanct, in all circumstances.

Absolutely everything stops in Ireland on 25 December. Not even an airport is open. From searching transport services in other countries for the day, I could not find any country where there is no public transport available of any kind. Heathrow/Paris is open on the day and flights are in operation.

And you still won't get the extra service from IR that taking the siesta on the 26th might indicate.

[on the move]

The point isn't whether events are on once a year or not, the point is when there are events on at all, the transport network schedule is inflexible and what is available is therefore full to bursting. Defending it on "few and far between" grounds is not good enough on the day itself. If you run it, people will use it.

Can't understand that people advocate that public transport should stop on a public transport forum, but there you go. If Greece can run a transport network with all their problems, Ireland can.

[Mark Gleeson]

Greece closed 50% of its rail network after the IMF showed up

There is no need for public transport on the 25th, and if there was the fact we have a network focused on the city centre it really won't be much use

There has in the past been attempts to provide service to connect with major events, but for the most part not used

1. Concert runs late, the scheduled plan can't change due limits on hours and existing timetable
2. Out of hours service -> overtime

[Jamie2k9]

on the move:

If you think these late night services would be well used then why did very few use them in the past. Can you recall NYE 2011? (am certain IE ran late night services, open to correction) or other events that late services were ran as good as empty.

[Inniskeen]

Originally Posted by Jamie2k9

on the move:

If you think these late night services would be well used then why did very few use them in the past. Can you recall NYE 2011? (am certain IE ran late night services, open to correction) or other events that late services were ran as good as empty.

I don't believe Irish Rail have ever run late services in Dublin on New Years eve with the possible exception of the few occasions when late night DARTs were provided over the Christmas holiday period. Even then the normal service ceased around 2100 on both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

[Jamie2k9]

few occasions when late night DARTs were provided over the Christmas holiday period.

I see anyway my point is these would still run if enough people used them but they didn't.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by on the move

The point isn't whether events are on once a year or not, the point is when there are events on at all, the transport network schedule is inflexible and what is available is therefore full to bursting. Defending it on "few and far between" grounds is not good enough on the day itself. If you run it, people will use it.

Can't understand that people advocate that public transport should stop on a public transport forum, but there you go. If Greece can run a transport network with all their problems, Ireland can.

Who is saying it should stop? I am saying that since it doesnt run on a few days because it plainly will be a black hole there is not point in starting it. You may recall we (and as i have mentioned many times, what is said on a board is just my opinion not policy) were against the re-opening of the WRC for that very reason.

If any decision public transport wise apes a Greek one, it is the WRC, wasting money we dont have on a service which isnt used, to gain the political partonage and benefits of a few public representatives and local power groupings. You may want to open a mini one every year on christmas day, thankfully, others dont.

And by the way, there is a full nitelink service after the NYE celebrations. Every year.