A view from Northern Ireland

[Mark Gleeson]

In the course of some business in Northern Ireland myself and Derek took the opportunity to try out Northern Ireland Railways and I have to say it was a pleasure to travel on a passenger focused railway

Stations despite being unstaffed are neatly kept
There was a timetable on each platform, including a brief summary showing the times of all trains to Belfast
The station name boards are back lit
Approx. 1 minute before train arrival automated announcement was made
Conductor was pleasant and efficient, he was in full uniform, with an ID badge which gave is ID number
Train impeccably clean inside and out
In general all the staff were neatly turned out, with ID badges
And the C3K railcar is simply stunning, we are talking CDE interior
Belfast Central is a sight to behold, its modern, airy and clean so much better than it was
Only downside was the PIS tripped up

And what is interesting is most of this does not cost money its all attitude

[Alan G]

I travel with them quite a bit and it is amazing the difference across NIR recently, for a very long time they have been stuck in a slowly decaying limbo with no funding and a crumbling service held together with duck tape.

They have made big improvements with the small stations in the last two years, they are very basic but all the signs and information has been replaced and it makes a huge difference to the appearance.

It is hard to believe that Central is in fact the same building. It used to be the most miserable, dark, cramped and unpleasant station I had ever seen. It has been transformed completely.

The staff are indeed far more likely to be acting in a professional manner than the IE good/awful attitude lottery, except for a few incidents back in the bad old days I have never had any bad experiences with the staff.

I have to say I am not so enthralled with the C3K trains, they are a hell of a lot better than the 2900s but after 90 minutes on a crowded GVS-Derry train my back was feeling seriously nostalgic for a comfortable 80 class bench seat.

The design of the cars and the interior finish is good, if it wasn't for the geniuses who think they know how to make ergonomic seats they would be a great unit for their purpose.

I would love to know what the price difference between a car of that stock and a car of 2900 stock is. Almost every aspect of them is higher quality, somehow I doubt the cost savings for IE were worth it.

[Derek Wheeler]

I back up what Mark posted. The two particular things that struck me were the "easy" printed timetables on the platforms showing the departures from that station and the backlit station signs. Well lit station names are very useful to all travellers, both regular and random. That is lacking on the IE network. I appreciate that a PIS announces stops and shows them, but a simple back lit sign is easy, in the event of a PIS fault.

It was also noticeable that all posters in central Station were coming from a customer service perspective rather than an engineering one. Translink promoted the fact that they had "user groups" across their transport modes and encouraged people to join them so they could have a say in how services are run. This contrasts with IE, who don't want to engage with P11.

NI Railways (as its now known) had staff that were very professional and well turned out. Central Station was "transformed" since I last saw it and everyone working in it appeared to take pride in this new environment. Considering it was originally built in 1976, this 21st century overhaul has served it well. Perhaps they have escaped the shackles of emulating CIE.

As for the CK3s, I found them to be remarkable. (albeit a short trip) Ticket checker was impeccable. (I know its just one trip out of the blue) Considering that though, the experience, compared to a similar commuter line in the south, (Kildare line) was astounding.

Our next trip will be on the Derry line. This section is woefully under developed, yet it forms the route which leads to the rail head for North Donegal in the Republic. We have contact with the "into the west lobby group" in Derry. While we don't support any connection southwards towards the WRC, we have expressed an interest in working with them in relation to developing the existing Derry - Dublin corridor with a 3 hour 30 minute journey time.

Mark,we took photos of various things, please post them up with references to what we were talking about.

[Mark Gleeson]

The Bangor platform at Cultra, note sign is back lit and also sign post to local point of interest. This is repeated at all stations we saw

The invitation for users

The short timetable, a long one was also provided at the shelter

[Derek Wheeler]

You'll note the telephone number for timetables is at the bottom of the last photo. The CK3s also feature the phone number on their bodies.

[MrX]

What really annoys me is that IE have the resources to provide an excellent service, they simply don't bother.

Absolutely everything about IE smacks of poor management, a view of customers as a necessary evil that that get in the way of a smoothly running rail service rather than being the reason that the rail service exists.

They seem to have employed the same people to do their signage as Dubin's local authorities. i.e. they're all put up from the perspective of someone who has intimate knowledge of the station.

That being said, IE's stations (the smaller ones in particular) have improved a lot in recent years. I honestly don't find IE's trains dirty, the DART in particular is generally spotless.

[byrneeo]

Originally Posted by Derek Wheeler

I back up what Mark posted. The two particular things that struck me were the "easy" printed timetables on the platforms showing the departures from that station and the backlit station signs. Well lit station names are very useful to all travellers, both regular and random. That is lacking on the IE network. I appreciate that a PIS announces stops and shows them, but a simple back lit sign is easy, in the event of a PIS fault.

It was also noticeable that all posters in central Station were coming from a customer service perspective rather than an engineering one. Translink promoted the fact that they had "user groups" across their transport modes and encouraged people to join them so they could have a say in how services are run. This contrasts with IE, who don't want to engage with P11.

NI Railways (as its now known) had staff that were very professional and well turned out. Central Station was "transformed" since I last saw it and everyone working in it appeared to take pride in this new environment. Considering it was originally built in 1976, this 21st century overhaul has served it well. Perhaps they have escaped the shackles of emulating CIE.

As for the CK3s, I found them to be remarkable. (albeit a short trip) Ticket checker was impeccable. (I know its just one trip out of the blue) Considering that though, the experience, compared to a similar commuter line in the south, (Kildare line) was astounding.

Our next trip will be on the Derry line. This section is woefully under developed, yet it forms the route which leads to the rail head for North Donegal in the Republic. We have contact with the "into the west lobby group" in Derry. While we don't support any connection southwards towards the WRC, we have expressed an interest in working with them in relation to developing the existing Derry - Dublin corridor with a 3 hour 30 minute journey time.
Mark,we took photos of various things, please post them up with references to what we were talking about.

Talking about this, does anyone know anything in relation to the old Derry-Portadown line? As far as I'm aware, a large portion of the alignment remains in place, as do a number of the bridges. Does anyone know of any cost estimates (even fairly unresearched ones) for putting this back in place? I mean, they want to re-open the ulster canal to bring 'economic regeneration'. Surely the railway line could do the same?

[moyrusk]

Originally Posted by byrneeo

Talking about this, does anyone know anything in relation to the old Derry-Portadown line? As far as I'm aware, a large portion of the alignment remains in place, as do a number of the bridges. Does anyone know of any cost estimates (even fairly unresearched ones) for putting this back in place? I mean, they want to re-open the ulster canal to bring 'economic regeneration'. Surely the railway line could do the same?

Last figure I had was well in excess of £ 400 million. Also, whilst much of the trackbed remains in situ in rural areas of the route, it has been seriously compromised by quite deliberately sited new roads particularly in Omagh and Strabane. the Northern DRD Roads Service are well known for their absolute loathing of any form of rail transport

[Mark Gleeson]

Given the line to Derry is already there via Belfast and falling to pieces that is first priority up north

The C3k train gets some complaints, one of which is air system problems. Not really its fault the track on the Derry line is so bad that the air suspension can't cope resulting in a fail safe on the brakes owing to lack of air pressure

[byrneeo]

Originally Posted by moyrusk

Last figure I had was well in excess of £ 400 million. Also, whilst much of the trackbed remains in situ in rural areas of the route, it has been seriously compromised by quite deliberately sited new roads particularly in Omagh and Strabane. the Northern DRD Roads Service are well known for their absolute loathing of any form of rail transport

actually, it must be said that there are a number of new houses along the alignment. i've noticed at least four between pomeroy and omagh. the route is a no go. the DRD are indeed tossers.