Ambitious plans for Carlow outlined

[kevin]

http://www.carlow-nationalist.ie/new...30410&cat=news

Ambitious plans for Carlow outlined
By Majella O'Sullivan
CARLOW commuters might soon be able to avail of an hourly train service to Dublin.

County manager Joe Crockett revealed that the local authority is already in talks with Iarnród Éireann with a view to updating the service between Dublin and Carlow.

Mr Crockett was speaking at a business lunch in the Seven Oaks Hotel organised by Carlow County Enterprise Board. He said that the county council was looking at expanding the railway station and extending the platform to accommodate the proposed increase in traffic.

“We’re looking at an hourly service between Carlow and Dublin and we expect the Carlow and Kilkenny service to be upgraded. This is being investigated at the moment,” Mr Crockett said.

Personally, I think that even with the new railcars in 2008 this is unlikely to happen in the next 2-3 years. I don't see the demand for hourly services between carlow and dublin.

The mornings are pretty well catered for with trains arriving at 7:40, 8:40 and 9:50 though as one of those that do carlow-dublin daily I'd like to see something added in between the 16:25 and the 18:25 in the eveneings.

There's been a bit of to-ing and fro-ing in the nationalist over the last few weeks regarding the inability of the waterford-heuston train to arrive at carlow at 07:18 consistently.

It is so often late (in carlow) that it's ontime departure on a monday in december left quite a few people behind ;-)

However, due to the padding in the timetable, it usually arrives in heuston within 5 mins of the timetabled time thereby allowing Irish Rail to say that it's not late (something like 98% on time).

regards

kevin