Maybe the Wind Made It Go Really Fast?

[chipper]

I get the 6:46 from Drogheda to Pearse every morning. This train is scheduled to arrive at Pearse at 7:56, making a journey time of 70 minutes. This time is overrun on a daily basis with a typical journey taking 75 minutes.

This morning I arrived in Drogheda to find that the 6:31 had been delayed and was still in the station. I boarded this train which then departed at 6:43. I promptly fell asleep and woke up shortly before 7:30 to find that we were approaching Clontarf Road. This threw me completely. Surely my watch was broken or I was wrong about the location? Nope. We trundled into Connolly and then arrived in Pearse at 7:37 which gave a Drogheda - Pearse journey time of 54 minutes.

My question is how can a train leaving Drogheda at 6:46 take 70 - 75 minutes to reach Pearse when a different train can leave at 6:43 and take 54 minutes? The later train makes two extra stops but in no way should that equate to 15 - 20 minutes. I have my own ideas but do any of the Rail Users Ireland experts know how those early trains are timed or prioritised through Connolly-Pearse? There has to be a better way to run that 6:46.