The Cork Dublin Express Train has entered service

[Mark Gleeson]

On the 6th visit now,
3 sets with the modifications possibly 4
1 under modification now

The works don't seem to be about ride improvements seems more like swapping out the failure prone parts that used to work loose that would go someway to sorting out the problems

Haven't experienced it yet but I hear its an improvement that said last two journeys it was fine, even when I sat in a coach which had serious complaints made about it in the past for swaying around it was fine. The advice as always is to avoid coach G and stick as close to coach C as possible once you do its totally acceptable. Apart from August and September I haven't heard any complaints about the ride from passengers, its a second level issue its only when you mention it that its picked up

There is one coach with serious modifications which CAF shipped over about 3 months ago its in service just don't know which one it is

[hhf8]

Originally Posted by lostcarpark

Has anyone experienced the improved suspension yet? There's been a set in the coach shed at Connolly for the last few weeks. They sometimes leave the side door open and you can catch a glimpse of the DVT from the car park. Occasionally you can see the end coach poking out too.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to catch any numbers, so I can't tell whether it's one set that's been there the whole time, or several have made the trip.

yep,it was there last night,aswell as the loco outside, btw did u notice the bogies on the flatcar at fairview?,they didn't look like dart ones,maybe they've been replacing them

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by hhf8

yep,it was there last night,aswell as the loco outside, btw did u notice the bogies on the flatcar at fairview?,they didn't look like dart ones,maybe they've been replacing them

Been through this before they are DART ones they arrived late last week, totally normal and routine for the last 20 years, nothing to do with the Cork train

[hhf8]

ah rite,thought so,just wondering.

[IHIR]

had booked a seat on internet for yesterdays 7am train - got to train and escorted on carriage by yellow jumper but then told sit anywhere as there had been a mistake and the allocating was all wrong. When i was leaving the train then I noticed the carriage used for all the reservations was a carriage that can hold wheelchairs, i.e had all the space down one end. Might be nothing unusual in that but there was no one in a wheel chair and seems mad to use one of those as the allocated seating carriage. Think carriage no was 7147.

On return journey at 1pm, intercom was rubbish and air conditioning not working, it was very warm.

neither train was a mk4

[Mark Gleeson]

The ongoing seat reservations farce continues

7am ex Cork is still mean't to be a Mk3 but the seat reservation people where told its a Mk4, likewise for the 7am and 1pm out of Dublin, depending on what isn't broken the 7am ex Dublin is Mk4 not this week though

On a Mk4 coach you can in fact reserve the wheelchair space online, not quite sure how it works but it does ensure no one gets left behind and it can carry 7 wheelchairs which is more than twice what the actual minimum requirement, where a number of wheelchairs are to be carried a set of seats can be removed on the older coaches to provide space

Tip for all on the 15:00 Dublin Cork and 19:30 Cork Dublin if you are booking a seat book a seat below number 42 and if it goes wrong you should end up in the first class coach

[Oisin88]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Tip for all on the 15:00 Dublin Cork and 19:30 Cork Dublin if you are booking a seat book a seat below number 42 and if it goes wrong you should end up in the first class coach

So have they got rid of the grumpy ticket checker in Cork who sends you off to fend for your own ticket at the back of the train?

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Oisin88

So have they got rid of the grumpy ticket checker in Cork who sends you off to fend for your own ticket at the back of the train?

No your ticket says A37 say you take seat A37, in fact as far as I remember the ticket doesn't have first or standard printed on it.

Its pretty hard for the train manager to shift you from the seat if its the one shown on your ticket, it may be in first class but its IE's fault that what they offered as a standard seat is now a first class one

I played this game in Thurles a while back and the 3 of us with booked seats sat in first (seeing the wrong train in the distance I made sure we got into coach A) and the train manager didn't stop us, guy on the platform in Thurles tried to put us off

[markpb]

Martin Cullen just stood up in the Dail and said there were (and had been) no problems with the new CDEs (or at least none that he had been told about). He also said that they were state of the art and first class and that an hourly service would be introduced on 1st January. Maybe someone in IR/CIE should let him in on the secret

Mind you, he also said that the reason DB and IR get the lowest subsidy rate in Euro was because they were more efficient that their European counterparts so they don't need a higher percentage. *bangs head*

[Derek Wheeler]

Word is leaking out about these heaps of junk. Cullen is wrong. IE don't want to tell him the truth. Latest word I received today suggests that Cork hourly services will not be introduced in January as planned and are postponed indefinetly, due to ongoing problems with the new trains. The defered timetable may be very different to the one expected.

There's also a rumour that IE are suing CAF of Spain (The builders of the new trains) and that CAF are suing IE for non payment of the bill. If any of this turns out to be fact and its extremely likely, then I foresee a lot of egg on a lot of faces. Mid january is the time to watch closely.

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Hmmm, the 5:30 Cork to Dublin arrived in Portarlington as near to on time as it has in months. It's amazing what a webchat can do.....

[portarlington_user]

Originally Posted by 2Funki4Wheelz

Hmmm, the 5:30 Cork to Dublin arrived in Portarlington as near to on time as it has in months. It's amazing what a webchat can do.....

....BUT we could nearly have walked to work faster than the speed it crawled at

[kilman]

....BUT we could nearly have walked to work faster than the speed it crawled at

It wasn't too bad. By my watch it was 8:30 when it stopped on the outskirts of Heuston(ie platform 7)

[Mark Gleeson]

Next year it leaves Cork 5:15 (as it did in 2005) and arrives at 8:25

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Last night on the 21.00, an old lady went into a carriage at the back as it was the first open door (it had a steel floor/has no seats)
The host spotted this and sprinted down from 1st class to guide her to the real carriages. I love those hosts

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by 2Funki4Wheelz

Last night on the 21.00, an old lady went into a carriage at the back as it was the first open door (it had a steel floor/has no seats)

The fact that this passenger assumed this was a normal passenger area says so much about Irish Rail

[Mark Gleeson]

The luggage van is rather well appointed

[2Funki4Wheelz]

5:30 from Cork 20 mins late arriving in Portarlington. Didn't make up the time and 20 mins late into Heuston.
Apology on PA for 20 min delay caused by a "technical fault at Kent Station".

Also, on the 21.00 out of Heuston last night (10/12/06) train sat for 10 mins in Inchicore, apology on the PA but no reason given.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by 2Funki4Wheelz

5:30 from Cork 20 mins late arriving in Portarlington. Didn't make up the time and 20 mins late into Heuston.
Apology on PA for 20 min delay caused by a "technical fault at Kent Station".

Most likely the brake test

Also, on the 21.00 out of Heuston last night (10/12/06) train sat for 10 mins in Inchicore, apology on the PA but no reason given.

Did another train pull alongside? IE are well known for doing staff changes on the move, experienced it myself

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Did another train pull alongside? IE are well known for doing staff changes on the move, experienced it myself

I was thinking of something like that, but I only saw one go in the opposite direction too fast for anything like that.