Drogheda station

[dowlingm]

Mark

do I take it correctly that this means no First on the Dublin-Belfast mk3 sets, or is one of the 6 passengers likely to be a First/Citygold fit?

[Mark Gleeson]

There will be first and catering from what I'm told

A full strip to bare metal overhaul and new interior is coming for the 48 Mk3 coaches, first class is part of the train. They can sell over 50 first seats on the busier services, a Mk3 first class has only 42 seats so business wise its a no brainer to ensure first class is present. Hourly is coming so it will end the mess on enterprise and provide standby coverage

[Padna]

When is the hourly service likely to be introduced? Will all / most trains stop at the intermediate stations (Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry & Portadown)?

[Mark Gleeson]

Probably be 2010

They may look to remove stops to speed things up, Drogheda might go, but in conjunction with more Dublin Dundalk services. Newry and Portadown to remain, Portadown is the change point into local services.

NIR have funding to sort out some problems on there side so things should get better and arrivals into Drogheda in the morning should be more punctual

[chris]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Probably be 2010

Any chance of staggered improvements or is it likely to change all at once?

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

They may look to remove stops to speed things up, Drogheda might go, but in conjunction with more Dublin Dundalk services. Newry and Portadown to remain, Portadown is the change point into local services.

Isn't the main issue with Drogheda that stupid bridge? Until the associated speed restrictions are relaxed, it's walking pace through Drogheda station anyway.

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

NIR have funding to sort out some problems on there side so things should get better and arrivals into Drogheda in the morning should be more punctual

Can you say anything more specific about what's planned? Maybe a Berlin-style wall through a certain section of Lurgan to stop people getting at the tracks...

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Hourly is coming so it will end the mess on enterprise and provide standby coverage

That's going to make a savage mess of northside DART and (to a lesser extent) northern commuter services, though.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

They can sell over 50 first seats on the busier services, a Mk3 first class has only 42 seats so business wise its a no brainer to ensure first class is present. Hourly is coming so it will end the mess on enterprise and provide standby coverage

I imagine hourly services will see the loadings spread a bit more.

Originally Posted by chris

Isn't the main issue with Drogheda that stupid bridge? Until the associated speed restrictions are relaxed, it's walking pace through Drogheda station anyway.

That is an issue, but also the vast numbers of commuters getting onto long distance services makes the trip less pleasant for those who will spend 2+ hours on the train.

Hopefully the cascading of commuter railcars from intercity routes will mean more Drogheda commuters can use those instead of long distance services. They will also need to manage the number of commuters displacing long distance passengers on long distance services - you don't want your train full in Dublin, leaving long distance passengers behind only for the train to be empty north of Drogheda.