New Timetable Impact on Limerick Junction Commuters

[KieranBrennan]

The recently published timetable for Limerick Junction - Heuston for November 29 onwards has a major impact on the sizable group of daily commuters to Dublin.
Currently we get the 6.30 from Cork, which is scheduled to leave the junction at 7.26 but is more often than not 10 minutes late. There are no stops till Dublin and it then usually arrives in Heuston any time between 9:07 and 9:35.

However the Cork train will now not stop in the Junction and instead, the Limerick train will be changed to a direct which will have to reverse into the junction to collect us after the Cork train has gone, supposedly at 7.30 This train will now stop in Thurles, Templemore and Ballybrophy. Yet Irish Rail are declaring that it will arrive in Heuston at 9.15.

Firstly I do not think it will ever leave Limerick Junction at 7.30 given the Cork train will be ahead of us, and it usually does not get through the Junction till after 7.30 itself, and how long will it take the Limerick train to collect us and get on the track.
Secondly, given there are now three extra stops, I think Irish Rail know that this train will not get to Heuston by 9:15, and instead are hoping it will make it within their expected 10 (or is it 15) minute delay.

Can anyone show me where I am wrong. In this case, I would be extremely happy if this was the case.

Thanks

[Mark Gleeson]

It doesn't look unreasonable, it is possible. The trains and signalling are vastly better now compared to 3 years ago. The old timetable failed to take advantage of the performance of the railcars, resulting in prolonged halts at stations while waiting for time.

Problem is the huge number of speed restrictions currently in force on the route, no train can operate reliably in the current arrangement. There is progress on Portlaoise - Portarlington - brand new track in fact the same rails as used on the TGV, should see speed limits increased

Best thing, keep a log of the arrival times in Heuston and if you get stuck in countryside, Irish Rail really don't like it when passengers have hard evidence of their incompetence.

In the new year there will be a legal obligation to give back money to annual and monthly ticket holders when performance targets are not met. The EU is coming to save us. We are working on an independent record of train arrival times to show up Irish Rail