Passenger numbers plummet as train is abandoned for car

[Inniskeen]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Its 41.98 to Cork by train.

The fall off is mainly in short to medium commuting, where unemployment combined with effective bus services (Mathews Coaches in Drogheda being the prime example) have seen fairly serious falls in Maynooth/Drogheda and DART services. For example the Poles were heavy public transport users, they have now left.

How do Irish Rail propose to compete with the effective bus services to which you refer - maybe deploy surplus ICRs on express commuter trains on the northern route? Even three limited-stop expresses out of Dundalk at, say, 0630, 0700 and 0730 taking advantage of the 90mph line limit and with corresponding return services in the evening would transform the current lack lustre offering and form the basis for re-building patronage.

Bit of a no brainer but I suspect on past performance highly unlikely to happen.

Incidentally there is still a substantial number of foreign nationals working in Ireland (around 10% of the working population), although it is true that this group have been dis-proportionately affected by the collapse of the Celtic tiger as many were working in construction related employments.

[sublimity]

Originally Posted by KSW

Three carriages is not enough , would it be possible to turn those 22k into 4 or 5sets for the line..

It might just have to be done. Either that or selective door opening with 6 coaches (22k)

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by sublimity

It might just have to be done. Either that or selective door opening with 6 coaches (22k)

it didnt come with that button. there is something being said about it being done sometime.

[sublimity]

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

it didnt come with that button. there is something being said about it being done sometime.

Should've been done a long time ago

[James Howard]

The ability to use commuting time is the main advantage of the train. The car is definitely dead time and a bus is largely dead time unless they can give you as much space as on a 22k. You can get some work done on a 29k but only if you arrive early enough to monopolise one of the 6 tables per car in the groups of 4 seats. So basically the space on a 22k is the main selling point for Irish Rail in people who are spending more than and 2 hours per day on the train.

Irish Rail's best bet for people going further than an hour each way is to do what it takes for these commuters to be able to effectively use their time on the train. Maybe they should consider reconfiguring a car or two per group of 4 29ks as working space where the seats were in a configuration more similar to the 22Ks. Maybe include a seat-booking facility to commuter passes where for a couple of hundred a year you could hold a seat on one train per day each way.

This is how you can justify charging people a thousand euro a year more than the bus. The same argument applies to occasional business travellers and college students who can be persuaded to cough up a few quid more if they can use their time on the train. But then I reckon most of the college student on the train I take are travelling on a Sydney Parade to Connolly ticket because there is no chance of them being checked and there is no way the bus can compete with that

[Thomas Ralph]

Is it just me or have they vanished the comments off that article? I posted more or less what James said about the Indo car.