Ennis services

[Thomas Ralph]

I think it's two-car 2700s most of the time.

[Tadhg17]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Single line section the whole way to Ennis means one every 2 hours is about as good as it gets, you then get a train every 2 hours to Limerick Junction to make the bi hourly connection to Dublin. There was talk of shipping logs to Waterford from Ennis, didn't happen since the line is too busy.

We have to wait to see what happens in Sixmilebridge even if they add a loop there ain't no trains to run the extra services

Are they going to add a loop at Sixmilebridge???

The last train leaving Ennis for Limerick leaves at 8:20pm midweek so I don't see why they could'nt use the line for moving logs after the last train. There is freight from the Tara Mines on the northern line late at night.

[Tadhg17]

Originally Posted by dowlingm

What's the equipment used for Ennis services now? Have journey times improved any bit?

They use two 2700 railcars on the Limerick-Ennis railway line.

Journey times vary from 31mins -40mins. Often journeys are closer to the 31min mark. Other times it is closer to a 40min journey because the train has to wait for a few mins before entering a platform at Limerick station or sometimes when the gatekeepers at level crossings are a bit slow to close the gates like last week when the gatekeeper seemed to be asleep at the level crossing near LIT/Moyross and the train had to wait for 5mins til he finally closed the gates on the road.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Tadhg17

Are they going to add a loop at Sixmilebridge???

The last train leaving Ennis for Limerick leaves at 8:20pm midweek so I don't see why they could'nt use the line for moving logs after the last train. There is freight from the Tara Mines on the northern line late at night.

You assume the line is open 24 hours day, its not its only open 5am - 9pm, exactly two shifts.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Tadhg17

sometimes when the gatekeepers at level crossings are a bit slow to close the gates like last week when the gatekeeper seemed to be asleep at the level crossing near LIT/Moyross and the train had to wait for 5mins til he finally closed the gates on the road.

Somegates don't have a 'resident' gate keeper. I heard of one instance of a gate keeper going ahead of the Ennis train by car.

[Derek Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Victor

Somegates don't have a 'resident' gate keeper. I heard of one instance of a gate keeper going ahead of the Ennis train by car.

The level crossing just over the shannon bridge is operated by a guy in a green van. On two seperate ocassions last year, I witnessed this.

[chris]

Originally Posted by Tadhg17

There is freight from the Tara Mines on the northern line late at night.

And look at the trouble that caused...

[Derek Wheeler]

Originally Posted by chris

And look at the trouble that caused...

Yeah. No freight and no RPSI steam trains. They just feck up the network for the people who pay for it.

[dowlingm]

They just feck up the network for the people who pay for it.

Well hold on now - freight doesn't get a subsidy remember!

[Donal Quinn]

i heard first hand from a guy who was operating the gates at a crossing in the west of ireland in the nineties. he was in the town the next stop up the line and his lift home let him down. so he went to the station and got on the train which brought him to the gates which he then opened and the train went on its merry way!!! bless

[Derek Wheeler]

Originally Posted by dowlingm

Well hold on now - freight doesn't get a subsidy remember!

And the tax payer still ends up paying for it.

[Tadhg17]

Originally Posted by Derek Wheeler

The level crossing just over the shannon bridge is operated by a guy in a green van. On two seperate ocassions last year, I witnessed this.

Thats interesting. Most of the time the train sails through the level crossing near the Shannon bridge/LIT. There are delays more often at the level crossing at the old Cratloe railway station and that gatekeeper is in residence there as far as I know.

[Alan French]

Going back to Tadhg17's point (30-11-07), it is right and proper that some of the Ennis-Limerick Junction trains run through, without a change at Limerick, even though the timetable shows a change.

Having to change trains is a deterrent to passengers - ranking alongside poor timekeeping, bumpy rides, failed heating or bus replacement. OK, maybe it's not as bad as that, but you can't simply introduce a change where there used to be a through train, and assume there will be no loss of passengers. If, for genuine operating reasons, some trains require a change, let it apply to those trains only. Of course, all trains that operate through should be shown thus in the timetable.

It will be important when the the Western corridor opens, that some trains run through to Limerick Junction. This is because Galway-Cork was always seen as one of the main links, and to have two changes between Galway and Cork would be a serious deterrent. I have made the same point about Limerick-Waterford and Mallow-Tralee.