Packed 4-coach 22k this morning

[James Howard]

Maybe tomorrow night they'll get something off the RPSI for the run. Not looking forward to going back to 29ks for 8 hours a week

[James Howard]

I hope this is going to settle down in a bit - it is just a complete fiasco at this stage. Back to a 4 car 29k yesterday for the 1805 which suits the opposite train a bit better but not much. This morning on the quietest day of the week for the service, the 0545 from Sligo is 2x3 car 22Ks.

I really can't handle going back to spending two hours a day on a 29K. Unfortunately right now, there is no decent evening train home. The 1705 is stupidly over-crowded, the 1805 and the 1815 are 29Ks and the 1905 is just too late to be getting home.

[Mark Gleeson]

I would imagine the 18:05 will become a 4 car set. Certainly would be some standing to Maynooth but it would be about right in size terms.

[James Howard]

A 4-car 22k is perfect for the 1805 but the problem is that the same train then needs to do either the 0540 or the 0615 from Longford the next morning. 6 is definitely too much and 3 would probably do the trick. This train was 3 cars until they stopped the 1817 and it didn't need making longer at that stage as the 1817 never had more than a few dozen passengers beyond Maynooth.

The sensible way to resolve this mess would be make one or both early trains from Longford express from Maynooth and then they could get away with 3 or 4 car ICRs for that train. That would make the entire operation positive for everyone. Perhaps the sensible time to have made these changes would have been over the summer when the traffic is a bit lighter anyway but I guess the guys in maintenance wanted to take holidays.

It is senseless clattering a lightly train 60 miles from Longford to Maynooth and then having it crush-loaded from Clonsilla into town making it uncomfortable and slow for everyone. They could even do away with having the 1715 going past Maynooth without really bothering very many people and run a 3+3 or 3+4 as the 1815 and run it back up in two halves in the morning.

[Jamie2k9]

On my first 4 car set this evening and there was a very noticeable difference in breaking. Not great at coming down from 80-100 to a stop, train pushing forward, slipping back. Driver definitely applying more breaking to stop it. Now it wasn't wheel slip before anybody says it was as I was on a 6 piece set earlier and not a problem. It could just of being it didn't have one of those B1 coaches.

[DundalkStudent]

All trains moved slowly yesterday evening. My dart to Pearse took an age between stops and all trains out of there were running late. Maybe there was a message out to all drivers to go slow in the windy weather.

[James Howard]

I thought that the trains appeared to be very slow approach Edgeworthstown from Longford which is on a descent when they are 4 car 22Ks. But it was only an impression - I didn't time it.

The formations seem to be stabilising a bit - we now seem to have 7 cars instead of 6 for the 0545 from Sligo. The 1805 to Longford was an 8 car! 29k on Tuesday which was about 10% loaded past Mullingar but still as uncomfortable as ever. Quite how this is saving them money is beyond me as running 8 cars of 29k flat out for long stretches can hardly be saving fuel over running 6 cars of 22k at a relatively normal pace.

[DundalkStudent]

There's some good info from Inishkeen on the up to date travel info thread on slow trains: looks like it's variations in driver training/capabilities to handle the adverse weather combined with varying levels of sanding equipment installed on the trains themselves.

[Mark Gleeson]

The equipment is not the issue here, staff training and experience is the real problem.

Modern trains, just slam the brake on and let the computer do its thing, some drivers get ridiculously over cautious and aggressively try to modulate the braking effort.

The biggest delay generator is actually the failure to depart on time, I can see what time the train arrived into the platform, routinely see trains leaving 1-2 minutes late for no reason

[DundalkStudent]

You see quite a lot of people running up to the train at the last second and pushing the button for doors to open. The 2nd or 3rd openings per stop can add delays. Plus sometimes if a driver sees you running or at a turnstile they'll try to wait for you.

I don't want to give out about the above as it's saved my bacon a few times. Especially in contrast to the Enterprise when they don't care who you are or where you're going, departure time is departure time.

I'm not saying the first way is right and the 2nd way is wrong but we're not the British or the Germans, obsessed with punctuality as a culture. And (especially the British) angry when people can just show up late and swan on with special treatment. I don't see this as a bad thing. The understanding and compassion displayed by us as a culture is a very positive feature that I hope we don't lose.

Still, I got sick of the potential stress of running between dart and train so now I take an earlier dart to give myself extra time and aim to be at train station 10 mins before in the morning (actual = 5 min).

[James Howard]

I frequently see drivers having a nice little chat with the station attendant (whatever they are called now) at Edgeworthstown blithely ignoring the timetable. I get a strong impression that a lot of delays are generated by staff not being bothered. When is the last time you've seen a driver run while changing ends of a train that has just arrived in late for its next run? Similarly, while it is charming, there is more than a hint of the "Are you right there Michael" about trains closing up, pulling off and then stopping to pick up a late passenger.

I think that this year it is particularly bad for some services and they have scored a spectacular own-goal by reconfiguring the rolling stock during peak leaf-slip season. Mercifully for me, the Sligo line has been relatively unaffected by delays largely thanks to the demise of the 1700 up-train.

[ACustomer]

Poor adhesion in the leaf-fall season is not just a matter of wheelslip on acceleration, it's also a matter of reduced braking effectiveness. While modern anti-slip devices can prevent skidding and wheelflats, if the rails are slippy, then stopping distances are longer, just as a wet runway degrades the stopping performance of the most sophisticated braking systems found on airliners.

You can't beat the laws of physics.

[Inniskeen]

But you can use decades of accumulated worldwide operating experience to mitigate the problem - usually involves a combination of electronics and onboard sand.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by ACustomer

Poor adhesion in the leaf-fall season is not just a matter of wheelslip on acceleration, it's also a matter of reduced braking effectiveness. While modern anti-slip devices can prevent skidding and wheelflats, if the rails are slippy, then stopping distances are longer, just as a wet runway degrades the stopping performance of the most sophisticated braking systems found on airliners.

You can't beat the laws of physics.

Folks in Belfast seem to have few problems

https://www.translink.co.uk/Latest-N...n-performance/

Failure to plan, planning to fail?

[huggy]

Agency staff in Newbridge and hueston counting passneger numbers yesterday, anuone know what initative is behind it

[berneyarms]

The annual public transport census count.

[Mark Gleeson]

Nothing to do with 4 car trains.

Census is staffed by DIT students normally on behalf of the NTA (well it was started by the DTO)

[Jamie2k9]

On the 6.05 ex Waterford and a 4 coach, not the brightest move considering 6 coaches are filled to the max every week. So minus over 120 seats should be fun. Remember they tried the move from a 6 to a 3 when the timetable started and didn't work out so well. I mean fine for a 4 coach is the other two are usually lightly loaded but it's a different story when they are full.

[James Howard]

Adding to the woes of the reversion to the totally unsuitable 29K for the 1805 to Longford is the fact that two days in a row I've sat in a car without proper heat. Dead engines in both cases.

At least I wore a jumper today.

[berneyarms]

Originally Posted by James Howard

Adding to the woes of the reversion to the totally unsuitable 29K for the 1805 to Longford is the fact that two days in a row I've sat in a car without proper heat. Dead engines in both cases.

At least I wore a jumper today.

And how many coaches did it have?