29K still on Sligo and not even cleaned

[joey]

29K ex dublin on a sunday at 9am and the return at 1pm from sligo.

[Jamie2k9]

9am down is scheduled on 18.00 back to Connolly, 13.00 is normally a 22 perhaps it wasn't on your particular week but it is usually.

[joey]

29k this morning back from Dublin. It's a long jaunt on a commuter train back to Sligo. Particularly when there Is a four car set of 22k stationed at Longford all weekend.

It's ok saying go for a later train but the next one is 1pm, was there ever a 1100ex Dublin on a Sunday?

[maloner]

The last train out of Connolly is 19:05 - a tad early even for the early birds... why are there no later services to Mullingar if not Sligo?

[Mark Gleeson]

That's a long story, other than to say politicians wanted to keep the 1805 express to Longford

[James Howard]

Although I no longer use it due to the discomfort level of the 29K, the 1805 to Longford is far more important to Mullingar and Longford commuters than a potentially later service. Most normal people do not finish work in time for the 1705 so the 1805 is the peak evening commuter service. There would be hell to pay if it was cancelled and saying "politicians want to keep" it means that for once in their life politicians in the area might actually be doing their job.

We already lost the admittedly useless 1817ish service from Connolly so a two hour gap in the evening Longford commuter service would be completely unacceptable and would be the best way Irish Rail could go about killing the viability of the Longford commute.

A much better idea would be to discontinue the 1715 stopping service to Longford which is of little use beyond Maynooth. The train could turn around in Maynooth and be back in Connolly in time to run a 2005 (or 2105) to Longford. All this would cost would be a couple of hours of driver time and would massively improve the service. It could potentially fill in for an existing later Maynooth service which might allow them to let another driver off earlier so it wouldn't even cost that.

[berneyarms]

It was the 18:17 that was the issue at the time - politicians insisted on its continuing to Longford instead of turning back at Enfield and operating a later service.

Cost cutting subsequently saw that service curtailed to Maynooth.

There was never a question of the 18:05 being curtailed.

[James Howard]

Getting rid of the 1817 was an eminently sensible idea. I would say that in 8 years of commuting while it was running I took it about three times. It was made even worse by the associated need to run a up-train late at night to get a set back to Dublin after they started the 0545 from Sligo.

They could do a similar optimisation as I suggested with the 1715 and seriously improve the service to commuters for a relatively small extra running cost. I do agree that the Longford commuter service (to Mullingar at least) would seriously benefit and probably attract significant extra custom if there was the option of a later service down.

[joey]

Was there ever a service ex Dublin on a Sunday between 0900 and 1305?
Given the 0900 is always a 29k it's a long time to wait until 1305 for the next, or either sit 4 hours on a bus departing at 1100

[berneyarms]

Originally Posted by joey

Was there ever a service ex Dublin on a Sunday between 0900 and 1305?
Given the 0900 is always a 29k it's a long time to wait until 1305 for the next, or either sit 4 hours on a bus departing at 1100

No, there has never been an 11:00 ex-Dublin on Sundays. I can't imagine demand would be that high.

Also, traditionally you would have (and still do have) an extra train already in Sligo from Friday night, that is used to operate one of the Sunday services from Sligo, (there being no 05:45 from Sligo on Saturdays).

If you had an 11:00 from Dublin on a Sunday you would have one train too many in Sligo.

The 8 piece 29K is always on the 09:00 from Dublin on Sunday mornings, as it is needed for the busiest train from Sligo - the 18:00 return.

[joey]

Move the 0900 to 1100 then

[berneyarms]

Originally Posted by joey

Move the 0900 to 1100 then

While that might suit you, I imagine that a first arrival at 2pm into Sligo would not be universally popular.

That is far too late.

It's not just you that the trains have to suit.

[James Howard]

The 09:00 is too early for the only morning train down from Dublin given that there is pretty much no public transport that will get you into Connolly for that time. I can't imagine there are too many takers for it at the moment.

An 11AM first departure would make a lot more sense particularly if you could use the 0745 and 10 AM bus departures on a return rail ticket. The CIE group could offer a much better service if it were possible to mix and match journeys between bus and rail even if it was at the more expensive cost of the train ticket. If it would make life easier, they could even limit it to off peak.

[Jamie2k9]

Sligo line has one of the best Sunday schedules on the network better than Belfast, Westport, Waterford etc.

The reason why there is no 11.00 is because there is no demand, the type of passengers traveling to Sligo on a Sunday are leisure and 13.00 is right to meet hotel check out times. You need to have an early departure ex Dublin and it won;t change.

Couple of the factors is the availability of units/drivers in Connolly for an 11.00 service, the majority of Sligo services are operated by Sligo based sets/drivers on Sundays.

When a service is added in most cases an corresponding service is required, perhaps there is scope to move the 09.05 to 10.05 but it really depends on numbers traveling on it currently.

[joey]

A later departure on a Sunday morning rather than the 0905 is bound to appeal to more commuters. The wait until 1pm makes that a busy train and late back to Sligo. Given the bus leaves 1100 from busaras and takes a full four hours a 1005 departure would be more appealing. And I reckon numbers would improve given the numbers on last Sunday's 0905 and it was a full 8 car 29k set. If the 1800 ex Sligo is so busy and the need is for an this size of train surely maximising it on the down run would make sense. it can pass at kilucan with the up 0900 from Sligo

[James Howard]

I don't think anyone was suggesting there should be a 905 AND and 1105. My point was that the 0905 is just too early for most people on a Sunday and 1005 would give people a bit more time to get into town even if it is still too early for a lot of bus routes.

A bigger problem with the weekend schedule is that the first up train is very late. Maybe it's fine for Sligo but we end up driving to Dublin at least once a month on either a Saturday or a Sunday when we'd much rather take the train. It's a bit of stretch to suggest that an 0545 Sligo departure is warranted on a Saturday but an 0700 from Longford would meet a legitimate need and it could also fill a rather large 1805-sized hole in the evening timetable down. A lot of people have voluntary group meetings or classes in Dublin on a Saturday morning and it is basically impossible to get there by public transport early enough.

Anyway, to return to the original topic, they put a 29K on for the 1705 last night and it's running the 0545 this morning. This is the second time in the last month they've pulled this stunt. It's particularly annoying when you see a 22K heading to Balbriggan as you're leaving Connolly. And then I get to listen to a work colleague who commutes from Ashtown complaining about not being able to get onto the 22Ks they insist on running to Docklands because people won't move down the aisle.

[joey]

Agree with all points on previous post

[joey]

Spotted a 22k leaving Sligo today (Sat) at 12pm???

Not to schedule was the 11am delayed??

[Jamie2k9]

Spotted a 22k leaving Sligo today (Sat) at 12pm???

Not to schedule was the 11am delayed??

Nope
11.05 ex Connoly was around 9 minutes late
11.00 ex Sligo was around 19 minutes late

Anyway, to return to the original topic, they put a 29K on for the 1705 last night and it's running the 0545 this morning. This is the second time in the last month they've pulled this stunt. It's particularly annoying when you see a 22K heading to Balbriggan as you're leaving Connolly. And then I get to listen to a work colleague who commutes from Ashtown complaining about not being able to get onto the 22Ks they insist on running to Docklands because people won't move down the aisle.

May be a stunt however if it was a train fault, think its a much better decision than putting half the usual size 22 on it.

[joey]

Definitely 12pm leaving Sligo I spotted it between Sligo and collooney