Faster Journey Times Needed as Passengers Numbers Drop

[Jamie2k9]

Since the opening of the M9 Dublin - Waterford Motorway there has being a sharp drop in passenger numbers on the Dublin - Waterford trains. After speaking to an employee in Waterford recently he said that passengers numbers are falling. The motorway takes 90 mins to Waterford where as the train takes between 2hr 20min - 2hr 30min.

1 - f less trains served Newbridge and Kildare. (Waterford services serve them a lot more than Galway, Cork, Limerick, Westport etc)
2 - If further two passing loops were added between Cherryville Junction & Athy and Kilkenny & Muine Beag.
3 - Over all speed limit after Cherryville is increased. (Trains crawls for about 20 minutes between Cherryville - Waterford)

I have started to use the train less as the car is much quicker.

Anybody any thaughts.

[KSW]

Originally Posted by Jamie2k9

Since the opening of the M9 Dublin - Waterford Motorway there has being a sharp drop in passenger numbers on the Dublin - Waterford trains. After speaking to an employee in Waterford recently he said that passengers numbers are falling. The motorway takes 90 mins to Waterford where as the train takes between 2hr 20min - 2hr 30min.

1 - f less trains served Newbridge and Kildare. (Waterford services serve them a lot more than Galway, Cork, Limerick, Westport etc)
2 - If further two passing loops were added between Cherryville Junction & Athy and Kilkenny & Muine Beag.
3 - Over all speed limit after Cherryville is increased. (Trains crawls for about 20 minutes between Cherryville - Waterford)

I have started to use the train less as the car is much quicker.

Anybody any thaughts.

Not to get off point or put this is your face but thats the Rosslare line to a t.irish rail need to up their game on the railways.

[James Howard]

The same pattern is evident all over the country with the possible exception of Sligo where the motorway runs out before Mullingar. I commute from Edgeworthstown to Dublin city centre and work in the Docklands area. I can easily beat any commuter trains but it is about neck and neck with expresses.

At the same time, I would be nuts to drive due to it being dead time and the fact that it would cost roughly 4 times as much.

For occasional users where there are 2 or more people travelling together it is a different story, as there is no taxsaver and the car costs can be shared.

[Kilocharlie]

While you might be able to drive from Waterford to Dublin in 90mins provided you don't get caught in the daily tail-backs at Newland's Cross etc, also remember that the train provides a service to other places like Kilkenny and Carlow which the M9 by-passes. It's not comparing like with like.

The 0710 does Heuston in 2 hours only stopping at Carlow and Athy.

[Jamie2k9]

I was told that passengers have dropped at all stations on the line. Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford have saw the most drop.

The 0710 does Heuston in 2 hours only stopping at Carlow and Athy.

I travel on that quiet a bit. It crawls through Thomastown and Muine Beag as if it was stopping. So you only saving 20 mins in Kilkenny. It should be able to do Dublin in 1 hr 45 or 50 mins.

Trains spend on average 7 mins waiting in Stations for others to arrive. There is many little time savings that could be made which would improve the journey times.

Muine Beag - 07:40 - 5 min stop
Ballyhale - 09:10 - 7 min stop
Ballyhale - 11:10 - 8 min stop
Carlow - 13:00 - 6 min stop
Ballyhale - 13:20 - 10 min stop
Ballyhale - 16:50 - 7 min stop
Athy - 16:50 - 9 min stop
Ballyhale - 18:20 - 8 min stop
Kilkenny - 18:20 - 5 min stop (+ normal 5 min stop)
Carlow - 18:35 - 6 min stop

[dowlingm]

It's hard for a so-called 80mph railway line to compete with a 70mph motorway - but the motorway doesn't have stop lights where you have wait 10 minutes for a bunch of cars to pass, and lower speed limits every few miles.

[Thomas Ralph]

Put the crayons down and nobody will be hurt

Are we seeing this problem on the Cork/Heuston route? You can drive it in two hours, no?

[ACustomer]

You can drive from Cork to Newlands Cross in about 2h30m keeing to the speed limit, but you may be *******ed and in dire need of a pitstop if you attempt it non-stop. Then there's the little problem of getting to Dublin city centre and parking, etc...Comfort and customer service are the potential aces which Irish Rail has: but that's where I expect them to underperform.

As for the station dwell times on the Waterford line, that's a pretty inevitable consequence of having to cross trains on a mainly single track route. Time was when Waterford line trains had only one crossing: now they have two (or more?), because of a big increase in frequency. And the Waterford line times are better now than 3 or 4 years ago, unlike the Cork line.

Theoretically Waterford-Dublin could be done in 105 to 110 minutes: but this would allow for very little recovery from unfoseeable delays, and the market for a non-stop service would be somewhat limited.

As for the fall in business being due to the M9, there is also the little matter of a severe recession, which reduced intercity numbers before the main motorways were completed. Anyhow look on the bright side: the rise in petrol prices might tempt people back onto the rails.

[comcor]

The Cork/Kerry line is still just about competitive with the car, although the length of time to get from Heuston to other locations in the city is a bit of a drag.

I'm not sure the same can be said about the Wateford, Galway and possibly even Limerick lines.