Cork - Cobh Line reopens
 

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=437

What they don't say

The works are not finished
The stations remain inaccessible
The vast bulk of the signaling work hasn't even started
The existing signaling might be a bit old but the Youghal line was never disconnected and hasn't been modified yet
They where 4 days late in reopening

hi guys,

the Cork - Cobh line has been reopened since Saturday. It was on the local radio station (96FM) all day about it being reopened, or "In-service trials operating on the Cobh line"

I travelled on the 14:00 from Cork to Cobh yesterday. It was the 2600/2700 "hybrid" set. There still is a bit of a jump/step when alighting from the train at Cobh. The BIG jump at Glounthaune/Cobh Jctn has been removed with the rise in the platform height.

Another thing that was not mentioned on the irishrail website was that the goods yard at North Esk in Cork was disconnected from the Irish Railway network, but that might not be of interest to any passengers, but is a bummer for potential rail freight!

Finbarr
Cork.

Heard rumors it reopened on Saturday, however a report of a train running doesn't mean it was in service (they would have to check the trains didn't hit the raised platforms) so we could say nothing.

Cobh looks like a bit of a mess, everything is great for the first 90m of the platform and then it goes back to the mess it was before

Couldn't give a monkeys about North Esk, Port of Cork are planning to move elsewhere anyway

Mark, to add to your list of items:

There are still no signs for stations at Carrigaloe & Rushbrook. The entrance to Carrigaloe station looks like an entrance to a private dwelling. It is utter madness that they spend money on upgrading the stations and do not put signs in place to direct people to the stations!

Both stations are only meters from the road. Rushbrook can be clearly seen from the road, but still a sign is kind of fundamental!

Finbarr.

Usual excuse is street signage in the local authority problem. Really the lack of any serious promotion of the service is killing its prospects. If IE bothered to pay for the signs the local authority (given Cork's support for rail services) would most likely be very helpful

While there is a physical accessibility issue, there is also a perceived accessibility issue, I don't know where the station is, don't know the fares, timetable and so on

Is little Island unstaffed now? Or is it permanently staffed. It curiously has a TVM

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Mark,

As far as I am aware, Little Island is no longer a block post, so I doubt there is need for it to be manned. There is now a ticket machine at Little Island. Glounthaune is now the new block post for the Cork - Cobh line, and this does have a signal man. It also has a hatch, I do not know if you can buy tickets here from the signal man.

I have a picture of the entrance to Carrigaloe, when I find it I will post it up.

I will get clarification about the staffing at Little Island.

Finbarr.

There was a staffing issue to do with the booking office and signal cabin in Little Island hence the TVM appearing. As part of the project every station should have got a TVM indeed they should have got the electronic next train displays

Despite the month long closure still no sign of the new signaling system. There will be other closures in coming months I'm afraid.

Why is new signalling so important to Cork-Cobh, the line is double which and frequency 1 way is not planned to be more than 2 tphpd, the stretch from marino poit to Cork had CAWs on it already so apart from Glounthane where the Midleton line cuts in it shouldn't be a problem, if new signalling on the Midleton route can control entry into the main route there should be no problem in the short term. This closure is unusual as they can operate most Cork-Cobh services using one track, using the crossover at Glouthane when necessary.

ps I thought the turn out at North Esk had been removed years ago.

Signaling is outdated and won't be able to cope with the expected number of services at peak hours so it needs to be replaced. Replacement would need 1 member of staff, current setup requires 2 signalmen plus a gatekeeper. Trains have been cancelled in recent times on the route due to a shortage of signalmen and gatekeepers

There won't be any cab signaling gear on the resignaled route, there isn't any currently, so no difference