Engineering Works and delayed trains
 

Hi,

The last few weeks any of the trains I get (including the normally punctual & reliable 6.50am Sallins to Heuston) are at least 10 - 15 mins late arriving to Sallins.

Is this due to the engineering works or because they are taking it easy on the 29000s because the can't get them to Drogheda for a service?

Or is IR on a go slow(er)?

Thanks.

New signaling at Sallins is the problem, it causes a pinch point

Any idea as to when it will be fixed? The train this morning was waiting just outside the station for about 3 minutes. A total of 15 minutes late today...

New signaling is between Sallins and Kildare its much higher capacity than the current Sallins - Adamstown section so you get a back log

The Sallins - Cherry Orchard section will be commissioned piece by piece in the next few months

Cheers Mark. Thanks for prompt reply!

Even the 07:10 to Galway has lost 10-15 minutes every morning for the past few weeks by the time it gets to Tullamore. Did you say "new signalling" and "pinch point"???? Are they going to fix it?

The signaling once complete will have twice the capacity of the current system.

There are some strange things going on in Kildare. There is of course the ongoing 75mph speed limit south of Newbridge which isn't helping

Not sure if these works are causing the problem but the 6:30am from Portlaoise is getting later each morning. This morning it was 13mins late into Kildare. Most mornings it crawls all the way to far side of Sallins.

New signalling system now extends to Hazelhatch.

The main speed restrictions between Kildare and Heuston are near Newbridge and through Sallins where a lot of work has taken place.

On Monday, the 0835 from Kildare pulled into the Sallins loop for just 6 minutes to allow the Cork service to overtake; previously this delay would have been 10-12 minutes.

From November the overtaking will be done on the move between Hazelhatch and Cherry Orchard, 4 track is coming soon

In the evenings the new signalling should make a real difference, should mean the end to the stop start crawl

Will there be a 25mph speed restriction on the new tracks while they bed in? If there are, we will have lots of crawling.

Probably 70mph since they have the dynamic track stabilisation gadget. Only two of the four tracks are to be 100mph compared to 90mph currently, other two are 70mph

I was told this morning on the 6.35 from Limerick that works are now from Limerick to Newbridge and this is causing delays ?

Recemtly the down fast, and perhaps the up fast as well, have been upgraded to 100mph. You can notice the difference more now compared to the up slow which appears to have a 70mph limit.

Why has the slow track only a 70mph limit given that the track is brand new? There are several trains that serve Hazelhatch and then cruise at a leisurly 70. Is it to do with the cost of maintaining a higher limit?

There is a higher cost in maintaining the track, though there is no physical restriction permitting an increase to 100mph in the future. The plan was for all Hazelhatch-Heuston to be 29k operated which are restricted to 70mph

But there are trains such as the 0505 from Westport, 0515 from Athlone, 0535 from Limerick and the 0735 for Portlaoise that only stop at Hazelhatch. Should there not use the fast line rather than be slowed unnecessarily by the speed limit? Of course only usin gone platform makes life easier for both the passengers and the staff.