How very odd - are 'boarding passes' issued for any other IÉ services? I've never even heard of them for special services!
This new 16.50 train is a vital gap-filler in the timetable that has been devoid of an early peak service ever since the commuter boom first took off - there was nothing
at all serving Dundalk between the leisurely 15.20 afternoon Enterprise and the hell in a teacup that is the 17.13 from Pearse. So it's a fantastic (if grossly belated) innovation - reducing pressure on the 17.13, providing Connolly passengers with the opportunity of a seat in the evenings, and serving early exiters from work.
However a boarding pass is simply bizarre! Is it a four-car 29000 set? (not that this should make an difference). Oddly it doesn't even stop in Drogheda, making it to Dundalk on a congested peak time line in a whopping 53 minutes flat - we can but weep at this potential for other services
The fastest I've ever achieved was a 15.20 Enterprise, including a Drogheda stop, in 48 minutes 12 seconds - if only this was standard...