Quote:
Originally Posted by Inniskeen
I am not exaggerating anything - I am quiet capable of counting.
One thing that is apparent to me (and my opinion is based on observations pre-dating the timetable changes earlier this year) is that the primary passenger potential on this line, as on most other routes, is towards Dublin, not towards the coutry terminus (in this case Limerick).
Current patronage on the line is largely the function of decades of neglect resulting in slow, infrequent and not particularly convenient services. Irish Rail's ambitions to close this line stretch back at least to the early 1980s, if not earlier.
|
never said
you were.
and you are right in that the current, low, patronage is heading towards dublin, but thats because the chance of the branch actually getting the most out of itself has been lost with the M7 opening all the way to Limerick. I have long said that what needs to be done in the morning is to have a train from Ballybrophy to Limerick which will arrive there at around 8.30. The only reason this was not done was down to staffing organisation. With portlaoise depot this is gone. It doesnt mean that the
potential is in the dublin direction. It plainly isnt, there is a train getting into dublin for 8.30-ish (in fact it has been in that early and held up for being so) and the numbers using it are in the region of, lets be charitable, 6.