Quote:
Originally Posted by berneyarms
Well I think mentioning that trains are delayed by up to 20 minutes is kind of being selective as there is only one, and it has the lightest load of the lot! My point is that based on the analysis I provided, the vast majority of trains on the Belfast line have six minutes or less added - we can all pull out a headline of 20 minutes, but that's not representative of the majority.
I think you have to accept that the 10 minute DART service aspect of this consultation is more than likely going to happen. The Minister and the NTA have publically associated themselves with it, which from a political perspective tells me that it's likely to happen. Consequently I would be trying to find positive ways of dealing with how the other services can work around that and trying to minimise the impact.
I also think that the need for four tracking has to be drilled into politician's heads during the forthcoming election campaign as a priority.
I do share your frustration on the Rosslare line, but let's be realistic - the people in Greystones demanded a 30 minute DART - that alone has put severe constraints on what the Rosslare line can deliver. Extending the 10 minute DART means further constraints, but the M11 has delivered a much faster route that the railway at the best of times would find it hard to compete with.
Should potentially greater numbers of DART users be put on ice for a much lower number of travellers to/from Rosslare?
I suspect that the proposed Rosslare line timetable (certainly in the evening) could be improved upon by changing some of the times, and potentially reducing the impact of the 10 minute DARTs - there are some long waits at passing points that could be altered I believe.
Ultimately I am not sure what the best solution is for the line - off peak connections with DART at Bray or Greystones?
On the Sligo line I fully agree with you. There are some strange scheduling decisions on that I think need to be altered, particularly some of the adjusted trains during the afternoon, and some of the decelerations which to my eye can certainly be avoided.
|
So if the people of Greystones demand a half hourly service the people of Greystones get a half hourly service. The obvious way to serve Greystones is an hourly DART and an hourly Wexford service. And yes there is sufficient traffic south of Greystones if the service delivers a realistic journey time and frequency. This would also benefit Greystones as they would have an express service every hour which could run semi-fast leaving Bray just ahead of a DART. (15 minute interval DART from Bray).
Yes I have no doubt that this timetable will be pushed through irrespective of the impact on non DART patrons.
You make the argument that DART should take precedence over the Rosslare services because more people use the half hourly DART to Greystones. If you extend this argument, more people use Dublin Bus than LUAS, more people use LUAS than DART, more people use Bus Eireann than mainline rail and more people use roads than public transport - so why bother with public transport at all as only a small minority of people use it anyway.
Mind you if you go on revenue a Dundalk or Drogheda passenger is a more valuable commodity than a DART passenger. I think the average DART journey is something around 9 km so on a passenger-kilometer measure DART is a considerably less significant creature than a longer distance commuter train or mainline service.
Still it looks as if neither the NTA or Irish Rail have any real interest in longer distance Connolly commuters or main line rail travellers and I imagine that many of those currently using rail will have shifted to other modes by this time next year. Still the success story will be that DART capacity has been increased by so many percent even if the growth in passengers doesn't match the growth in service or much exceed numbers lost elsewhere.