The Dublin/Rosslare suffers from a series of handicaps
- The DART service pattern (in particular the half-hourly service to Greystones on Mondays to Fridays) which forces Rosslare services in both directions to follow DART services to/from Greystones. It is routine for Rosslare services to depart Dublin 2-3 minutes after an all stations DART.
- The signalling system has been downgraded so that potentially faster trains are forced to proceed at DART pace through the level crossings between Lansdowne Road and Merrion - in some ways this is a logical change as there is usually a DART immediately ahead. Even when there isn't a DART directly ahead (as yesterday), the Rosslare service is forced to crawl through the five level crossings.
- The lack of suitable infrastructure prevents Rosslare trains overtaking DARTs - the minimum additional infrastructure required is a pair of crossovers at the south end of Dun Laoghaire.
- Irish Rail appear to have no strategic plan for the Rosslare route and as on other lines have made no significant attempt to exploit upgraded infrastructure to provide journey time reductions.
As regards comfort, this is a somewhat subjective topic - personally I find the ICRs more comfortable than than the MK4s !