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Unread 16-08-2014, 10:16   #4
Inniskeen
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Join Date: Oct 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Padna View Post
http://www.seupb.eu/Libraries/Media_...PR_3.sflb.ashx

Is there any chance that one of the outcomes of this funding willl be a more frequent and/or business-friendly service? By business-friendly I specifically mean the first train in the morning in each direction arriving into its destination before 09:00. An arrival time of around 08:30 should work well. It would also be nice to have trains departing Dublin and Belfast around 17:30 each evening.
Of all the mainline routes into Dublin, apart from Tralee, the Belfast line is unique in not having an end to end service arriving in Dublin before 0900. The only cross-border service arriving before 0900 is a particularly slow time-wasting train from Newry at 0645 taking marginally under two hours for the 69 miles to Connolly.

Dundalk isn't much better although it does have a few additional services, again very slow and principally formed by low comfort, low amenity, high density, but very reliable, commuter equipment. Poor overall service quality combined with mainline fares and car parking charges have seen a substantial migration of traffic to alternatives modes in the last six or seven years. Like so many other aspects of Irish Rail Operations the prospect on an improvement seems remote despite adequate resources to do so. The railway won't survive by cutting costs alone, it must also improve services, increase ridership and grow revenue.
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