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Unread 05-11-2009, 19:12   #4
sean
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas Ralph View Post
Hate to be cynical, and without any committee hat on, but I'd have to file that in the "great in theory, won't work in practice" folder. It'll be difficult enough to get people to understand the concept of a drop-off or pick-up only train, let alone police it.
On MTA/Metro North, the policy is properly explained on train schedules and with on-board announcements, plus the lack of restricted stops being listed on GCT departure boards.

If Irish Rail properly explained the changes and followed MTA/MNR practice, it would work, particularly if they hand out enough penalty fares to the clowns who might claim ignorance or otherwise take their chances.

But then again, this is Irish Rail we're talking about ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by al2637 View Post
Maybe a stupid question.. but why?

Why stop people for Maynooth using intercity trains to get home in the evening?
  1. The purpose of a regional train (and lets face it that's what a lot of our services are), is to carry people between the region and the city destination. ANY stops between the served region and the main city should, as a matter of good design, be for the convenience of people going between the region and the stop. The service, by design, is not supposed to carry a lot of people going a short distance. This is presumably the reason for the R/D restrictions at Fordham.
  2. The 22000 railcars are designed to seat as many as possible, not to carry as many as possible including standees, which is the design of a Commuter railcar. Where a high volume of commuters are expected, an Intercity floorplan is not optimal.
    Needless to say, an Intercity train inappropriately doubling as a commuter rat-run would fill up to capacity and become uncomfortable for everyone involved very quickly.

    This was why the Sligo train currently skips Maynooth outbound in the evenings, has done since the days of the ~6PM train and the MK2Ds.

    It's also the reason why Enterprise trains cannot stop anywhere betweenn Drogheda and Connolly - with R/D restrictions one could stop at Howth Junction (to allow a more direct Howth-Belfast journey for example), or any place a Luas or Metro might cross the Northern Line in future.
  3. There will be plenty of trains to carry people to Maynooth at that time. Only a small number of trains between Conolly and Maynooth would be affected.
  4. Noone would be banned from doing a Connolly-Maynooth rat run, but they'd have to have a ticket to/from Mullingar.

Last edited by sean : 05-11-2009 at 19:20.
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