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Unread 16-08-2010, 14:07   #77
Alan French
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Join Date: Dec 2008
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Thanks, Dermo88.

In 1972 I gave a talk to the Engineering Society in Trinity College about train timetables, and I referred to the old line via Dungarvan (closed only 5 years earlier) as a prime example of how a line could fail because of a bad timetable - a point that consultants always failed to notice.

The history of that period shows some parallels with today's issues. The Rosslare-Cork express, as you say, ran three days a week from October to March (approx), because that was when the ships sailed. For the other six months this was increased to six days a week, and in July and August, a second train ran to connect with a second sailing. These trains stopped at the stations you have listed, plus three others. Connections for the Limerick direction were sporadic.

There were several smaller stations; these were served by the 07.15 Rosslare-Cork, which arrived with not much time to spare before it returned about 13.30, serving Waterford at 17.45. So the small stations didn't get a decent day return service to Cork.

So, apart from this one stopping train, all eggs were in one basket - the ferry connections. No attempt was made to develop a Waterford-Cork inter-city service (which could have been done with no extra resources). For ten months of the year, someone living in Dungarvan couldn't make a day return trip to Waterford.

After the closure in 1967, the express trains were diverted via Limerick Junction, still about the same times. One other train per day ran Limerick-Waterford and back. The stopping train survived east of Waterford, to become the present Rosslare-Waterford commuter service.

1973 was a good year for timetable improvements generally. On the Limerick Junction-Waterford section, the service became twice a day, and now it catered much better for internal journeys, while still providing reasonable connections with ships. This what we are aiming to do now. Trains ran to/from Limerick now instead of Cork, but I don't regard this as too serious, because there were connections for Cork, and the journey time was only slightly longer. At least day return trips were now possible to Limerck or Waterford, which was an improvement! For the first year, the Limerick-Waterford trains actually had a basic catering service on those days that they were boat trains.

In 1975 the rot set in, when they cancelled the morning train between Limerick Junction and Waterford for most of the year. Now the 07.10 from Rosslare (which carried commuters and ferry passengers) terminated at Waterford, with no onward connection. The loss of day return opportunities made sure that the remaining trains would now carry less passengers. And so it remained for 28 more years.

So, like today, there were periods when some imagination was used in planning timetables, and periods when none at all was used.
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