[Traincustomer]

(My apologies, I did not realise there was a 10,000 character limit)

The (numerous) disbenefits of the new timetable: (aka ”What could have been done/what very knowingly needs to be done”):

(i) Removal of the evening journey to Enniscorthy. (It would be easy to address this by running the 1720 ex Waterford to Wexford upon arrival at Rosslare Europort. It could briefly stop at the platform prior to going to the loop in advance of the arrival of the 1630 ex Dublin. Upon departure of the 1930 to Dublin it could return to the platform and operate in service to Rosslare Europort. This measure would also retain a connection from/to the evening ferry arrival/departure respectively for passengers along the line through counties Wexford, Wicklow and onto Dublin.

(ii) Unattractive fragmentation of the afternoon Limerick Junction to Rosslare Europort train into two separate trains with a quarter of an hour wait required at Waterford. (Why can this train not continue to operate as a through service from Limerick Junction to Rosslare Europort?)

(iii) Discontinuation of the 0935 Waterford to Limerick Junction train, the most useful train of the day in terms of offering connectivity from the Co. Wexford stations, thereby effectively dismantling and realistic onward journey opportunities from Co. Wexford to stations west of Waterford towards Limerick, Cork and Kerry.

(iv) Longer waits for connections at Limerick Junction to/from several trains.

(v) Longer waits at Waterford to/from all trains.

(vi) Continued lack of connection between afternoon Dublin – Kilkenny – Waterford train and solitary Waterford – Rosslare Europort train. Currently the 1505 Dublin – Waterford arrives at Waterford at 1740, a mere six minutes after the departure of the Co. Wexford train. Under the new timetable the 1510 Dublin – Kilkenny – Waterford reaches Waterford at 1733, a mere thirteen minutes after the departure of the Co. Wexford (Rosslare Europort) train. There are three platforms at Waterford. Why is this not possible?

(vii) Continued lack of through Waterford – Limerick trains.

(viii) Aside from the Co. Wexford – Waterford commuter train, the continued lack of any train which reaches either Waterford or Limerick in time for a typical work/college day.

(ix) The slightly earlier departure time of the Waterford-Co. Wexford commuter train (1720 from the current 1734) may be inconvenient for a few.

(x) Continued lack of any Sunday service.
Ending on a positive note, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that the visionary (my view) 0710 Waterford – Carlow – Heuston two hour city to city service, if very successful may be replicated e.g. a 0830 Waterford – Heuston, arrive 1030. Apart from its Waterford catchment market, such a train would offer a very fast link from the South Wexford stations to the capital with obvious attendant increased patronage. It’s time Rosslare – Waterford was seen as an integral part of the network and developed fully with confidence.

Legislation should also be enacted to remove any potential for deliberately downgrading any line through prescribing a minimum level of service connections that must be maintained and specifying that waits for particular connections must be within certain windows of time. Such conditions might read along the lines of ”there must be at least one through train or connection daily (M-S incl.) in each direction between Rosslare Europort and Limerick; whether provided by connecting trains, through trains or a combination thereof the wait time at any station must not exceed 45 minutes.” Now if we had such criteria we could rest sound at night so to speak safe in the knowledge that timetable changes will not be the upheavals that they are currently.

You may also wish to see also post ”A need to reconfigure Waterford and Wexford stations?” *** See Mark's post which address these points