Celebrate 150 years of Cobh rail services: family fun day on Saturday 10th March 05

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Originally Posted by Inniskeen

Interestingly this is an average load of about 35 passengers per train, more obviously on some services, less on others ! Trains don't have to be stuffed to the rafters for a service to be deemed successful.

The service on the Cobh line has improved significantly in recent years. It is good to see numbers growing again after a significant dip from the 2007 peak.

While the general economic situation hasn't helped, the opening of Midleton is the big factor in numbers declining after 2007.

You see a bigger initial drop than other lines around the country, but then it picks up faster.

How Irish Rail assign passengers to lines is a bit of a mystery, but it seems clear that some, if not all, Little Island and Glounethaune passengers were counted in the Midleton figures after it opened.

In the absence of other evidence, it's probably reasonable to assume that they are 50-50 between Cobh and Midleton trains. My experience of the line is that they are the second and third busiest stations, after Cobh itself. Perhaps no wonder considering they actually get quarter-hourly service during peak hours.