Timetable Changes for Mullingar commuters

[lambo77]

I see that the 7:33am service will be brought forward to 7:26am when the new timetable start in Jan. The train will now start in sligo and not longford.
Will it now be likely that the train will be full by Mullingar and that commmuters will have to stand all the way to Dublin each day. Its an absolute joke!!!. Irish rail must have went to the same organisational skills course as the FAI.

[Mark Gleeson]

Thats a very narrow view, since the service now runs non stop Maynooth Connolly massively reducing the overcrowding previously experienced so it will be a drastically more comfortable journey for all

The Sligo Connolly service will have more seats than the current Longford Connolly, its earlier arrival will be of benefit to many

It is a serious improvement, there is more than 1000 extra capacity on the Maynooth line, and thats with no one standing on the Sligo train

[spuncy]

I think Lambo is trying to say that the train will now be fuller by the time it reaches Mullingar, so we have less chance of a seat. In my experience, whenever I have taken the 8.44 from Mullingar (Sligo-Connolly), I have been standing all the way.

The Longford train is currently an 8 carriage train and usually has people standing from Maynooth. Will the train from Sligo be a 10 carriage train or something? How will it have extra capacity (from a Mullingar commuter's point of view)?

The earlier arrival is also a myth, since most people taking this train disembark at Tara St. or Pearse. On arrival into Connolly, we will have a 13 minute wait to get further southbound, negating the benefits of direct from Maynooth.

I think a lot of Mullingar commuters are aggrieved at the service, which has been going way down in the last few years. I know everyone is having issues with IE, but specifically for me is the fact that I pay 2.5 times as much for my ticket as a Maynooth person, yet get far less trains - no early trains to get to 8am "breakfast meetings", no late trains, the last of which leaves at 7pm. Also, no access to all the inner hop stations with our point-to-point tickets etc.. In fact, I almost look forward to the cramped conditions from Maynooth-Pearse so that the carriage warms up a bit! (I used to drive up and take the train from Clonsilla in, so I know how frustratingly annoying it is to have to stand in cramped conditions, though)

[John J]

Lack of seating could be a problem especially on Mondays.
Bear in mind though that in the days of the Cravens-operated Sligo early bird, the train had only 3 carriages, or less than 200 seats - leading to drastic overcrowding.

I'd be hoping for more capacity this time...
Mind you I wouldn't rule out IE running a 3-car 22K set on this service just to be awkward. Hope I'm wrong.

The fact that the train doesn't arrive in Dublin until 8.47 might put off some people who have to be in college / work for 9.00 in more far flung parts of the city.

I hope this new train will run to schedule.
I caught the old Sligo early bird almost every week, and it never seemed to be on time... causing chaos for commuters on the Maynooth line.
This time, I hope IE have bought new and very loud alarm clocks for all staff and gatekeepers along the route.

[Mark Gleeson]

Many people boarding in Longford do so since the train does not start from Sligo, from January they will board at their local station

Current the train calls every station to Dublin, from January it does not call at any station after Maynooth much will massively reduce the crowding problem making it a more comfortable trip

The Sligo train will have more seats than the current Longford train, not many more but more

It will be a brand new Intercity Railcar with all mod cons including a power socket at every seat, proper tables, luggage racks, catering trolley the full deal, even seat reservations will be possible

It will be a shorter journey as well

The cravens experience of 3 years ago is irrelevant that was with 40+ year coaches which didn't like cold mornings and the old unreliable signaling, now its modern train, modern signaling

On ticketing options, there is a giant hop ticket valid all Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann services within the zone, if its not available on taxsavers simply contact them and ask them to add it to the system. Likewise it is possible to get Mullingar to Lansdowne Rd (or any other station in the country) monthly or annual, again if its not on the taxsavers system, contact them and they will upload the option onto the system

The service offered to Mullingar now is incredibly good compared to say 10 years ago, more trains, modern trains, new track. The service has improved massively the problem is the demand to use the service has skyrocketed as a result of the ridiculous housing situation. No one wants to go back to the mid 1990's service

The later train issue is the big issue we cannot believe that it has not been sorted

[spuncy]

Thanks for the info, Mark.

No-one is disputing the fact that these new-fangled carriages will be more comfortable, but, as a commuter (not an intercity once-off traveller), I want to spend as little time commuting as possible and get home in a timely fashion - that's much more important to me than catering facilities. As for over-crowding, that is not a concern to anyone who gets on the current 7.33 train from Mullingar as we are almost guaranteed to get a seat.

This thread is more about how the new timetable will erode some of the improvements for Mullingar commuters. We do have it better than some but worse than a lot of others.

For Mullingar->Connolly commuters, there will be an improvement in time (15 mins or so). However, the majority of Mullingar people I see disembarking from the train do so at Tara St. or Pearse (anecdotal evidence only). Any Mullingar->other stations between Maynooth and Connolly now have to disembark in Maynooth and wait 10 mins for the all-stops. I reckon this affects 10-15% of Mullingar people in my carriage. For the rest of us, a layover of 13 mins in Connolly waiting for southbound services negates the time benefit. In fact, it would be quicker for me to walk to Pearse. Glad I am paying €2350 for that privilege

Also, we now have the risk of standing all the way from Mullingar to Connolly. I suspect that there's a good chance we won't be standing, but even once a week or fortnight is far too much relative to never. The main reason I take the train over driving is to get some work done with the laptop. However, IE's penchant for filling the trains to the gills with passengers standing does not bode well for Mullingar, Enfield and Kilcock commuters.

As for the fact that the newer commuter trains and the new intercity trains are far more advanced in 'signalling', why are there are considerably more delays on the line? Now, I'm not a train signalling expert, but surely if you have total control over all trains and signalling systems in the whole network, the decision to constantly let the all-stops to Maynooth get out in front of the 1800 Longford service maybe 3-4 times a week suggests the signalling is not the issue, but the scheduling systems. In fact, the new timetable has BUILT IN the delays frequently experienced in the service: 1800 Connolly to Longford arriving in Mullingar at 1914 (was 1910), but it is rare we arrive in at 1910.

You mention that the problem with this line is the demand due to the ridiculous housing situation. I'm sorry, but by saying this, you are legitimising this 'excuse'. County council, city and local planning authorities allowed this development to happen. The Government allowed this to happen. If this was 5 years ago, I'd be all for giving them a chance to sort it out. However, it's 10 years since this thing started and 3 censuses later. We see it with the M50 fiasco - "Oh, but there are just too many cars! OMGWTF!?!". The people in charge of this have no joined up thinking, and like to trot out this excuse to protect themselves. They need to stop scrambling for this defence and do their jobs - jobs they are well paid to do. So the real underlying problem is IE's inability to respond to the change in an adequate way.

Do we have numbers from IE on the passengers at each station etc.? I'd love to be able to examine their reasoning for these changes..

Finally (sorry for the long post), thanks for the info on the Giant Hop. I do get the taxsaver as far as Lansdowne, since this is as far as the point-to-point goes without increasing the price. Does the Giant Hop cost the same as this point-to-point ticket? Because, as far as I know, for Maynooth commuters it does (for the Inner Hop).

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by spuncy

For Mullingar->Connolly commuters, there will be an improvement in time (15 mins or so).

Any Mullingar->other stations between Maynooth and Connolly now have to disembark in Maynooth and wait 10 mins for the all-stops.

Surely these cancel each other and people get there earlier or same time as previously? And are more likely to have a seat.

Originally Posted by spuncy

For Mullingar->Connolly commuters, there will be an improvement in time (15 mins or so).

For the rest of us, a layover of 13 mins in Connolly waiting for southbound services negates the time benefit. In fact, it would be quicker for me to walk to Pearse.

So, again nobody is worse off?

[spuncy]

Well, I suppose my main gripe is the potential lack of seats on reaching Mullingar rather than the extra time taken. What I heard a few months ago was that Mullingar was to get a new direct train in the mornings. I didn't see any mention of it starting in Sligo at the time, though. So I was already starting at a level of great expectation!

Surely these cancel each other and people get there earlier or same time as previously? And are more likely to have a seat.

So, again nobody is worse off?

Arrives at the same time in Pearse, alright. But have to be in Mullingar station 7 minutes earlier to catch the train. Mullingar commuters are guaranteed a seat on the current train, so this situation has disimproved for us. Good news for Maynooth commuters and Sligo travellers. I doubt there are many daily Sligo commuters though.

I reckon that 60-70% of Mullingar commuters taking this train will be worse off. Not by much, of course, but add the extra changes, the extra time, the constant delays etc together and things don't seem to be improving from our point of view. Again, the major issue here could be seating - and that means I won't get work done that I have been doing for 2+ years now on the train.