Great Days Out on Irish Railways

[Del.Monte]

Had my big day in Court on Tuesday last and apart from the delights of experiencing Third World travel on the Luas Red Line (to and from Smithfield Stop) the low point was the interminable inter-city return journey from Connolly to Enniscorthy. The train crawled out of Connolly at 16.33 and I doubted it reached more than 30mph until south of Greystones!

Apart from the mind blowing pace of the train - even the all stops DART travels faster between stops - the depressing vista of continuous graffiti all the way from Connolly to Greystones would suck the life out of you. Anything that doesn't move has been attacked - schools, private houses, stations, lineside equipment, mileposts, the poles holding up the overhead wires, the new mural on Lansdowne Road stadium and the highpoint is reached by the desecration of Lord Cloncurry's towers and associated works at Maretimo (south of Blackrock). The route should be a showpiece for Dublin and Irish railways but instead it is a holy show!

Back in 1948, there was no graffiti and the train journey to Bray including 14 stops could be done in 52 minutes behind steam - on Tuesday it took 48 minutes with only three stops on an ICR 22000 series railcar/sardine can. This was not a one-off experience and is a regular occurrence - certainly every time that I have used the train in recent times. I know that I have mixed two issues here but everything about the service and the state of the route is beyond a disgrace.

[marhay70]

Not apples and apples though. Del, In 1948 the timetable to Greystones was as you see it, i.e. one train on the line every half hour or so and that was sufficient for the population. The case today is totally different with a surging population all along the line, the frequency of the trains has increased exponentially but the infrastructure, as in the permanent way, has stayed virtually the same and really there is not really much chance of improvement. So it's really a case of too much traffic for the available space.
As for the graffiti, spray paint didn't exist in 1948, whereas corporal punishment and Borstal did.

[marhay70]

Not apples and apples though, Del. In 1948 the timetable to Greystones was as you see it, i.e. one train on the line every half hour or so and that was sufficient for the population. The case today is totally different with a surging population all along the line, the frequency of the trains has increased exponentially but the infrastructure, as in the permanent way, has stayed virtually the same and really there is not really much chance of improvement. So it's really a case of too much traffic for the available space.
As for the graffiti, spray paint didn't exist in 1948, whereas corporal punishment and Borstal did.

[Del.Monte]

Not apples and apples though. Del, In 1948 the timetable to Greystones was as you see it, i.e. one train on the line every half hour or so and that was sufficient for the population. The case today is totally different with a surging population all along the line, the frequency of the trains has increased exponentially but the infrastructure, as in the permanent way, has stayed virtually the same and really there is not really much chance of improvement. So it's really a case of too much traffic for the available space.
As for the graffiti, spray paint didn't exist in 1948, whereas corporal punishment and Borstal did.

I'm well aware of the increase in population and increases in frequency of services but the intercity service has been very much more the poor relative in the new scheme of things whereas in pre-DART days it took precedence. The Belfast route is suffering the same problem to a lesser extent. The only solution put forward by a variety of people - most of whom don't use the service - is to terminate Rosslare services in Bray and force everyone to change onto the DART.

There's another interesting 'innovation' in that 1948 timetable stating that certain trains for Rosslare calling at Dun Laoghaire would only pick up passengers for south of Greystones - presumably to avoid commuters crowding a mainline train. Of course now that station staff are an endangered species that would not be possible, but as anyone who uses the present service will know there's frequently quite unpleasant overcrowding caused by the train being used by commuters for Dun Laoghaire and Bray piling on in Connolly, Tara Street and Pearse. The bottom line is that the Connolly/Rosslare services are overpriced rubbish as they currently operate.

[marhay70]

Iarnrod Eireann are really only interested in filling trains, I nearly said filling seats but that goes without saying.
I live in the hinterland of Gorey and I have often experienced the crush on the Inter City trains, this has increased since the introduction of the new railcars as they rarely seem to have enough carriages. I remember speaking to a guy on the train one day who said he had been a railway engineer in Canada, and his explanation was that it was only discovered after the first units were delivered that the hill from Wicklow to Rathdrum was a limiting factor in the amount of carriages that could be attached. I don't know how true this is but I wasn't in a position to dispute it, you would probably have a better idea. It would certainly not surprise me given the history of fcuk ups in IE and in the Public Service in general.

[Del.Monte]

The restriction to a maximum of 4-piece railcars is due to platform lengths at Rathdrum which cannot be extended due the viaduct. If the wretched, noisy, over-lit, tin cans had been ordered with Selective Door Opening (which the driver operates) this would not be a problem. In short, it is a safety issue and retro-fitting of SDO to the railcars is not planned as I understand it.

[Del.Monte]

Today I had to leave my comfort (?) zone and venture from Enniscorthy as far as Gorey to physically top up my bank account as my electronic transfer on Friday had failed to materialise. The ATM at the station still won't accept €50 notes but I was ready for the wretched machine this time and successfully purchased a ticket. The Inter-City railcar appeared on time, and quite well filled, if only because it was just three carriages long!

It had been quite wild and wet earlier but my luck was in and I made the bank just in time to avoid getting caught in a shower. I hadn't been at the bank branch since before the pandemic and the remaining counter had been replaced by more ATMs for which there was a small queue. The queue was in part caused by a business customer making a seemingly endless lodgement - he was still there when I left - and my lodgement was protracted as I had to be shown how to use the machine and then I put in the wrong code with my card as it ages since I last used a bank ATM. Even when the assistant did the whole thing for me it still took at least twice as long as a human teller would have done. I was told that's just the way things are. The ultra secure double set of doors were locked open as there was cash being delivered from a security van....

Anyway, I departed with plenty of time to kill before my return train - a tour of the town's bookshops and half a dozen charity shops was uninspiring and the whole place seems to have gone down a lot since my last visit. I'm old enough to remember when Gorey was a place with tumbleweed blowing through it and the only reason to stop there was for an ice cream or to fill up with petrol. I headed back for the station and on the way spotted an unlikely survivor from the the days of the Raj....a fine Edward VII wall postbox still in use... if needing a bit of TLC. It cheered me up no end as I like postboxes nearly as much as trains.



Back at the station, with its three-quarter empty car park, a few people including a girl - on the wrong platform - a wheel chair user and two of the 'unwell ' as Joe Duffy calls them waited for the train. Luckily the showers had passed as there's no shelters are one platform and on the other all the shutters were down including the ones at the toilets. Glad that I decided against a quick pint in French's - an oasis in the miserable town. And so back to Sunny Enniscorthy ten minutes late - wheel chair loading problems I suspect - a pleasant enough run in the setting sun with flooded fields on either side and a nice close-up of a buzzard on a gate post.

[Del.Monte]

Rediscover the Joy of the Train

And so it was that another escape from the Sunny South East was required yesterday (22nd Dec.) and in preparation I went onto to Irish Rail's wonderful website to book a ticket. I do this primarily to avoid using the unreliable ATVMs at the station. However, the online booking wouldn't work for my chosen journey and I was forced to use the dreaded ATVMs yesterday morning.



One of the two machines was out of change and the other was reluctant to accept my €20 notes but I was not to be beaten and had enough different notes to feed the brute. All this watched over by a not particularly friendly railway employee who stabbed his thumb on a phone number on the machine when I complained - "contact them!"

Anyway, the train arrived, few if anybody masked and a good deal of coughing. I lasted until Wicklow and then moved to the corridor where I have learnt that if you stand close to an external door there's a slight draught of air due to faulty seals. Off at Pearse, followed by a brief walk to Dawson Street Luas Stop and onwards to Milltown. Extraordinary Luas trams have opening windows and are marked - please leave open due to Covid - perish the thought that CIE could manage a few opening windows on their trains. This was a problem with people passing out due to overcrowding on trains years before Covid ever appeared but nothing changes and all their multi-million Euros order of new carriages are being delivered as hermetically sealed tin cans. Good old CIE - Cram In Everybody.



Neglected Victorian postbox at Milltown Stop - another stiff letter to An Post on its way.

My friend dropped me back to Dun Laoghaire in good time to catch the 13.33 departure from Connolly only it didn't depart! The wretched thing failed and had to be replaced by another set which departed half an hour late. Under normal circumstances this would not have been a problem but for my friend's hospitality - two cups of coffee combined with a freezing station meant that the need for a wee was becoming urgent! Dun Laoghaire station serves a population of 233,457, according to the 2022 census, and boasts a closed down coffee shop, a burnt out station buffet (latterly Hartley's Restaurant) and NO toilet facilities. Some years ago there were toilets but they were popular with pondlife, druggies etc. so instead of securing them for normal members of society CIE put a padlock on the door.



I remembered noting the toilets at Bray were open on the way up so grabbed the last southbound DART running in front of the delayed Rosslare train. A close run thing it was too, bailed out at Bray and into the disgusting toilets, bags set down on the only dry spot and relief. Back out and across the footbridge just in time to catch the 3-piece ICR which was rammed. Stood all the way back to Enniscorthy....the high point (?) of the trip was the Customer Services Officer offering passengers sweeets from a tub of Cadbury's Roses - I declined as I am cheap but not that cheap!

So, all in all another Memorable if not Great Day Out with Irish Rail.

[Del.Monte]

On further research it appears that the 'burnt out restaurant' may have reopened - I didn't go round to the front of the building yesterday but it appeared derelict from the station. http://hartleys.ie/ I still remember if from the good old days when it was a CIE station buffet with stale cheese sandwiches.