226 Abhann na Suire

Oh no yes I’m aware the new trains will almost 100% be identical to the new DARTs, I was more including the picture of the 231s for the red and white Cork colours as a livery option!! I do agree though hopefully we get some Flirts at some point, I see it being quite likely too, given what a flexible design they are, being adaptable to many different gauges and power supplies! A good option for the Enterprise replacements in my opinion…

Absolutely brilliant new timetable!! Very buzzed personally to see a much later 20:20 Heuston to Waterford service and a 20:20 Waterford to Heuston service in the evenings too! A great addition and one much needed by Waterford residents! No more day trips to the big shmoke being curtailed by the last train home at 18:25!! A pre-09:00 arrival from Heuston into Galway is another great addition as well as two new Galway to Dublin services: 09:05 and 20:50! Icing on the cake is hourly Enterprise services from October 7th too with services transferring to Grand Central on August 25th. The October 7th timetable will see clock-face xx:50 departures from Connolly to the north from 05:50 until 18:50 with a 20:50 evening service too. Unfortunately departures from Belfast are not exactly hourly clock-face departures (annoying for the OCD but a third world problem really… just would have been nice to have!) but are more or less on the xx:00 mark from 06:02 until 19:02 with a later 21:02. Worth nothing some services depart on the xx:00, some on the xx:02, and some on the xx:56. Pre-09:00 arrivals to both cities finally as well though! Of note as well is the addition of half hourly Cork to Cobh and Midleton services on Saturdays too with an improved Sunday timetable, the official addition of Kishogue to the PPT timetable as well as some services starting from Connolly instead, and other minor timetable alterations around the network. An excellent timetable change overall though and it’s great to see IÉ putting their money where their mouth is for their customers with stuff like this!

Irish Rail have confirmed that the Enterprise will be operating from Grand Central from August 25th and an hourly timetable with pre-09:00 arrivals into both cities to come on October 7th Very exciting news and a long overdue but big step in the right direction for cross border rail! Just a shame that while the Belfast bound trains are clock face departures at the xx:50 every hour, the Dublin trains out of Belfast are not… would’ve been a nice touch I wonder why they weren’t able to do that…?

It was thought about!! The company that restored the Waterford and Suit Valley Railway, when formed in the late 1990s/early 2000s, had 3 options in mind, the line to New Ross, the line towards Dungarvan (which they went with) but were also highly considering the Tramore line! Would’ve been amazing but I think with the track gone and little to no remains of any sort of right of way, it was deemed to difficult to do. Still, would be very cool if anyone on this forum has a few million euros lying around…?

I could be wrong but I thought Manor Street had a run around loop outside of the trainshed (if you’d even call it that…) Not sure though… definitely were a few sidings though with one at the southern end of the station dropping down to the road on Bath Street for road access for removing the locos for maintenance. The AECs were delivered here too. Such a shame that it closed. I’m a Waterford native and the bus route that replaced it is jam packed at all hours of the day, especially in summer so the train would have done a roaring trade if supported by a local Tramore route that brought people into the station. I’ve already wondered would it have been connected to the network somehow if still around…? Probably not given that a large tunnel seems to be the only option of doing so… Still the line would have been an excellent test-bed for the new battery DARTS and in ideal candidate for electrification too! Very sad that it’s gone it was such a unique piece of railway infrastructure And hats off to you @GSWR for such a project! I’m jealous you got around to it before I did but please keep us all posted!! A couple of Studio Scale Models J26s and a Silverfox AEC will look gorgeous on it!!

Rest in peace Dave, and condolences to all of his family and friends

Hi all, just a couple of musings about Luas Lucan, just said I’d put them here to at least get them out of my muddled brain! I’ve been looking over the plans for the Luas Lucan Line and I’m a bit confused. The line seems to have an ideal alignment from Adamstown as far as Ballyfermot but I’m unsure as to the route plan from there. I’ve seen plans where the Lucan Line is treated as a branch off of the Red Line (joining at Blackhorse all the way into the city) but I think this should be avoided at all costs as all they can possibly do is decrease frequency to Tallaght, Saggart and Lucan - shooting oneself in the foot! I have wondered why a Phoenix Park or Chapelizod Road option has not been considered, something similar to below (drawn on in yellow) as a stop in the park as well as at the Zoo and on Parkgate Street could be built with the line then crossing the Liffey adjacent to the Sean Heuston Bridge with a connecting station at Heuston and path-sharing with the Red Line to the top of Steven’s Lane before heading down James’ Street and into the south city. I wonder though if there are regulations about putting it through the Park…? It doesn’t serve a lot of populated areas either no matter which route you go here, and while the park option would be good, the Chapelizod Road option would travel around 3 kilometres without a stop which is probably a waste of tram line… And maybe the bridge over the Liffey Valley here is just too elaborate… However, the best plans I have seen is where it meets the Red Line at Blackhorse, heads up Tyrconnel Road and through Inchicore and along Emmett Road before meeting again at James’s and sharing track for 50 metres before continuing on James’s Street towards Christchurch (drawn on again in yellow below) I have seen plans that suggest it just joins the Red Line instead between Blackhorse and James’s before before continuing on James’s Street towards Christchurch which would (with capacity enhancements on the road-segregated section in question here, be doable) but I still think the above option is preferableI as it a) opens up new areas to Luas access and b) minimises shared corridors to maximise frequency. And finally I do think that rather than ending it at Trinity (a bit of a middle of nowhere stop transport-wise) a continuation out Townsend Street to link with DART and Metro at the southern Townsend Street entrance to Tara Street Station (in front of the planned Metro stop), and maybe even on down Pearse Street and to the Bord Gáis/Grand Canal or even out as far as Poolbeg and Ringsend (Metro included in dark purple) Just a couple of general musings/ideasI thought I’d share with regards to it as it would be a great asset and a very useful 3rd line for the city if done right!

@Barl thanks a million!! Hopefully the powers that be take as much of it onboard (pun very much intended) as possible and we might have a halfway decent rail network on our hands soon enough…!

Grand Central to open for August 25th???

Blarney, Dunkettle and Kilbarry make a lot of sense to open first but Water Rock and Carrigtwoohil West..? There doesn’t seem to be an any existing development around those two areas. Although maybe they’re being tackled and built ahead while they’re doing the Midleton doubling, killing two birds with the one stone and so forth. Ballynoe actually already has housing very near to it and if they end up putting it halfway between Carrigaloe and Rushbrooke, would end up being right beside the ferry terminal to Passage West which could be an even further kind of transport catchment, maybe a sail-rail ticket into Kent…!! Interesting though that not all trains will run all the way to Mallow… I suppose it will already be served by Dublin-Cork trains every 30 minutes in the peak but surely some will go that far so as to give it a decent service. Where will they put the end-of-line charging equipment though, Blarney or Mallow..? I remember seeing an artists impression of the 3 stations north of Kent and they’d be a Kildare-style slewed outer platforms with a bi-directional fast track down the centre… would be nice to see a Clongriffin-style station though, but just any kind of station is progress! And a big park and ride off the N20 will also be great… just hope they don’t do an M3 Parkway job and place it AFTER the toll bridge… (side note but does anyone know does M3 Parkway get healthy usage…? I’d like to hope it does…) I presume these will be the exact same as the new DARTS for ease… If so though what with the DART having its green and white livery, I wonder will they get a special red and white livery… Yes that’s probably a good point about Tivoli, I have no idea about any development plans either I was just guessing where it would go but I’d say you’re right, the east end of the docks makes most sense both in terms of new and existing development. And yeah North Esk is perfect for the Park and Ride. I do believe that Park And Ride Station parking in this country should be free and subsidised by the government in favour of people switching to electric trains but that’s a whole other kettle of fish

I have to say, while I would be inclined to be somewhat cynical about these kinds of things, this is brillaint progress. Stations at Blarney and Blackpool make perfect sense and will attract many commuters, and the new Transit Oriented Development at Monard will also be great. I presume the station and associated large residential development at Tivoli will be on the currently unused old docklands to the south of the Lower Glanmire Road? I’ve attached two map images of where I’m guessing the station and development here and the P+R station at Dunkettle will go… In terms of the order of construction, I presume Blackpool/Kilbarry, Blarney, Dunkettle, Tivoli and Ballynoe will be the 5 to be constructed first as they are the 5 that currently have a transport significance, ie some form of development already there or a large P+R opportunity and catchment with Monard, Water-Rock and Carrigtwoohil West to be built when their respective developments are kicking off…? With regards to a depot, the docks at Tivoli could be a good location although might impact on the development as a 150 carriage depot would need to be quite large… Monard could be an ideal location; near or beside the proposed station, accommodation for the workforce in the town and a good location in terms of the network. All in all a very exciting project and one which I do think will progress well! Construction due to start on Glounthaune to Midleton imminently apparently so it would make sense to just keep going with the projects. One thing I do wonder about though is how they’ll built the 3 stations north of Kent to minimise impact on Dublin-Cork service which are expected to be half-hourly, at least in the peak by the time all of this is done. Maybe Clongriffin style stations, with the two stopping platforms and tracks on the outside while the two through lines pass through the centre…? Just where I’m guessing the new stations at Tivoli (centre) and Dunkettle (right off-centre) will go. If Dunkettle is built on the North Esk yard (makes perfect sense in my opinion) then with the new arrangement of the Dunkettle interchange, car access to the Park and Ride will be very easy from the M8 and N25

Good location by the looks of it! Pretty close to a lot of amenities and also while I’m a pretty populated area, there’s space to the immediate sound and north of the line and beyond for transit oriented developments! Great to see more investment in the Limerick commuter system! Stations at Adare and the specially Dooradoyle on the newly built Foynes line seem to me like a huge missed opportunity, Dooradoyle being a highly populated area currently underserved by public transport. A park and ride station out by the N24/M7 junction by Castleroy was being floated a while ago too, is that still on the cards…? Moyross is definitely progress so hopefully we see more similar projects pop up around Limerick, in conjunction with doubling to Ennis and Limerick Junction!

I could be missing something but I always hear talk about how it’s not straightforward to run plonk down a platform at Adare and run passenger services to Limerick once in the morning and evening? And the same with why passenger services (temporarily until the M3 Parkway extension is eventually built) and even RPSI specials can’t use the Navan line…? Freight trains are far more heavy than passenger trains so it can’t be a track weight issue… So what’s the problem with having to supposedly ‘upgrade’ a line to accommodate passenger traffic? Because the Foynes line when reopened would have some amazingly ideal locations for new purpose built TOD (transit oriented development) commuter towns for Limerick city…

I have to say I’m not completely opposed to graffiti (as long as it’s on a plain wall and not the side of a train…) as it can brighten up otherwise plain walls but I also concede that regularly that walls that they ‘brighten’ up are walls that the owner doesn’t want ‘brightened’ up and then has to pay to have it cleaned. I do think however that an excellent way to stop potentially vulgar or unslightly graffiti-ing on large wall spaces where it’s not wanted is for the local council to commission artists to paint murals on those walls. A Waterford native myself, the Waterford Walls project has led to many many murals like these popping up (legally) on otherwise bland walls and has really brightened up the city and can actually act as a way for the graffiti-ists to do something constructive with their spray-paints!!

It’s nearly a year at this stage since the draft came out, I wonder what’s taking the final report so long…

Oh thank god hahaha I’ll be glad to see that go that’s for sure!

That’s brilliant!! Very exciting and they look very very well indeed! I was never mad about the orange triangle on the cabside of the artist’s impression images so I think this new livery looks much better without it. A few queries though, does anyone know is there an immediate confirmed plan ready to go for the next phased order of trains…? I presume they’re waiting for the Maynooth depot to be built and line electrified before they order the next batch…? And where will this fleet be maintained between now and the Maynooth depot coming online? Does anyone know how the fast charging at Drogheda before the return journey will work…? The article says it’ll take ‘under an hour’ but with a proposed every-10-minute service, is this really doable? They do look brilliant though and I have to say charging points at every seat is a huge plus too! And with their longer distance battery capabilities and wide scale operation, for once Ireland is out in front for public transport infrastructure!!

Surely a Jeep…?

That’s intriguing, wow!! Just goes to show that what a bit of outside the (signal) box thinking can do!!

RPSI steam jaunts down the DSER seem to be cursed of late!! I know last years ‘Sea Breeze’ only made it beyond Greystones and the few the previous years also didn’t make it the whole way. I wonder what it is?? The ghost of Brunel…?

Extra crew, yes, and that was possibly where the problem arose. Then again, a two car train arguably doesn’t need a conductor, now for the Nenagh branch where at the time, ticket machines were few and far between, a guard would be how lots of people got tickets, but today I don’t see why you couldn’t you could get away with two drivers, one for each set. All the uncoupling though as far as I’m aware was done from the cabs of the units so no staff needed there. Again though not 100% sure

I know that 2700 units used to be used in pairs on a Limerick to Nenagh service around the turn of the century where once reaching Nenagh, the set would split with one half continuing to Ballybrophy with the other half returning to Nenagh. Not sure why they stopped doing this kind of service, would be a great idea for these kinds of lines, ie Waterford to Clonmel and on to Limerick Jnct with one half returning to Waterford…

And you’d wonder if with the year that’s in it will a retro 201 be to follow…?? A few more retro liveries would be great to brighten up the network!

Is there an official timed service…? Surely the RPSI would run a special you’d think? Awful shame that the 111’s are no longer passenger-stock-certified, would’ve been the perfect outing for them

Not a bother Derek, happy to help if I can. Ohh ok that’s weird, I’m not sure what happened there then, there’s not much to the videos though I was just demonstrating the sound it makes but looking at the video you have on the other thread, the sounds are similar. Yes I’d say you’re dead right, it’s likely down to the controller. I’ve had a similar sounds off of other locos before so I presumed it was just the way certain locos sound on DC and didn’t see it as much of a problem, and to this day all of my stock runs perfectly. Do any of your other stock, MM or otherwise have similar issues? Ahh ok well that’s it then I’d say! Thanks a million for the help Dave, case closed!!