Irish Railway News ‘Enterprise Watch’

[IrishTrainScenes]

1 minute ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

Two hourly initially.

By any chance do you know anything about GC?

[airfixfan]

Hourly service from October 7th. You will be able to arrive in Belfast/Dublin before 09.00 for the first time ever. August 26th looks unlikely thanks to DFI red tape plus the new signalling system!

[IrishTrainScenes]

25 minutes ago, airfixfan said:

Hourly service from October 7th. You will be able to arrive in Belfast/Dublin before 09.00 for the first time ever. August 26th looks unlikely thanks to DFI red tape plus the new signalling system!

?

[airfixfan]

Agreed today to push back the opening for train services until mid September.

Edited August 9 by airfixfan

[IrishTrainScenes]

Due to an earlier train fault, the 14:39 Portadown to Dublin Connolly and the 16:50 Dublin Connolly to Portadown will be formed of 6 coaches. 

First class not available. Catering is reduced.

 

[jhb171achill]

On 8/8/2024 at 6:44 PM, NIRCLASS80 said:

Two hourly initially.

My guess is - for a good while.

There has been talk of (a) hourly services and (b) 90 minute services* for at least a third of a century.

Think budgets, necessary tax, costs, votes, and the gombeens that we persist in voting for, with zero incentive to plan long term. ZERO.

Result: ain’t gonna happen unless the EU (hopefully) forces us to.

 

(* With ever increasing journey times due to said gombeens having no interest in bulldozing north Dublin to create a 4-track line from Drogheda to Wicklow, expect journey times over said sections, no matter what tube-shaped “customer” train is operating, to take the same pedestrian times over the same sections, as the Dublin & Drogheda railway in 1844, and the Dublin and Kingstown railway in 1834; or possibly the donkeys before them!)

[NIRCLASS80]

6 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

My guess is - for a good while.

There has been talk of (a) hourly services and (b) 90 minute services* for at least a third of a century.

Think budgets, necessary tax, costs, votes, and the gombeens that we persist in voting for, with zero incentive to plan long term. ZERO.

Result: ain’t gonna happen unless the EU (hopefully) forces us to.

 

(* With ever increasing journey times due to said gombeens having no interest in bulldozing north Dublin to create a 4-track line from Drogheda to Wicklow, expect journey times over said sections, no matter what tube-shaped “customer” train is operating, to take the same pedestrian times over the same sections, as the Dublin & Drogheda railway in 1844, and the Dublin and Kingstown railway in 1834; or possibly the donkeys before them!)

Hourly services should be available about six weeks after the two hourly services being introduced 

 

Edited August 10 by NIRCLASS80

[Louth]

7 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

My guess is - for a good while.

There has been talk of (a) hourly services and (b) 90 minute services* for at least a third of a century.

Think budgets, necessary tax, costs, votes, and the gombeens that we persist in voting for, with zero incentive to plan long term. ZERO.

Result: ain’t gonna happen unless the EU (hopefully) forces us to.

 

(* With ever increasing journey times due to said gombeens having no interest in bulldozing north Dublin to create a 4-track line from Drogheda to Wicklow, expect journey times over said sections, no matter what tube-shaped “customer” train is operating, to take the same pedestrian times over the same sections, as the Dublin & Drogheda railway in 1844, and the Dublin and Kingstown railway in 1834; or possibly the donkeys before them!)

Well said. An hourly timetable is certainly to be welcomed but the obvious consequence is a service with even more delays than we have at the moment. This will become even worse with the DART+ extension to Drogheda. An elephant in the living room that must be obvious to all but is being studiously ignored by the NTA.

[IrishTrainScenes]

I was at Portadown yesterday to be greeted by a failed Enterprise set and an ICR (which I videoed). Was going to take a peek on the inside of the DD but my concerns about being found onboard a failed train prevented me from doing so

PS: the door was opened on 9213.

[IrishTrainScenes]

Also… @jhb171achill 0550 and 0750 ex Dublin will be ICRs. The 0650 ex Dublin will be DD.  EX Belfast 0602 will be C3K while the 0702 and 0802 will be DD. 1650 ex Dublin stables Belfast. 1750, ICR, returns as 2102. 1702 ex Belfast, ICR, stables Dublin. C3K works 1802 ex Belfast and back on the 2050.

[airfixfan]

4001 on test trains today Adelaide to the new Hub returned via City Hospital to Adelaide 

[IrishTrainScenes]

One does not simply think that it as silly that Irish Rail never gauged the Mk4s to Belfast. They would be smart for the hourly service? Mk4s could be used to boost hourly services on Sundays.

NOTE: No, I’m not off on a rant. Just explaining…

@jhb171achill hypothetically, what would you do if you saw a Mark 4 on the Enterprise taking you up north?

[jhb171achill]

10 minutes ago, IrishTrainScenes said:

 

@jhb171achill hypothetically, what would you do if you saw a Mark 4 on the Enterprise taking you up north?

I’d ask Nurse for different medication!

[Louth]

On 12/8/2024 at 9:46 PM, IrishTrainScenes said:

One does not simply think that it as silly that Irish Rail never gauged the Mk4s to Belfast. They would be smart for the hourly service? Mk4s could be used to boost hourly services on Sundays.

NOTE: No, I’m not off on a rant. Just explaining…

@jhb171achill hypothetically, what would you do if you saw a Mark 4 on the Enterprise taking you up north?

I'd wait for the ICR following on!!!!

[IrishTrainScenes]

Not Enterprise related, but…

 

Edited August 16 by IrishTrainScenes

[hurricanemk1c]

On 12/8/2024 at 9:46 PM, IrishTrainScenes said:

One does not simply think that it as silly that Irish Rail never gauged the Mk4s to Belfast. They would be smart for the hourly service? Mk4s could be used to boost hourly services on Sundays.

NOTE: No, I’m not off on a rant. Just explaining…

@jhb171achill hypothetically, what would you do if you saw a Mark 4 on the Enterprise taking you up north?

And where would all these spare Mark 4 sets come from, considering they are all diagramed for Cork services?

Nice - maybe. Practical - no

[Niles]

On 12/8/2024 at 9:46 PM, IrishTrainScenes said:

One does not simply think that it as silly that Irish Rail never gauged the Mk4s to Belfast. They would be smart for the hourly service? Mk4s could be used to boost hourly services on Sundays.

NOTE: No, I’m not off on a rant. Just explaining…

@jhb171achill hypothetically, what would you do if you saw a Mark 4 on the Enterprise taking you up north?

Getting type approval for new stock in Northern Ireland comes with its own paperwork hoops to jump through, it would involve considerable expense and manpower to get them certified for what would probably only be occasional use, as @hurricanemk1c points out they couldn't be regularly allocated without compromising the Cork service.

(It's been over 20 years since there was an 'anything goes' situation whereby IÉ could stock could run anywhere on NIR and vice versa).

Edited August 16 by Niles

[Tractionman]

just checked again for my trip on Aug 26 from Bangor to Dublin, and Translink inf is now updated to say

Enterprise Line Closure between Belfast Lanyon Place and Newry

Priority: normal

From Monday 26 August Enterprise will operate a new 2 hourly service

 

Bus Substitution services will continue to operate between:

• Belfast Lanyon Place to Newry

• Return trains from Dublin will connect with bus substitution services at Newry for Belfast Lanyon Place

• Enterprise Rail services will operate between Portadown and Dublin Connolly

[Tractionman]

Looking at the TT from Aug 26, from Portadown the Enterprise departures are indeed every two hours, at 08.30, 10.30, 12.30 etc.

I'll probably end up driving to Portadown and leaving the car at the P&R while I am in Dublin, for a few days, as I'll have my bike with me, to take on the train, and bikes are not permitted on the bus replacements...

[IrishTrainScenes]

20 hours ago, Tractionman said:

just checked again for my trip on Aug 26 from Bangor to Dublin, and Translink inf is now updated to say

Enterprise Line Closure between Belfast Lanyon Place and Newry

Priority: normal

From Monday 26 August Enterprise will operate a new 2 hourly service

 

Bus Substitution services will continue to operate between:

• Belfast Lanyon Place to Newry

• Return trains from Dublin will connect with bus substitution services at Newry for Belfast Lanyon Place

• Enterprise Rail services will operate between Portadown and Dublin Connolly

Fgs.

[IrishTrainScenes]

3 hours ago, Tractionman said:

Looking at the TT from Aug 26, from Portadown the Enterprise departures are indeed every two hours, at 08.30, 10.30, 12.30 etc.

I'll probably end up driving to Portadown and leaving the car at the P&R while I am in Dublin, for a few days, as I'll have my bike with me, to take on the train, and bikes are not permitted on the bus replacements...

I was informed that the line will reopen from 26 Aug.

[Tractionman]

Cheers @IrishTrainScenesI'm keeping a close eye on their website and social media, I'd pretty much given up hoping it'd be open by then.

[IrishTrainScenes]

I would expect one diagram come next week to temporarily be a railcar.

 

[airfixfan]

2 hourly service from August 26th to/ from Portadown. Will be September 22/23 before it runs to Belfast GC

Edited August 18 by airfixfan

[IrishTrainScenes]

2 minutes ago, airfixfan said:

2 hourly service from August 26th to/ from Portadown. Will be September 22/23 before it runs to Belfast GC

Isn’t the line to Belfast reopening that day?

[airfixfan]

Not until September 22nd at the moment

[IrishTrainScenes]

11 minutes ago, airfixfan said:

Not until September 22nd at the moment

Hourly service still commencing October 7th?  Or will that be six weeks later.

Six weeks after September 22/23;

November 3.

[airfixfan]

On 17/8/2024 at 11:05 AM, IrishTrainScenes said:

October 7th for the hourly service

 

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, IrishTrainScenes said:

Hourly service still commencing October 7th?  Or will that be six weeks later.

Six weeks after September 22/23;

November 3.

33rd Septober 2042 now confirmed as definite. Journey time just one hour from Grosvenor Road Grand to Clongriffin, and just under three hours from there to Clontarf Road.

[Tractionman]

14 hours ago, IrishTrainScenes said:

I would expect one diagram come next week to temporarily be a railcar.

 

The inf on use of railcars is still not updated for (from Aug 26) the 2-hourly timetable, eg there is a 10.30am departure from Portadown, not 11.06, so perhaps service this will be an ICR: 

Cross-Border Train Alterations - Passenger Information

Priority: normal

Message last updated at 11:51 on 07/07/24:

 

From the 3rd July onwards the following cross-border trains services will be operated by non-Enterprise trains and will be operated by Irish Rail InterCity Railcar (ICR).

 

Full catering services will be available, with limited capacity in 1st Class and restricted space for bicycles (2 spaces instead of the usual 4).  

 

Monday - Saturday 

07:35 Dublin - Portadown

11:06 Portadown - Dublin 

13:20 Dublin - Portadown 

16:39 Portadown - Dublin 

19:00 Dublin - Portadown

20:48 Portadown - Dublin 

 

 

 

 

[IrishTrainScenes]

45 minutes ago, Tractionman said:

The inf on use of railcars is still not updated for (from Aug 26) the 2-hourly timetable, eg there is a 10.30am departure from Portadown, not 11.06, so perhaps service this will be an ICR: 

Cross-Border Train Alterations - Passenger Information

Priority: normal

Message last updated at 11:51 on 07/07/24:

 

From the 3rd July onwards the following cross-border trains services will be operated by non-Enterprise trains and will be operated by Irish Rail InterCity Railcar (ICR).

 

Full catering services will be available, with limited capacity in 1st Class and restricted space for bicycles (2 spaces instead of the usual 4).  

 

Monday - Saturday 

07:35 Dublin - Portadown

11:06 Portadown - Dublin 

13:20 Dublin - Portadown 

16:39 Portadown - Dublin 

19:00 Dublin - Portadown

20:48 Portadown - Dublin 

 

 

 

 

All back to DD for a change!

[Tractionman]

1 hour ago, IrishTrainScenes said:

All back to DD for a change!

if it is, from Monday next week, it'll make things a bit easier for me with the bike!

[Tractionman]

On services using Grand Central, here's some news: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgjdrw7zp3o

 

[airfixfan]

Bus services start first Boyne Bridge goes next. Train services to start September 22nd

[IrishTrainScenes]

7 minutes ago, airfixfan said:

Bus services start first Boyne Bridge goes next. Train services to start September 22nd

Any ETA for removal of Boyne Bridge?