GSR 800 Posted July 4 Posted July 4 29 minutes ago, jhb171achill said: Several points; after decades of conservative rule over thyere, gopvernment investments in any public infrastructure projects is not exactly littered with largesse; and in order to try to counteract conservative votes, like in many other countries, the parties who represented the left are veeriong more and more towards insipid silence, mediocrity, and hand-wringing; witness the Dems in the USA too, who are now considerably mo9re right-leaning than pre-Reagan republicans! But to stick to the railway theme, the British still are "good" at railways, just perhaps not so much in some areas, though arguably a great deal better in others. None of the preceding posts are really about the railways themselves, or to back to topic, the Enterprise. Ever since railways had to be nationalised some 75 years ago, as a result of not being able to pay their way as businesses, they have been entirely dependent on state funding. Investment in railways, or lack of it, is a matter for a government - be it a British, Irish, EU or Timbuktooean one; rather than a lack of any will or skill within the railway itself. A big problem you have is that the state has lost a lot of the wherewithal to build public infrastructure, having privatised everything during the neoliberal revolution of the 80s. You can see this here in Ireland. We're pretty good at building roads; there are always roads being built. But we haven't built big infrastructure projects like hospitals or railways, and so they often end up being expensive disasters with a great degree of rent seeking going on. Interestingly, Madrid built a metro system very successfully by effectively designing the construction around the election cycle so politicians could 'cash in' on various tranches of the metro being completed (say a section built every 5 years, lined up with election cycles). A pragmatic solution! I'd argue the tide has shifted, at least in Britain (and many other European countries), toward the state having a more significant role in the ownership of public goods. The slow beginnings of this can be seen in the UK with renationalisation (the clunkily named Great British Railways) along with the constant backlash against private water, utility companies etc. Britain suffers the pioneers curse. First to do it, stuck with ancient infrastructure (Same as ourselves!) and thus restricted by it. It comes with advantages of course, they have an enormous expanse of underground tunnels since the 1860s, whereas some 50 years after proposal, all we have to show for our metro is part of the airport designed to accommodate and 500 million euro spent on nothing. Onto the Enterprise. The Belfast main line is one of, if not the busiest line in the country, with its southern terminus being the most busy station in the country. With major improvement works comes major delays, so on and so forth. Ultimately, I think they may have to just bite the bullet and go either quad track or with a separate HSR running in parallel. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but it certainly cannot continue as is. Widening the viaduct up towards Clontarf and onward would be a 19th century slightly suspect railway developers job! The US is a different kettle of fish of course. 3 Quote
Mayner Posted July 5 Posted July 5 I guess the big question is whether demand for Commuter and Intercity passenger services will continue to increase in this era of instability and technological change. In Wellington and to a lesser degree Auckland rail passenger numbers dropped significantly in recent years despite significant rolling stock and infrastructure investment https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360717804/frustrations-all-round-train-patronage-plummets#:~:text=Train trips taken on the,during the past financial year. While the article writes about road improvements (Transmission Gully), reliability issues and more working from home, fewer people are now commuting to work in Wellington as a result of public and private sector cuts/redundencies--estimated 5000 Public Sector redundencies in the City since 2023. When I worked for a Irish Government agency over 20 years ago, the policy was to "de-centralise" Departments and Agencies from Dublin to the Provinces until someone realised the potential economic shock of transferring several thousand public servants and their families from Dublin to the Provinces. Ironically although based in Head Office in the days before high speed internet, I teleworked successfully from home for several years using a dial-up free phone number only visiting the office when absolutely necessary. One of the main issues with remote working is the impact of empty office blocks on the Financial Sector (Pension Funds, Insurance Companies) and city centre cafe's and other retailers. Back in the 90s when I worked in the UK construction sector my next project was to be the re-development of the Bullring (Birmingham) following the successful completion of the Watford Harlequin Centre, unfortunately our client a major UK Insurer made a £100m underwriting loss the previous year as a result of the "Great Storm of 1987" and I was out of work and the project indifinitely postponed. I returned to Ireland several years later during which I stuck mainly to industrial and warehousing projects, with one 'final" Dublin office block several years before the Irish Commercial Property bubble burst in 2009. Having weathered two property recessions the Irish Public Sector appeared more stable! Interestingly following the debacle with the "Mini-CTC project of the Mid 90s--IE designed and managed the majority of its infrastructure projects in-house using specialist contractors where necessary, PW & SE (Signalling and Electrical) in house. Interestingly a Drogheda track gang carried out the Heuston track layout re-modelling having successfully completed the Northern Line upgrade, though like the MK3 Carriage builders of the 1980s, I guess many of the people the managed and carried out the infrastructure improvements of the late 90s-20s have retired. One of the more interesting aspects of returning from the UK in the 90s was the capability of Irish design and engineering firms and civil engineering contractors to undertake large and complex projects as a result of a combination of work undertaken with both Irish and Overseas clients, there is not a lot of difference from a civil engineering/construction project between building a road and a railway. Roadbridge an Irish firm successfully carried out civil works on the UKs HS2 2 Quote
GSR 800 Posted July 5 Posted July 5 (edited) 6 hours ago, Mayner said: I guess the big question is whether demand for Commuter and Intercity passenger services will continue to increase in this era of instability and technological change. In Wellington and to a lesser degree Auckland rail passenger numbers dropped significantly in recent years despite significant rolling stock and infrastructure investment https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360717804/frustrations-all-round-train-patronage-plummets#:~:text=Train trips taken on the,during the past financial year. While the article writes about road improvements (Transmission Gully), reliability issues and more working from home, fewer people are now commuting to work in Wellington as a result of public and private sector cuts/redundencies--estimated 5000 Public Sector redundencies in the City since 2023. When I worked for a Irish Government agency over 20 years ago, the policy was to "de-centralise" Departments and Agencies from Dublin to the Provinces until someone realised the potential economic shock of transferring several thousand public servants and their families from Dublin to the Provinces. Ironically although based in Head Office in the days before high speed internet, I teleworked successfully from home for several years using a dial-up free phone number only visiting the office when absolutely necessary. One of the main issues with remote working is the impact of empty office blocks on the Financial Sector (Pension Funds, Insurance Companies) and city centre cafe's and other retailers. Back in the 90s when I worked in the UK construction sector my next project was to be the re-development of the Bullring (Birmingham) following the successful completion of the Watford Harlequin Centre, unfortunately our client a major UK Insurer made a £100m underwriting loss the previous year as a result of the "Great Storm of 1987" and I was out of work and the project indifinitely postponed. I returned to Ireland several years later during which I stuck mainly to industrial and warehousing projects, with one 'final" Dublin office block several years before the Irish Commercial Property bubble burst in 2009. Having weathered two property recessions the Irish Public Sector appeared more stable! Interestingly following the debacle with the "Mini-CTC project of the Mid 90s--IE designed and managed the majority of its infrastructure projects in-house using specialist contractors where necessary, PW & SE (Signalling and Electrical) in house. Interestingly a Drogheda track gang carried out the Heuston track layout re-modelling having successfully completed the Northern Line upgrade, though like the MK3 Carriage builders of the 1980s, I guess many of the people the managed and carried out the infrastructure improvements of the late 90s-20s have retired. One of the more interesting aspects of returning from the UK in the 90s was the capability of Irish design and engineering firms and civil engineering contractors to undertake large and complex projects as a result of a combination of work undertaken with both Irish and Overseas clients, there is not a lot of difference from a civil engineering/construction project between building a road and a railway. Roadbridge an Irish firm successfully carried out civil works on the UKs HS2 For Irish Rail, passenger numbers are booming. https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/06/24/cie-passenger-numbers-climbed-to-pre-covid-high-during-2024/ https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/belfast-to-dublin-train-numbers-jump-50-since-introduction-of-hourly-services-LIBSFAPPKBAIHFTKNONSBJYPPU/ Public transport as a whole has increased quite significantly: https://www.transportforireland.ie/news/its-thanks-a-million-from-nta-as-passenger-numbers-surge-to-a-new-high/ Every intercity train I've been on, no matter what the hour, has been near or at capacity, often crammed with people standing. IR has been trying to keep up with demand but the infrastructure bottlenecks are leading to delays. I think someone suggested terminating Sligo services at docklands, honestly may have to happen to relieve Connolly at some point to allow for improvement works. The question of 'will this last' economically is always a wise one to consider, but despite 'work from home' commuting continues to rise and rise. Many in my generation would not want to work from home full time (I certainly would not!) Ultimately even if it all went tits up, the Belfast line will still need significant works as is. My experience is not in infrastructure projects, but Irish Rail does a lot of refurbishment and improvement work in-house, with the assistance or inclusion of contractors. Other projects are left to contractors entirely. Like all things it comes down to finding good people to do the job. I am far more optimistic about continued strong demand for rail transport across the nation than anything else. I am more pessimistic that infrastructure will be built to accommodate. A no-brainer would be double-tracking to Mullingar or even Longford. Delays at Maynooth and Killucan 'waiting in the loop' add an extra 10-15 minutes to every journey at least. Every bridge is built to accommodate it, though many of the rail bridges (over roads) were singled and would have to be replaced. No need for expensive land acquisitions. With Dart+ West this will become even more necessary; you'll be stuck behind a Dart out as far as Maynooth, time will have to be made up thereafter. Perhaps someday the long-suffering Midland will get the love it deserves! Edited July 5 by GSR 800 2 1 Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 5 Author Posted July 5 07:50 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Grand Central due 09:58 07:50 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Grand Central due 09:58 is being delayed at Drogheda and is now expected to be 25 minutes late. This is due to being delayed in Irish Rail. Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 6 Author Posted July 6 Following Belfast/Dublin services will now not be Enterprise trains today, 6/7....they will be replaced local 6 piece trains - this means there will be no First Plus & catering will be limited; 10:05 & 16:05 Belfast to Dublin 12:50 & 18:50 Dublin to Belfast Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 7 Author Posted July 7 2 hours ago, airfixfan said: Who knows as they are increasingly unreliable As long as the 1000 Ex Belfast and 1500 ex Heuston don't give trouble I am ok!! Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 7 Author Posted July 7 Just found out the 1650 ex Dublin was terminated at Portadown last night and 2005 ex Belfast started in Portadown but unsure why. Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 7 Author Posted July 7 Left Belfast now, done some slow running north of Lisburn now beginning to crawl again... Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 7 Author Posted July 7 2 minutes ago, GSR 800 said: 12.50 today was DD 9003 + 207 Quote
GSR 800 Posted July 7 Posted July 7 21 minutes ago, IrishTrainScenes said: 9003 + 207 233 sitting spare on the slab Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 7 Author Posted July 7 16 minutes ago, GSR 800 said: 233 sitting spare on the slab Seen it Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 7 Author Posted July 7 220 at Cork Kent this evening. Does anyone know if its heading tomorrow? Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 11 Author Posted July 11 Any idea of which 201s are spare in Belfast and Connolly atm? 231 was there yesterday Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 12 Author Posted July 12 Saturday 2nd August - Monday 4th August Engineering works will take place between Malahide and Dundalk on Saturday 2nd Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th August. There will be NO train service between Malahide and Dundalk. Enterprise Service: will operate between Belfast and Dundalk, bus transfers will operate between Connolly / Drogheda / Dundalk, Train will operate between Dundalk / Newry / Portadown and Belfast. Enterprise services from Connolly station are advanced by 30mins. The last Enterprise service from Connolly will operate at normal time departing at 20.50hrs. Saturday 2nd August 05:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central is cancelled 06:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 06:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 07:50 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 07:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central is cancelled 08:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will operate as and will be bus transfers departing at 08:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 09:50 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 09:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central is cancelled 10:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 10:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 11:50 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 11:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central is cancelled 12:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 12:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 13:50 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 13:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central is cancelled 14:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will operate as and will be bus transfers departing at 14:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 15:50 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 15:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central is cancelled 16:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 16:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 17:50 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 17:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central is cancelled 18:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 18:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 19:50 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 20:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will operate as and will be bus transfers departing at 20:50 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 22:17 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central, calling additionally at Lurgan and Lisburn to set down only 06:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate as and will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 07:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly is cancelled 08:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 09:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly is cancelled 10:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 11:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly is cancelled 12:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate as and will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 13:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly is cancelled 14:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 15:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly is cancelled 16:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 17:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly is cancelled 18:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate as and will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 19:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly is cancelled 21:00 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate as 8 DeDietrich, is advanced to 20:00 and will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly Sunday 3rd August 08:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 08:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 09:51 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 10:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 10:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 11:51 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 12:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 12:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 13:51 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 13:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central is cancelled 14:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 14:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 15:51 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 16:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 16:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 17:51 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 18:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 18:20 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 19:51 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 20:50 Connolly to Belfast Grand Central will be bus transfers departing at 20:50 from Connolly to Drogheda and Dundalk, train departing at 22:17 from Dundalk to Belfast Grand Central 08:05 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 10:05 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 12:05 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 14:05 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 16:05 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 17:05 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly is cancelled 18:05 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly 20:05 Belfast Grand Central to Connolly will operate to Dundalk only, bus transfers from Dundalk to Drogheda and Connolly Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 12 Author Posted July 12 Folks there is nearly a 1000min delay on the Enterprise 13:00 Belfast Grand Central to Dublin Connolly due 15:15 13:00 Belfast Grand Central to Dublin Connolly due 15:15 is being delayed at Drogheda and is now expected to be 995 minutes late. This is due to a train fault. Additional Information: This service has been delayed at Drogheda due to a train fault. Engineers are currently attending. 1 Quote
hurricanemk1c Posted July 12 Posted July 12 38 minutes ago, IrishTrainScenes said: Folks there is nearly a 1000min delay on the Enterprise 13:00 Belfast Grand Central to Dublin Connolly due 15:15 13:00 Belfast Grand Central to Dublin Connolly due 15:15 is being delayed at Drogheda and is now expected to be 995 minutes late. This is due to a train fault. Additional Information: This service has been delayed at Drogheda due to a train fault. Engineers are currently attending. It was 2 minutes early into Drogheda, a minute late leaving and on-time into Connolly 1 Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 12 Author Posted July 12 1 hour ago, hurricanemk1c said: It was 2 minutes early into Drogheda, a minute late leaving and on-time into Connolly Translink were being quite excessive then! 1 Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 12 Author Posted July 12 Due to weather conditions there will be a speed restriction on the rail line between Lisburn and the border ... as a result delays are to be expected to trains operating on the Lisburn & Dublin lines. Quote
jhb171achill Posted July 12 Posted July 12 I'm in the car till further notice, by the looks of it! Quote
Broithe Posted July 12 Posted July 12 4 hours ago, IrishTrainScenes said: Translink were being quite excessive then! I had a situation once in Stafford station. I was picking up an old dear who was generally a bit scatty, but we usually coped. There were hourly trains from Euston then, with a single stop in Rugby. I had a call from her daughter to say that she was on the train due to arrive at 7pm. I arrived at the station a few minutes before 7, just in case it was on time, and heard the announcement of its impending arrival, so I was on the platform as it rolled in and the doors opened. No sign of her. Knowing the chap on the platform, we quickly agreed to a quick scan of the train, from each end, as he knew her from previous events. We met in the middle and agreed that she was not on it and all toilets were vacant, so we let the train off. We were going to the office to alert Rugby, as she must have got off there by accident - not an impossibility and she was on the train when it left and not on it when it arrived at the second station stop. This seemed to be the only possibility. We were discussing this, and the possibility that Rugby could alert the local cops there, if she wasn't found in the station area quickly, when another staff member casually mentioned that that hadn't really been the 7pm train, but was actually the 6pm one which had been conveniently exactly late enough to 'look right'. So, she was still on the train, but still a good hour away, sitting on a stationary train looking at some fields somewhere. Another minute or so and we would have initiated a search, or two, and I would have informed her daughter of the apparent situation... 1 2 Quote
airfixfan Posted July 13 Posted July 13 (edited) Then there is the Translink train strike planned for Friday 18th and Saturdsy 19th No trains will run as the signalling staff will are walking out well timed for the Open in Portrush! Edited July 13 by airfixfan Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 13 Author Posted July 13 3 hours ago, airfixfan said: Then there is the Translink train strike planned for Friday 18th and Saturdsy 19th No trains will run as the signalling staff will are walking out well timed for the Open in Portrush! Not confirmed yet? Quote
airfixfan Posted July 13 Posted July 13 3 minutes ago, IrishTrainScenes said: Not confirmed yet? Not yet the Unions will walk out on these dates unless they get the pay rise they want. Public Holiday in NI on Monday and Tuesday as well. Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 13 Author Posted July 13 3 hours ago, airfixfan said: Not yet the Unions will walk out on these dates unless they get the pay rise they want. Public Holiday in NI on Monday and Tuesday as well. Keep us posted! 18 hours ago, jhb171achill said: I'm in the car till further notice, by the looks of it! As it turns out the 1300 was a DD? Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 14 Author Posted July 14 206 ran to Dublin yesterday while 208 came back Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 17 Author Posted July 17 Services will operate a Saturday timetable this week The 07:50 Dublin - Belfast will depart at 07:40 & operate approximately 10mins earlier throughout its journey. The 06:00 from Belfast - Dublin will depart at 06:00 & operate approx. 9mins earlier throughout its journey. Quote
IrishTrainScenes Posted July 17 Author Posted July 17 On 13/7/2025 at 10:30 AM, airfixfan said: Not yet the Unions will walk out on these dates unless they get the pay rise they want. Public Holiday in NI on Monday and Tuesday as well. Looks like we'll be ok Quote
airfixfan Posted July 17 Posted July 17 Trains in NI due to run normally next 2 days with minor disruption possible Quote
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