Dublin to Cork in One Hour

[StevieB]

The May Railway Magazine carries a story that Cork Chamber (CC) has submitted a proposal to the Government recommending that journey times between Dublin and Cork be reduced to one hour, as opposed to the current average of 2hr 35mins!

 

Stephen

[Mayner]

I wonder if China is offering to build a TGV to establish a presence for CNR in Europe?

[Weshty]

160mph?? Good luck with that. I'd settle for some second hand 125s.

[Junctionmad]

whats the point, one hour on the train , another three to finally get to your destination in Dublin , pointless

[Noel]

The May Railway Magazine carries a story that Cork Chamber (CC) has submitted a proposal to the Government recommending that journey times between Dublin and Cork be reduced to one hour, as opposed to the current average of 2hr 35mins!

 

Stephen

 

160mph?? Good luck with that. I'd settle for some second hand 125s.

 

Agree - wishful thinking by Cork Chamber!!!

 

To achieve an average speed of 160mph between Dublin and Cork, a max cruising speed of nearly 200mph would be required. In addition to either quad track all the way or many more high speed passing loops to facilitate the other slower traffic, not to mention the removal of all vegetation, hedge rows and trees within safety distances of the existing line, requiring gazillions of € in CPOs from property owners. The aerodynamic suction effect of a passing 200mph train has to be seen to be believed.

 

We simply don't have the population size nor density to economically justify any high speed rail links on this physically small island. The money might be better spent converting the old DSER to quad track from Bray to Malahide junction and/or a Heathrow express style non-stop link between Dublin Airport and Heuston+Connolly.

 

Nice idea though to run existing mk4 sets with pairs of 125 like power units. Faster and lighter.

[jhb171achill]

Typical opportunist rural politicians' drivel, like the Sligo - Letterkenny - Derry fast freight line devised by some amadán up there years ago.

 

They'd be better off campaigning for better rural health and post office services.

[StevieB]

It may sound an obvious thing to say but it is not how fast, but rather how slow, you go that determines journey times. In both our countries railway operators have settled for the semi-fast train, and have forgotten about the non-stop train. To get the best journey time between Dublin and Cork, or anywhere else for that matter, elimination of speed restrictions is the answer. Without allowing for acceleration and deceleration, 100 mins would be the minimum time achievable, say 2hrs in reality.

 

Stephen

[Noel]

It may sound an obvious thing to say but it is not how fast, but rather how slow, you go that determines journey times. In both our countries railway operators have settled for the semi-fast train, and have forgotten about the non-stop train. To get the best journey time between Dublin and Cork, or anywhere else for that matter, elimination of speed restrictions is the answer. Without allowing for acceleration and deceleration, 100 mins would be the minimum time achievable, say 2hrs in reality.

 

Stephen

 

Current signalling is also a limiting factor with traffic sharing lines and the numbers of block sections.

[Colin R]

Typical opportunist rural politicians' drivel, like the Sligo - Letterkenny - Derry fast freight line devised by some amadán up there years ago.

 

They'd be better off campaigning for better rural health and post office services.

 

 

I heard about this a couple of years ago and I recall at the time replying asking for what people though.

 

I got a reply on the lines that part of the old County Donegal and Londonderry and Lough Swilly trackbeds where to be used with part of the disused GNR(i) from Strabane to Derry was the preferred route.

 

Never did hear anymore after that. But it would make a great back story for an imaginary 3ft gauge railway.

[hurricanemk1c]

At present, a non-stop start-to-stop time for Dublin to Cork is about 2 hour 5 minutes from memory. Add in what is actually required to make a timetable work and you get 2 hour 15