New Sligo Trains

Gillie

There are some dodgy spots along the Sligo route so probably better off.

Anyway 3 hours isn't bad!

flynnser19

its bad wen ya do it twice a week and then have to get on a bus wen ya get to dublin on a friday lol!!!they need to try and shorten the journey!!!people dont bother visiting the west because its such a long journey!!half the stops on the sligo line noone EVER gets on them!!!

genie

Apart from the condition of the line, aren't there too many stations on the route to be able to reach speeds of up to 100mph?

I hope they bring the 'Early Bird' train back too, as I used to use it a lot.

Gillie

flynnser19 wrote:

its bad wen ya do it twice a week and then have to get on a bus wen ya get to dublin on a friday lol!!!they need to try and shorten the journey!!!people dont bother visiting the west because its such a long journey!!half the stops on the sligo line noone EVER gets on them!!!

I wouldn't agree with your point about ppl visiting the West!
What ppl exactly?
I would find Dundalk as inaccessible as you find Sligo i'm sure!
Would you not get the train from Dundalk and switch over at connelly?

Gillie

genie wrote:

I hope they bring the 'Early Bird' train back too, as I used to use it a lot.

Why/when did it stop?

Tiesto

i think the new train looks pretty nice.. i dont like the way they look so plasticy but.... still so much better than what we had..
not the German ICE tho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANB-yZIJP6o&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0PCXyDAVd4

genie

Gillie wrote:

Why/when did it stop?

Last year, it seems.

http://www.oceanfm.ie/onair/sligoleitrimnews.php?articleid=000001650

It only goes from Longford now. There wasn't a buffet car/trolly and it was quite often freezing but it did get you into Dublin by 8:30am.

Gillie

Yeah I remember it. Very handy alright.

You were lucky to get a Buffet car/Trolley on a normal service as I recall not to mention lucky to just get there!

flynnser19

Gillie wrote:

I wouldn't agree with your point about ppl visiting the West!
What ppl exactly?
I would find Dundalk as inaccessible as you find Sligo i'm sure!
Would you not get the train from Dundalk and switch over at connelly?

thats what i would do!!there's loads of tourists wanting to see the west im sure they dont look forward to the 3 hour journey like??!well dundalk is accessible from most places tbh belfast,monaghan,dublin,newry, drogheda i dunno how many mroe all have direct routes to it as does galway and maynooth actually so its accessible enough. but that wasnt my point i was just saying that the trip to sligo is long for a college student who lives in the east thats all!!i dont want this to get into an argument over who's town is better!!

tuppence

genie wrote:

I hope they bring the 'Early Bird' train back too, as I used to use it a lot.

I was thinking that but the other way round. I have a friend who lives near Dromad and works in Sligo and would happily get a train to town if he could but he cannt. First one does'nt leave him in til 11 or so, i think. There must be plenty of people in the surburban belt of Collooney, Ballymote, Boyle and Carrick that would avail of a commuter train to Sligo to get in for 9am? (Will these train timetables help him do you reckon?)
Ye all know the Thom Moore song about the train to Sligo. Certain there couldnt be too many Irish lines that have a song about them. He will have to launch the new trains when they arrive.

Gillie

flynnser19 wrote:

thats what i would do!!there's loads of tourists wanting to see the west im sure they dont look forward to the 3 hour journey like??!well dundalk is accessible from most places tbh belfast,monaghan,dublin,newry, drogheda i dunno how many mroe all have direct routes to it as does galway and maynooth actually so its accessible enough. but that wasnt my point i was just saying that the trip to sligo is long for a college student who lives in the east thats all!!i dont want this to get into an argument over who's town is better!!

No arguement my friend! Just wanted clarification.
Its a point that's close to my heart!
There is very little option when it comes to travelling in the west.
There are a lot more options when it comes to travelling in the east.

However give me the back roads any day over the M50/Toll Bridges!;)

Victor

genie wrote:

Apart from the condition of the line, aren't there too many stations on the route to be able to reach speeds of up to 100mph?

Not really a problem. Stand on the platform at Malahide (only a few km from Portmarnock) and you'll see the Enterprise whizz through.

The real problem with the Sligo line is the alignment, with lots of bends and a few dated bridges.

genie

Victor wrote:

Not really a problem. Stand on the platform at Malahide (only a few km from Portmarnock) and you'll see the Enterprise whizz through.

The real problem with the Sligo line is the alignment, with lots of bends and a few dated bridges.

I see. Thanks.

Tiesto

i think missing somEthing here..
all the stops,bus transfers, delays that i had to go through the few times I used the train over the last few years.. and all this talk about them spending millions on upgrading the lines.....

eh for what if the fricking new train cant even go a sluggish 100mph on the most of the route

easkey

Yes I must say it is a nice train.
Hope more nice things come to Sligo:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Captain Chaos

Tiesto wrote:

i think missing somEthing here..
all the stops,bus transfers, delays that i had to go through the few times I used the train over the last few years.. and all this talk about them spending millions on upgrading the lines.....

eh for what if the fricking new train cant even go a sluggish 100mph on the most of the route

It was the signaling system that was upgraded on the Sligo line in the last year. If you want to increase line speeds the signaling system must be brought up to spec first.

In all fairness the SLigo line needs to be rebuilt form Maynooth to Sligo, double tracking, less bends and replace the bridges. Not going to happen in our life times.:D

Gillie

what he said.
Be thankful for the new carraiges! We're lucky to have em!

dingding

Was it not converted to welded track and concrete sleepers a few years ago.

The main reason it takes 3 hours is the number of stops.

There should look at including a number of express trains with reduced stops.

Also the bus departures match the train departures very closely, perhaps if they were to stagger the bus times by an hour it would be better.

Captain Chaos

The reason for the stops aswell is to let a train pass in the opposite direction as most of the line in single track and only double at some stations.

If there were less stops there would be less trains in each direction.

There are also Commuter trains that run between Connolly and Maynooth to work around and the conjestion at Connolly that also delays the Sligo trains.

cartoncowboy

They would want to replace that bridge over the Shannon where the train slows to about 5mph. ****ten meself everytime it goes over it. With all the money being thrown at it this must be on their list. Surely the ability to whizz over that bridge would shave a few mins off the journey but IE would probably pad the timetable anyway to cover their asses to say they are punctual! :mad:

dingding

Last time I was on the train it seemed to tilt to one side going over one of the shannon bridges as if part of the foundations, embankment had been washed away.

Also if they had a hourly service, a train would only meet 2 trains meeting it if it had reduced the time to under 2 hours. Probably would only necesitate 2 stops carrick and mullingar.


The dublin comuter stations could probably be sorted out by clever timetabling.

At the moment there is no justification for all the stops between longford and Sligo. It is worse than the shannon stopover.

Gillie

I got the early train to Dublin on Friday and I have to say it flew by for me.
I can't really argue with 3 hours journey time!

I would be wary of suggesting that the train shouldn't stop at stations between Sligo and Longford.
That train is a lifeline to a lotta ppl in Collooney, Boyle, Carrick and Dromad.
There is not a huge amount of ppl getting on at those stations but it is still necessary!

They are not going to continue the WRC to Collooney because they feel that the numbers don't justify it.

I would hope the same thing wouldn't happen to the stops between Sligo and Longford.

SligoBrewer

are the new carraiges in service yet?

AlmightyCushion

SligoBrewer wrote:

are the new carraiges in service yet?

I got the train yesterday and they weren't using the old carriages.

magnumlady

AlmightyCushion wrote:

I got the train yesterday and they weren't using the old carriages.

Really? Was it the brand new train? If so what was it like?

AlmightyCushion

magnumlady wrote:

Really? Was it the brand new train? If so what was it like?

Oops. I'm half asleep here. I meant to say they're not using the new carriages. Sorry to get your hopes up.

magnumlady

You'e forgiven, Monday morning and all that. Saves me a trip to Dublin anyway.:D

GG66

I suppose wifi access would be too much of a leap?

I used to travel by train a lot until those commuter trains were dumped onteh sligo line. With a decent table I could have 3 hours work done by the time I got to Dublin and watch a DVD or play games on the way back.

Good to see the tables are back, seats don't look too comfy though. Now give me Wi-Fi

dingding

or 3G, wonder what is the coverage is like accross the line.

AlmightyCushion

Wi-Fi is out and wouldn't really be suitable for a train service but iarnrod eireann have talked about impementing wimax which is a much more suitable solution (it's basically wifi over miles instead of metres).

One problem I forsee with them rolling out somethink like wimax is that they's charge a fortune (more than a euro or two) for it and no one would use it.

As for 3g access, I have a three phone (as far as I know they have the best 3g coverage in the country) and there isn't much 3g coverage along the track. You'd get it in some places, mullingar I think is one, but given that most of the track is in very rural areas, I can't see it getting much better.