Park West/Cherry Orchard Station open today!

skywalker_208

Part of "The Kildare Route Project" it would seem. And still no trains to Meath (anywhere north of Enfield anyway)

We should all move to Kildare!

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-station-to-cut-city-travel-times-1446627.html

kelzer

IR have updated the station name to Park West in the station list but when doing a timetable search it does not recognise this station name. You have to type in the old name of Cherry Orchard and Park West!

IIMII

skywalker_208 wrote: »

We should all move to Kildare!

We should. Toll free heaven and passenger train paradise.

Mind you, I'm sure expectations tend to rise as is human nature, and we'd all soon be giving out about overcorwding on trains, wild cat strikes in Hueston, the 100kph speed limit on the three lane N7 etc

Still, it's an idea

dogmatix

ParkWest station has actually been open for about 2 weeks - it's just the "official" opening today. You know, so Noel Dempsey can get his mug in the papers. I got an invite to the opening but had to forego as tuesday is a working day...

Trains stopping at ParkWest are fairly limited at the moment but there will be more trains in and out when they upgrade it to four lanes.

patrickc

would be nice if eased some of the traffic off the Nangor road daily

anotherlostie

patrickc wrote: »

would be nice if eased some of the traffic off the Nangor road daily

Not a hope! For now. With one train every two hours (if you're lucky), there won't be that many people tempted away from their cars until the train is running every 15 minute late next year.

The only thing that might alleviate that traffic is the reopening of the bridge on the Station Rd, but that ain't going to happen til October. When this is open it will allow traffic from Park West to access Clondalkin village/ Nangor Rd via 9th Lock Rd, thereby removing some of that bottleneck where traffic from Park West Road, Oak Road and the Nangor Road all meet up.

DWCommuter

IR have updated the station name to Park West in the station list but when doing a timetable search it does not recognise this station name. You have to type in the old name of Cherry Orchard and Park West!

It gets better than that. The "roboannouncer" on the train still doesn't recognise the station. After leaving clondalkin it tells you that the next station is cherry orchard. Train stops in new station and then as it leaves it again tells you that the next stop is cherry orchard as it passes through the old station. Visual displays are the same. This is not me being picky, but it really shows you how incompetent this company is. Don't bother trying to engage with them either to complain or suggest improvements. They only engage with trainspotters. FACT!

We should. Toll free heaven and passenger train paradise.

Mind you, I'm sure expectations tend to rise as is human nature, and we'd all soon be giving out about overcorwding on trains, wild cat strikes in Hueston, the 100kph speed limit on the three lane N7 etc

Still, it's an idea

Did I not tell you this years ago.:D

kelzer

DWCommuter wrote: »

The "roboannouncer" on the train still doesn't recognise the station. After leaving clondalkin it tells you that the next station is cherry orchard. Train stops in new station and then as it leaves it again tells you that the next stop is cherry orchard as it passes through the old station. Visual displays are the same.

I believe the same thing happened when Adamstown station opened.

DWCommuter

kelzer wrote: »

I believe the same thing happened when Adamstown station opened.

It did. But you see Irish Rail are just so inept they can't even believe it themselves. They like to "look into things". They have never and will never get the little things right. And its those little things that make the bigger things work better. You know the old saying, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

kelzer

Does every train that stops at Adamstown now stop at Park West? Going by the Irish Rail web site fewer trains stop at Park West. Though it may take them a few weeks to "update the system".

Are the trains insanely over-crowded at this point (Park West)?

godtabh

I passed through the station this morning. Looked good. There was people waiting there at 7:30. Were they running a full service from there this morning?

markf909

I presume Dempsey took the ministerial merc to the opening today despite the station only being 6 minutes from Heuston according to the Irish Rail blurb.

Carawaystick

skywalker_208 wrote: »

Part of "The Kildare Route Project" it would seem. And still no trains to Meath (anywhere north of Enfield anyway)

We should all move to Kildare!

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-station-to-cut-city-travel-times-1446627.html

Laytown and Gormanston are quite a way north of Enfield, while Freight Trains to Tara Mines also go North of Enfield.

nearly Gawked my lunch as I heard Dempsey talking on the lunchtime news about it.

patrickc

anotherlostie wrote: »

Not a hope! For now. With one train every two hours (if you're lucky), there won't be that many people tempted away from their cars until the train is running every 15 minute late next year.

The only thing that might alleviate that traffic is the reopening of the bridge on the Station Rd, but that ain't going to happen til October. When this is open it will allow traffic from Park West to access Clondalkin village/ Nangor Rd via 9th Lock Rd, thereby removing some of that bottleneck where traffic from Park West Road, Oak Road and the Nangor Road all meet up.

i was wishful thinking I know. but one can dream.:pac:

penexpers

anotherlostie wrote: »

Not a hope! For now. With one train every two hours (if you're lucky), there won't be that many people tempted away from their cars until the train is running every 15 minute late next year.

And even then I don't think people will be tempted. Hesuton Station isn't really the city centre afterall.

monument

penexpers wrote: »

And even then I don't think people will be tempted. Hesuton Station isn't really the city centre afterall.

That'll be solved if / when the Interconector (or Dart Underground) is finished and Dart services are running from Kildare line to the Northern line via St Stephen's Green and other underground stations around the city centre area.

jon1981

monument wrote: »

That'll be solved if / when the Interconector (or Dart Underground) is finished and Dart services are running from Kildare line to the Northern line via St Stephen's Green and other underground stations around the city centre area.

well at least you have the luas there to get you the rest of the way.

A Dub in Glasgo

or a bus or walk

paulm17781

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

or a bus or walk

People who want to drive to their offices don't understand walking more than 5 minutes.

monument

Or cycle.

paulm17781 wrote: »

People who want to drive to their offices don't understand walking more than 5 minutes.

From what I can see, you'll be luck if they understand walking five minutes when (some) people think of driving and how that offers door-to-door transport.

I'd say - from talking to motorists and bus users - a large amount of Irish people vastly overestimated walking and cycling time.

Victor

Interesting station - the platforms are more than 50% covered making it eminantly suitable for Irish weather.

Turnstiles (a la Connolly) not in operation yet. In three sets for each set of platforms so not ideal. Platforms are a little dark under the road bridge / station building.

Bus stop should be right outside, but isn't.

Trains still think the the station is at the old location, so watch out that you don't miss you stop as the announcement is too late.

Platform 1 & 2: trains
Platform 3 & 4: canal boats

6 minutes from the M50 to Heuston ain't bad.

jon1981

the only gripe i have is that in the morning you have two options the ~7:30am or ~9:35 and like wise in the evening you have 3:30pm or around 5:45pm

not great options for 9 to 5 workers, but still, its nice to see an extra alternative for people in the area. you could potentially get into jervis st in 20mins combining both dart and luas, that aint bad.

kelzer

Victor wrote: »

Bus stop should be right outside, but isn't.

They should definitely relocate the bus stop of the 151 to beside the station, or have an extra stop there at least. Maybe that would take too much sense.

Victor

"its nice to see an extra alternative for people in the area." - its a replacement, not extra.

I don't think the 151 goes that ways - its the 79/a

BendiBus

Victor wrote: »

6 minutes from the M50 to Heuston ain't bad.

Especially compared to the 40 minutes the 79A takes accordng to the DB timetable!

KC61

jon1981 wrote: »

the only gripe i have is that in the morning you have two options the ~7:30am or ~9:35 and like wise in the evening you have 3:30pm or around 5:45pm

not great options for 9 to 5 workers, but still, its nice to see an extra alternative for people in the area. you could potentially get into jervis st in 20mins combining both dart and luas, that aint bad.

Until additional rolling stock is delivered, it's really the best that can be offered.

dogmatix

Victor wrote: »

"its nice to see an extra alternative for people in the area." - its a replacement, not extra.

I don't think the 151 goes that ways - its the 79/a

There is a working bus stop for the 79A beside the station.

Victor

dogmatix wrote: »

There is a working bus stop for the 79A beside the station.

Indeed, I used it yesterday. It should however be right outside - on the bridge - so that you can go from one service to the other seemlessly. Its also nice to be able to see the bus coming.

dogmatix

Victor wrote: »

Indeed, I used it yesterday. It should however be right outside - on the bridge - so that you can go from one service to the other seemlessly. Its also nice to be able to see the bus coming.

I would agree from a practical point of view but there might safety/legal issues with stopping at that point as it is practically on the brow of the hill/humpbacked bridge. If they where to put in a bus only layby it might help.

kelzer

I drove past this station this evening and was very impressed with the overall look and finish. The bus stop is very close to the entrance.

Why does the all the trains stopping at Adamstown not stop at this station? Parkwest seems to have a reduced service. I would have thought it would have an identical service to Adamstown.

Victor

Photos

New style platform shelter
General layout of station at platform level
Station front
View towards Heuston
Station sign
Climbing hazard
Falling hazard
Shop
General view of concourse
Ticket office
The next canal boat at platform 3
Northbound bus stop
Left entrance

IIMII

Nice station. I passed through Broombridge yesterday!

dogmatix

kelzer wrote: »

I drove past this station this evening and was very impressed with the overall look and finish. The bus stop is very close to the entrance.

Why does the all the trains stopping at Adamstown not stop at this station? Parkwest seems to have a reduced service. I would have thought it would have an identical service to Adamstown.

I don't think there are as many people living and working in ParkWest as in Adamstown. I have heard (and I may be wrong) that the frequency of trains stopping at the station will be increased over the coming year.

Now if they where to route the luas line F through ParkWest that would be great but I don't think it would ever happen.

Kinetic^

jon1981 wrote: »

the only gripe i have is that in the morning you have two options the ~7:30am or ~9:35 and like wise in the evening you have 3:30pm or around 5:45pm

It says on the timetable that the train stops at Park West at 8:06, is this true?

penexpers

Kinetic^ wrote: »

It says on the timetable that the train stops at Park West at 8:06, is this true?

Sounds about right - that's the 0735 from Newbridge I think.

dogmatix

Kinetic^ wrote: »

It says on the timetable that the train stops at Park West at 8:06, is this true?

Yes - a local resident used the 8:06 to hueston today. Took him 25 minutes to get to Jervis st. Very fast.

murphaph

The KRP and these new stations will really whet the appetite for the Interconnector. It has to happen or all these things won't amount to a hill of beans. Nice stylish station. Hope it stays clean and tidy.

Victor

http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=10882&lang=ENG&loc=2261

Speech by Mr. Noel Dempsey T.D. Minister for Transport, at the Official Opening of the Parkwest/Cherry Orchard Rail Station
5 August 2008
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

I am delighted to be here today for the official opening of another new railway station. Following on from the opening of both the Docklands and Adamstown stations last year and the Phoenix Park station earlier this year, the opening of this station represents another milestone in the revitalisation of the rail network.

This new station, a key element of the Kildare Route Project, will host over 14 services each way every week-day with the capacity to cater for up to 3,000 passengers at peak hour. This station is a public/private venture between Iarnród Éireann, Dublin City Council and Harcourt Developments and I would encourage other local authorities to develop land-use transportation strategies which would see more stations like this being built.

I am pleased that the station is designed and built to the highest standards especially for those with mobility, visual and hearing impairments as we must make it as easy as possible for all members of the public to use the services that Irish Rail provide.

This is the second new station on the line, the first being Adamstown which was opened last year, and it will operate 5 trains during morning peak with a journey time to Heuston of 10 minutes. I understand that a third station in Clondalkin/Fonthill is set to open this Autumn.

The station and the others I mentioned are part of the Kildare Route Project which is due for completion in early 2010. I am very aware of the absolute necessity to increase capacity on this important rail route. I know from talking to commuters who use rail services on this line just how uncomfortable their journey to work can be.

That's why we are investing heavily to ease pressure on this line. The Kildare Route Project when complete in 2010 will enable Iarnród Éireann to more than triple capacity on the line from just over 11,000 passengers per day per direction to a total of over 34,000 per day per direction.

We are going to upgrade the track system, incorporating 2 additional tracks, to a 4-track system. This will allow for the full separation of long-range intercity trains from short-stop local commuter trains.

This in turn will facilitate a higher volume of local trains on the line with a resulting benefit in service for daily commuters to Dublin.

This station and the Kildare Route Project is evidence, of the major change that has taken place in the quality of railway infrastructure and services in this country over the past decade.

It is the latest but not the last part of the transformation of the railway network which has been underway for some time and which is set to continue under Transport 21.

As you know 10 short years ago the railway network was in decline and we faced a stark choice either upgrade or begin the process of further line closures.

Driven by the need to ensure that we had a safe railway network the Government commenced a major upgrade programme that has seen sustained high levels of investment in the railway network. Since 1999 nearly €2 billion has been invested by the Exchequer in the upgrade of the railway network mainly through the Railway Safety Programme.

We have invested in fleet and infrastructure upgrades such as the 67 new Intercity carriages on the Cork-Dublin line, 183 new Intercity Railcars are currently being deployed, the development of Heuston Station, the DART upgrade and the Portlaoise TrainCare Depot which was opened recently.

I will conclude by thanking the Chairman, Chief Executive and staff of Iarnród Éireann as well as Harcourt Developments and Dublin City Council for their work in building this station and bringing it into service without major service disruptions.

I would also like to thank commuters and local residents for their patience which will be rewarded with the opening of this new station.

darkman2

Victor wrote: »

Photos

New style platform shelter
General layout of station at platform level
Station front
View towards Heuston
Station sign
Climbing hazard
Falling hazard
Shop
General view of concourse
Ticket office
The next canal boat at platform 3
Northbound bus stop
Left entrance

Thanks for pics! 2 questions......


Is it just me or is that station the exact same design as the one I saw planned (built?) at Adamstown?


Is there going to be a 4th Platform? From your pics it looks as though they either have not started on a 4th platform yet or are not building one


Looks like it could be better then the Northern Commuter line (without the DART of course - or is this a plan for the future?).

thebman

skywalker_208 wrote: »

Part of "The Kildare Route Project" it would seem. And still no trains to Meath (anywhere north of Enfield anyway)

We should all move to Kildare!

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-station-to-cut-city-travel-times-1446627.html

Lol yeah just make sure your not on the Connolly line or you'll be wedged in to the train if you can fit on it :eek:

icdg

Nice station indeed, very similar to Adamstown by the looks of it.

Nice to see IE are adopting the BR approach of a large logo and external station sign - Connolly, Docklands, and Phoenix Park all have signs like this - it used to be you were lucky if there was even an IE logo on the outside of the station! Indeed Hueston Station, the country's busiest station, still has no external signage of any kind whatsover.

(Wonder if the Irish langauge lobby have noticed that these external signs are in English only, though...).

Victor

darkman2 wrote: »

Is it just me or is that station the exact same design as the one I saw planned (built?) at Adamstown?

Its one of a theme. There are some specific differences - Adamstown has a fifth platform, higher roof, entrance to one side, I don't think it has a shop.

Is there going to be a 4th Platform? From your pics it looks as though they either have not started on a 4th platform yet or are not building one

It's not a priority, as the fourth platform would be for intercity trains, which are unlikely to stop at Parkwest very often.

Looks like it could be better then the Northern Commuter line (without the DART of course - or is this a plan for the future?).

The Kildare Line will join up with the DART Underground which will connect with the Northern Line.

The phasing of all this is up in the air.