Commuting from Dundalk to Dublin in the future

T Corolla

I been thinking about the new rail that is proposed to be built to Navan by 2015. I propose that Irish Rail divert the trains onto the drogheda to navan rail line and free up the rail line from drogheda to connolly to allow the Enterprise train to go up to a hourly service. According to the rail users website the track from drogheda to navan can achieve speeds of 75mph because of its straight design. This would also give services to Dunleek and would boost the navan rail line popularity as it has been sayed that it was too costly to lay. Does anyone think this is a good idea and does anyone know the average speed of a train from Drogheda to Connolly.

Heroditas

Is there a need for the Enterprise to go every hour though? I've got it loads of times and it's relatively quiet during the middle of the day.
There might be a justification in increasing the frequency of service of the Arrow between Dundalk and Dublin however.

penexpers

T Corolla wrote: »

I been thinking about the new rail that is proposed to be built to Navan by 2015. I propose that Irish Rail divert the trains onto the drogheda to navan rail line and free up the rail line from drogheda to connolly to allow the Enterprise train to go up to a hourly service. According to the rail users website the track from drogheda to navan can achieve speeds of 75mph because of its straight design. This would also give services to Dunleek and would boost the navan rail line popularity as it has been sayed that it was too costly to lay. Does anyone think this is a good idea and does anyone know the average speed of a train from Drogheda to Connolly.

Once you clear Dublin city, you can do 120km/h a lot of the way to Belfast these days. The enterprise is performing poorly enough these days - utterly no need for an hourly service. The train needs to be significantly faster and cheaper than the car for most people to consider it.

fh041205

T Corolla wrote: »

I been thinking about the new rail that is proposed to be built to Navan by 2015. I propose that Irish Rail divert the trains onto the drogheda to navan rail line and free up the rail line from drogheda to connolly to allow the Enterprise train to go up to a hourly service. According to the rail users website the track from drogheda to navan can achieve speeds of 75mph because of its straight design. This would also give services to Dunleek and would boost the navan rail line popularity as it has been sayed that it was too costly to lay. Does anyone think this is a good idea and does anyone know the average speed of a train from Drogheda to Connolly.

The thing about the navan branch is that if trains were redirected out that way, they would actually not be able to stop at Drogheda. The train would have to come in on the platform in Drogheda and go back towards Dublin before continuing on to Navan. All this provided the Navan branch is someday reopened.

No need for hourly enterprise service. Drogheda/Dundalk services are fine except for maybe including an extra train to run Ddalk-Dheda-Dub around 22:30. Tbh I think that the Northern line is one of the best at the moment. Its a bit expensive but with regards to frequency and reliability its ok. Reliability of the enterprise is a huge problem though.

T Corolla

Do you think my idea is good or is it rubbish. I agree with the first reply that the enterprise does not be busy in the middle of the day as i been using it myself but they could do with a houly servce from 4pm to 7pm and with an earlier train in the morning. In your opinion would the journey take longer if the train was to go to Navan. The country is going to invest 1/2 billion in the navan rail line. My fear is that it will not be justified and the rail line will become like the Kingcourt rail line covered in weeds and trees. I understand that the Kingcourt was for freight traffic not commuters.

fh041205

T Corolla wrote: »

Do you think my idea is good or is it rubbish. I agree with the first reply that the enterprise does not be busy in the middle of the day as i been using it myself but they could do with a houly servce from 4pm to 7pm and with an earlier train in the morning. In your opinion would the journey take longer if the train was to go to Navan. The country is going to invest 1/2 billion in the navan rail line. My fear is that it will not be justified and the rail line will become like the Kingcourt rail line covered in weeds and trees. I understand that the Kingcourt was for freight traffic not commuters.

Honestly, I don't quite understand your suggestion. Run trains to Drogheda and then on to Navan? Surely that would be the point of reopening the line. Enterprise timetable is ok IMO, with the exception of the 1520 not stopping in Drogheda on Friday (it should either stop all week or never) and the 1650 not stopping. There should be a connection for the 1650.

Rawr

I think T Corolla is suggesting that Drogheda trains run to Dublin via Navan and Clonsilla (if the Navan rail link is ever built). This, in an effort reduce conjestion on the northern rail line and open it up for more intercity traffic.
*Please correct me if I got the wrong impression!*

It's an interesting bit of lateral thinking there Corolla, I'll give you that. However the main problem with it is that it depends on the existence of the Navan rail link itself. There has been much debate on these boards about the link and the various problems in making it happen, (the M3 for example).

This'll also unload the traffic from the freed up Northern line to an already well-used Western Commuter line (from Clonsilla onwards). If Broadstone was reopened to be made a terminus for this new traffic, then that might work.

It's not a rubbish idea. It's an interesting concept I myself never really thought about. I do wonder how much extra time it would take to use this longer route....

loyatemu

its substantially longer. Also - if the Navan-Clonsilla line is reopened its unlikely the Navan - Drogheda line will be upgraded for passenger traffic. I'd imagine one or the other (or neither) will happen, but not both.

KC61

I can't see this being a runner.

Not only would the journey time be far longer, there would have to be reversals at Navan, new platforms in Drogheda, and substantial investment in the Navan-Drogheda route. As other posters have pointed out, Clonsilla-Connolly is congested enough!!!

The other implication of this is that Laytown, Balbriggan, Skerries etc would lose services!!!

It is perfectly possible to have an hourly Enterprise with the existing infrastructure. What is needed for this to happen, however, is a total recast of the DART and Connolly Suburban timetable into a clockface pattern to deliver the paths to do it. The latter is planned, but I'm not sure that it will happen at the next timetable change. At peak times the Enterprise would be a tad slower than other times (similar to the 1800 Heuston-Cork which has to follow the 1750 Heuston-Galway and takes longer as a result).

Unlike other posters I think that an hourly Enterprise will not only happen, but that it will work, provided the necessary infrastructural work is done (especially north of the border) to bring the standard journey times down under 2 hours and to reduce peak express times even more.

BluntGuy

The maximum speed of our newest class of locomotive is 164 kilometres an hour.

T Corolla

You are correct in what you are saying but in my thinking i have neglected to think of how much more rail traffic that would be added to to the western line. I read on another website that the northern line needed a third track in order to cope with an hourly service to belfast but at cerin parts of the line there was no room to put in another line.
I feel that a third track could be added from clonsilla to connolly in the future to cope with this service. The navan drogheda line is i almost sure has concrete sleeper consruction but has no passenger line signalling.It is estimated that the journey from navan to dublin will be fifty minutes and i assume another forty minutes to Dundalk if the train was able to get up to seventy five mph I also read on another website that to invest in the navan drogheda line would be viable as that area is said to expand dramitically in the future as they believe the whole county of meath will have a population of 100,000 by 2020

KC61

T Corolla wrote: »

You are correct in what you are saying but in my thinking i have neglected to think of how much more rail traffic that would be added to to the western line. I read on another website that the northern line needed a third track in order to cope with an hourly service to belfast but at cerin parts of the line there was no room to put in another line.
I feel that a third track could be added from clonsilla to connolly in the future to cope with this service. The navan drogheda line is i almost sure has concrete sleeper consruction but has no passenger line signalling.It is estimated that the journey from navan to dublin will be fifty minutes and i assume another forty minutes to Dundalk if the train was able to get up to seventy five mph I also read on another website that to invest in the navan drogheda line would be viable as that area is said to expand dramitically in the future as they believe the whole county of meath will have a population of 100,000 by 2020

Realistic journey times might be 50 minutes to Navan, fair enough, and then perhaps 25 minutes to Drogheda, and then another 25 minutes to Dundalk, along with additional time for reversals etc.

It really is not practical, given existing journey times are far faster.

As I said above, it IS possible to run an hourly Enterprise with the existing infrastructure - it just needs a complete DART/Commuter timetable recast which is in the pipeline.

marmurr1916

Surely in the future, say the 21st century, we'll all be using jet packs or hover-cars?