Part of Dublin to Belfast rail line collapses

A Dub in Glasgo · 23-08-2009 8:29pm

IE are obviously following the lead of Network Rail in Britain as it is standard signalling policy to put axle counters in ahead of track circuits.

thomasj · 23-08-2009 8:37pm

romeromerome wrote: »

I was speaking to an IE member of staff in Skerries train station this morning and when asked what would be happening tomorrow morning regarding a shuttle service or anything else was given a flyer with the normal 33 bus timetable but with 12 extra buses through out the day.

In true IE fashion when he handed me the flyer he had the good grace to admit that it was a bit crap and said "sure not that 12 extra throughout a whole day is going to do any good but sure they don't listen to us". Nice guy- wasn't his fault I suppose.

He did tell me about the 33x and how it goes from bal, to skerries, to rush, to lusk, on the M1 and then through the port tunnel but didn't know their times or if there were extra buses being put on.

Has anyone heard of any private buses running from Skerries?
Because there's a beefy gap in the market if someone was to step in.

Ok i know i will be ripped to pieces but i presume the 33A wont be as busy as the 33 because it only goes to swords main street, so how about the idea of getting that bus to swords main street then getting the swords express? Isn't that a non-stop service to the city?

romeromerome · 23-08-2009 8:44pm

thomasj wrote: »

Ok i know i will be ripped to pieces but i presume the 33A wont be as busy as the 33 because it only goes to swords main street, so how about the idea of getting that bus to swords main street then getting the swords express? Isn't that a non-stop service to the city?

Yep, thanks, that's looking like a good option for this week atleast until IE realise the villagers have pitch forks and come up with some better idea for the Skerries area. :rolleyes:

uoluol · 23-08-2009 8:46pm

I will be feeling rather nervous passing over the viaduct at Drogheda ...... hope it wasn't inspected by the same team ..... *shudder*

Seriously, though - I'm not so confident of it's structural soundness now.

nc6000 · 23-08-2009 8:46pm

red menace wrote: »

I drove into the city centre at half 12 today.
Traffic crawled all the way from Junction 5 almost to the M1 bridge over the estuary and then mysteriously sped up again.
Almost as if traffic was slowing down to look across to the rail bridge.

I think that happens most days in fairness. I could never figure out why the traffic suddenly slows there, must be people taking in some of the sea view before speeding up again.

Judgement Day · 23-08-2009 9:03pm

positron wrote: »

I hope so too, but I am not that sure to be honest..! How on earth are they going to accommodate the thousands of commuters from Dundalk, Drogheda and Laytown into a handful of buses?

PS: May be they are getting help from Japan..!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STNWc7Rlpfk

Well, I've seen everything now! Of course you would never see that many Irish Rail staff anywhere, or in such smart uniforms. Did you notice the lazy git, maybe he was supervisor, who watched while his two pals did all the hard work before he decided to lend a hand. :pac:

oirishfruitie · 23-08-2009 9:12pm

To get to and from town/Donabate at the non "peak" times - what does anyone suggest. 8/9 am is too early for me, likewise the times home from town are too early.

red menace · 23-08-2009 9:18pm

nc6000 wrote: »

I think that happens most days in fairness. I could never figure out why the traffic suddenly slows there, must be people taking in some of the sea view before speeding up again.

Yep have seen that too but never saw it drop to 5 MPH though

stevenmartin99 · 23-08-2009 9:25pm

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS THE BEST THEY CAN DO ABOUT TELLING US THEIR PLANS FOR 33 BUS

"...Additional buses will use the Dublin Port Tunnel, in line with Route 33X. Regular no. 33 timetable is available on the Dublin Bus website http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/33/ and additional bus times will operate to meet the increased demand..."

When are the buses?!
inline with 33x? Does this mean they will be 33x?? Will people be getting on a 33 bus and not know where its going?

BTW first 33a is 11.00am so that wont be much of a help to anyone.

This was such an easy situation to plan... but they cant even manage that... Probably wont even use their 200 new buses. they will send out old 1995's that will overheat at full capacity

Irish Rail - Were Rebuilding The Rail-- Again and Again!
Dublin Bus - Taking You Where We Want To Go!

.

Dodgercat · 23-08-2009 9:32pm

Just been working out my options for Laytown, and I feel like crying! Not too bad in the morning. There's a 7min train journey from Laytown to Drogheda at 6.45, 7.15, 7.45 and 8.25. Connecting buses to Connolly are every half hour from 6 to 9.

But coming home again! : buses are every half hour up until 7, then the next one isn't til 9. And once you get to Drogheda the only trains to get me back to Laytown are 5.30, 7.30 and 8.30 at night!! It sucks. Also, I'm pregnant and dreading the thought of crowded buses and possible travel sickness. I'll be nearly 9mths by the time the trains (may) be back on again, and I really don't need the extra stress and extended commute. I'm knackered enough already.

Has anyone heard anything about refunds on the Annual rail tickets? There's a very good private bus service runs from Laytown to Parnell St, and also the option of taking the car in so far and then taking bus/Dart to the City Centre - but its too painful to fork out extra for this after paying €1700 for your train ticket for the year.

Terrontress · 23-08-2009 10:07pm

oirishfruitie wrote: »

To get to and from town/Donabate at the non "peak" times - what does anyone suggest. 8/9 am is too early for me, likewise the times home from town are too early.

You've probably got to get a bus to the airport then either get a taxi to Donabate or else get a 2nd bus to Swords and then the normal 33B. Should only take you the 2.5 hours.

Hungerford · 23-08-2009 10:09pm

Dodgercat wrote: »

Just been working out my options for Laytown, and I feel like crying! Not too bad in the morning. There's a 7min train journey from Laytown to Drogheda at 6.45, 7.15, 7.45 and 8.25. Connecting buses to Connolly are every half hour from 6 to 9.

What worries me about the connecting buses is that they are being masterly vague about how long they will take to get to Dublin.

Carawaystick · 23-08-2009 10:30pm

Hungerford wrote: »

What worries me about the connecting buses is that they are being masterly vague about how long they will take to get to Dublin.

In fairness, no-one has any idea how bad traffic will be tomorrow. I'd say it'll be back to Balbriggan on the M1.

But the crap about the 33 buses is dreadful. it says it will depart from the Skerries Dublin Bus stop. Like there's only one bus stop in the town. and "Enhanced service" but no times or even a guestimate.

positron · 23-08-2009 10:31pm

Dodgercat wrote: »

Just been working out my options for Laytown, and I feel like crying! Not too bad in the morning. There's a 7min train journey from Laytown to Drogheda at 6.45, 7.15, 7.45 and 8.25. Connecting buses to Connolly are every half hour from 6 to 9.

But coming home again! : buses are every half hour up until 7, then the next one isn't til 9. And once you get to Drogheda the only trains to get me back to Laytown are 5.30, 7.30 and 8.30 at night!! It sucks. Also, I'm pregnant and dreading the thought of crowded buses and possible travel sickness. I'll be nearly 9mths by the time the trains (may) be back on again, and I really don't need the extra stress and extended commute. I'm knackered enough already.

Has anyone heard anything about refunds on the Annual rail tickets? There's a very good private bus service runs from Laytown to Parnell St, and also the option of taking the car in so far and then taking bus/Dart to the City Centre - but its too painful to fork out extra for this after paying €1700 for your train ticket for the year.

Oh, what a terrible situation to be in!

I really think they should run coaches from each station and they should leave as soon as they are full on peak hours. If IR stops selling new tickets in that route, I think this is doable for the monthly/annual ticket holders..!

Meanwhile, with all this going on, one would have thought they will try and hurry up the roadworks on Dublin Road in Drogheda? Err, no, that would be too sensible. The road remained partially open today but no work going on. I have lived elsewhere in this world, where they repair any half-decent roads during the night to reduce the impact on road users. Commonsense seems to be in short supply...!

lostexpectation · 23-08-2009 10:31pm

Hungerford wrote: »

You can - most of the Irish railway network doesn't have them. The only routes that have them are Dublin - Cork [with holes at Limerick Junction, Portarlington and Portloaise], Dublin - Limerick [with the same holes], Dublin - Belfast, the DART and Dublin - Athlone.

why it seems axle counters are only good for preventing a second train from crashing, (if the first hasn't stopped by the driver)

can we have separate discussion thread for people worried about replacement travel

AlekSmart · 23-08-2009 10:39pm

The road remained partially open today but no work going on. I have lived elsewhere in this world, where they repair any half-decent roads during the night to reduce the impact on road users. Commonsense seems to be in short supply...!

Unfortunately you will probably find that as a condition of securing the contract the Engineering Contractor had to commission an Environmental Impact Assessment which,of course,would have indicated a degree of NOISE associated with such infrastructural works.

Other countries,particularly those of a Calvinist bent who endorse the principle of "The Common Good" will proceed on the premise that those FEW persons discommoded by the noise will set this against the GREATER GOOD of the improvements for EVERYBODY else.

Sadly this would fly-in-the-face of the basic principles of modern Irish-ness and there fore all such major works tend to be conducted only in Daylight hours on a Mon to Fri basis as discovered by positron in Drogheda...it`s how we do things here.....roll on the end of recession !!! :eek:

thecross1 · 23-08-2009 10:53pm

the best bus 4 the north county dublin area 2 the city centre is the 33x this bus uses the port tunnel. getting a bus to swords then looking 4 a bus from swords makes no sense 2 me. also ive been told that there will only be 12 extra buses. sorry but u are all fcuked, a bus when full will hold about 90 people so u guys do the maths id id say get up early every day until this is sorted and hope 4 the best

darkman2 · 23-08-2009 11:34pm

Can see this bridge just about from where I live and I can safely say being familiar with the Estuary and the rapids at that location it's going to be longer then 3 months!

lostexpectation · 24-08-2009 12:13am

so 2 year engineers inspection was merely visual surely there some other way to check a bridge...

opensourceguy · 24-08-2009 12:28am

darkman2 wrote: »

Can see this bridge just about from where I live and I can safely say being familiar with the Estuary and the rapids at that location it's going to be longer then 3 months!

Cahir viaduct took 11 months to replace.

Iarnrod Éireann to repair Cahir viaduct

10/10/2003 - 16:30:13

Irish rail say they will repair and reopen Cahir viaduct in Co Tipperary.
They also estimate it will cost €15m to repair the viaduct and may take up to 6 months. This follows the derailment of a freight train, caused when part of the bridge collapsed. When completed, it will allow passenger and freight services to be restored on the Limerick Junction to Waterford railway line.
An investigation into the bridge collapse and subsequent derailment is on-going.

Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/2003/1010/ireland/kfkfgbqlqlsn/#ixzz0P3DZTD9R

The full report on Cahir may be interesting. Here is the RTE write up:

Report into bridge collapse published

Tuesday, 4 May 2004 19:33
The report into the collapse of the railway bridge at Cahir in Co Tipperary last year has been published.
The Iarnród Éireann inquiry team has concluded that the derailment of a freight train last October was caused by a combination of specific factors, and that it could not have happened to a passenger train.
Since the incident, Iarnród Éireann has reviewed all such bridges on its network, and speeds for this type of wagon passing over such bridges have been reduced to 30 miles per hour.

Rail and road viaduct collapses are frequent enough that you'd think there would be:

Better maintenance
Better monitoring
Better contingency plans
Better repair planning

For what it's worth, on 17 October 1989 a large section of the Oakland Bay bridge, collapsed during a San Francisco earthquake. It was back in service one month and one day later on 18 November 1989. Though to be fair, a full earthquake resistant retrofit has yet to be complete and may never be completed during the debt ridden reign of Gov. Schwarzenegger. There is still scope for IE to do better. If necessary, divert civil engineers from the airport rail or other projects to get this up and running, and they could probably make it work within 6 months, if not 3. Any chance we could float that new Calatrava Beckett bridge up here and borrow it for a while?

brandodub · 24-08-2009 12:39am

Well quite!

G_R · 24-08-2009 1:21am

i just had a look at open street map.

if you hav a look at the train line it just has a gap where the bridge broke

someone with too much time on their hands:D

batman2000 · 24-08-2009 1:26am

murphaph wrote: »

Could you tell something serious was up or was it a little jolt? You're a lucky (bat)man indeed.

It wasn't as if the whole carriage jolted and went to the left to such a degree that people had to hang on to avoid failling over, but enough that everyone on my carriage looked around at each other thinking ...'what was that, that is not normal..' . It was a definate movement to the left and dip (like in a car going over a sudden bellow on the road)

When I saw the pictures on the TV I was shocked..Thankfully the carraige didn't subside or keel over. I was wondering, if the carriage did, how much time would there be before the carriage sunk and if the doors would open. It kept me awake for a few hours on Friday night that's for sure..

nordydan · 24-08-2009 1:29am

dannym08 wrote: »

i just had a look at open street map.

if you hav a look at the train line it just has a gap where the bridge broke

someone with too much time on their hands:D

Or the inspectors tracing it with their GPS the previous Tuesday. Upon uploading the GPS trace to OSM they said "Sure bejaysus its grand" and signed off on their report.

Run_to_da_hills · 24-08-2009 7:46am

batman2000 wrote: »

When I saw the pictures on the TV I was shocked..Thankfully the carraige didn't subside or keel over. I was wondering, if the carriage did, how much time would there be before the carriage sunk and if the doors would open. It kept me awake for a few hours on Friday night that's for sure..

That is why you should always know where the little red hammer in the glass case is located on any train you take.

.

positron · 24-08-2009 9:10am

Got to Drogheda station at 6:45am. One half of the car park is closed for coaches. IR guys were directing everyone to the buses, there were at least half a dozen buses lined up to take commuters to Connolly, and each left as soon as they filled up. M1 traffic was smooth-ish and via Port Tunnel, coach dropped off in front of Connolly station at 7:40. That's decent job indeed, thanks to IR team! I hope getting back works just as smoothly.

Meanwhile, here's the damage up close. Bless the curiosity of young men, and capabilities of mobile phone cameras!