Limerick-Galway Passenger Headcount Thread

FlameoftheWest

I am going to take that train a few times in a couple of weeks. I will be making careful note of the actual numbers of passengers on the runs and the profile/demographics.

I would hope everyone else who uses this train to do the same. I am not talking about the eyeball on the side of the head event junkies who will be using it the first week or so. But the real numbers when the hype settles down and the social justice brigades have gone back to driving around Claremorris.

Anyone who happens to be in Galway or Limerick station could do a casual headcount if they are around when the Social Justice Express comes in. Be worth keeping track to see how "use it or lose it" it performs.

Either Colman's Multitudes exists, or it is in his mind. We need to know if this man is a visionary genius or a regional whinger with a Partnership-Chic Victim Complex. We all can't be right.

dowlingm

would that work better under the Operations sticky? Might keep the thread counts down?

lord lucan

I suspect the biggest headcount we'll see on this line is on April 24th on the IRRS tour!

DWCommuter

I'd be into doing that alright. End of April, after the Holy rail tour.

Right now I'm off to offer my propaganda services to help save the Waterford - Rosslare line.;)

Hungerford

DWCommuter wrote: »

Right now I'm off to offer my propaganda services to help save the Waterford - Rosslare line.;)

I think that it will take a miracle. It looks like it was done deal between the government and IE so they had the cash and stock to open the WRC.

Judgement Day

lord lucan wrote: »

I suspect the biggest headcount we'll see on this line is on April 24th on the IRRS tour!

In every respect - especially if the turbulent priest is travelling.

DWCommuter

Hungerford wrote: »

I think that it will take a miracle. It looks like it was done deal between the government and IE so they had the cash and stock to open the WRC.

It may take a miracle alright, but at the very least I'd like to leave their camapign with a definitive audio/visual account of the skullduggery that went on. Who knows "a video of shame" on youtube may force a uturn.

If people thought I was a hard assed pr**k in railway lobbying terms, I can be a real hard chaw when it comes to my actual profession. If the campaign take me up on the offer, it will be a more truthful and insightful piece than any TV News report.

Judgement Day

DWCommuter wrote: »

It may take a miracle alright, but at the very least I'd like to leave their camapign with a definitive audio/visual account of the skullduggery that went on. Who knows "a video of shame" on youtube may force a uturn.

If people thought I was a hard assed pr**k in railway lobbying terms, I can be a real hard chaw when it comes to my actual profession. If the campaign take me up on the offer, it will be a more truthful and insightful piece than any TV News report.

I suggest you don't send them a copy of "A West of Ireland Epic" video.

DWCommuter

Judgement Day wrote: »

I suggest you don't send them a copy of "A West of Ireland Epic" video.

I'd nothing to do with that. A colleague sent me a link to it.;)

FlameoftheWest

Hungerford wrote: »

I think that it will take a miracle. It looks like it was done deal between the government and IE so they had the cash and stock to open the WRC.

You can perform miracles if you can get the decision makers out of the shadows and name and shame them all.

You would be surprised what a bruised ego can accomplish.

Victor

dowlingm wrote: »

would that work better under the Operations sticky? Might keep the thread counts down?

No, that thread is there to inform the public so they can use the service, not for the politics of the matter.

FlameoftheWest

Judgement Day wrote: »

I suggest you don't send them a copy of "A West of Ireland Epic" video.

What is this?

popebenny16

lord lucan wrote: »

I suspect the biggest headcount we'll see on this line is on April 24th on the IRRS tour!

i can see trains full of people who are only on them to count the number of people on them.

dont forget, 300,000 is the magic number!!

lord lucan

popebenny16 wrote: »

i can see trains full of people who are only on them to count the number of people on them.

Lol. A train full of boardsies with clipboards!:D

Hungerford

DWCommuter wrote: »

It may take a miracle alright, but at the very least I'd like to leave their camapign with a definitive audio/visual account of the skullduggery that went on. Who knows "a video of shame" on youtube may force a uturn.

Possibly but from what I understand even Ciaran Cuffe is now for the closing.

Hungerford

lord lucan wrote: »

Lol. A train full of boardsies with clipboards!:D

I can see it now:
WRC passenger count: 40 passengers

35 boards members
2 women
2 children
1 dog

loyatemu

Hungerford wrote: »

I can see it now:
WRC passenger count: 40 passengers

35 boards members
2 women
2 children
1 dog

+ 20 pensioners

I was watching the news report on the opening the other night and one of the old guys they interviewed actually said "sure it'll be great for the old people". Even my wife (who has no interest in these things) commented "how is that going to pay for anything?"

Robbo

I was on the 9:35 Limerick-Galway today. I didn't bother doing a count in the other 3 cars but there were 14 in the car I was in, leaving Limerick. A (comparative) lot got on at Gort and the car was about 2/3 full. The railcars were nasty, noisy and wallowed like hell compared to the Korean yokes.

We then had to wait in Athenry for the hilarious driver switcharound and a bit longer because the train out of Galway was running late.

I'd say about 30-40% of those who arrived in Galway were on old age travel passes. We arrived at Platform 1 and a Half and it was like Dawn of the Dead watching them all shuffle slowly out of there.

highlydebased

Heard from someone who was on the lunchtime train to galway today that it was 80% full on arrival in Galway, though only 1 person got on at Ardrahan.

Transportuser09

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Heard from someone who was on the lunchtime train to galway today that it was 80% full on arrival in Galway, though only 1 person got on at Ardrahan.

sounds promising.

FlameoftheWest

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Heard from someone who was on the lunchtime train to galway today that it was 80% full on arrival in Galway, though only 1 person got on at Ardrahan.

Still that's not bad for saturday. The real litmus test is the long term commuter use as that's bread and butter. This weekend the novelty day trippers will be out for a look. I bet most of them were on free passes.

FlameoftheWest

Robbo wrote: »

I was on the 9:35 Limerick-Galway today. I didn't bother doing a count in the other 3 cars but there were 14 in the car I was in, leaving Limerick. A (comparative) lot got on at Gort and the car was about 2/3 full. The railcars were nasty, noisy and wallowed like hell compared to the Korean yokes.

We then had to wait in Athenry for the hilarious driver switcharound and a bit longer because the train out of Galway was running late.

I'd say about 30-40% of those who arrived in Galway were on old age travel passes. We arrived at Platform 1 and a Half and it was like Dawn of the Dead watching them all shuffle slowly out of there.

I reckon the Dawn of the Dead were trainspotters as I have seen trainspotters get off trains in the UK and it does look like a George Romero movie. A lot of them seem to have limps and their clothes half off and unkempt hair etc. I am not trolling this is how a lot of them are. Not all but it's a huge percentage.

FlameoftheWest

Transportuser09 wrote: »

sounds promising.

It's just the first real novely day off work/weekend that the trainspotters from Dublin/UK and the usual event junkies can have a spin on the new toy. I would be interested in seeing how the numbers pan out from next week on. That's the real test. I suspect complete disaster until Oranmore is on stream, if ever.

dowlingm

I'm wondering what the extra services from/to Athenry will do to headcount on the Dublin line, whether it will make life more comfortable for those heading to Ballinasloe and Athlone?

highlydebased

And to report on the 1725 return to Limerick, full 3 carraiges leaving galway with standing from Athenry to Gort. Many got off at Ennis, half full to Limerick.

Transportuser09

I may well be wrong but I doubt that most of the people on that train were train spotters or rail enthusiasts. You see the occasional one now and then but they rarely appear en masse outiside railtours and the like. I get the impression most would be more interested in travelling on a loco hauled special than a railcar anyway.

From what the poster describes it is far more likely they were OAPs; they've paid their taxes and are as entitled to use the service as anyone else. You really wouldn't get that many train spotters or enthusiasts in Ireland.

Transportuser09

Neon-Circles wrote: »

And to report on the 1725 return to Limerick, full 3 carraiges leaving galway with standing from Athenry to Gort. Many got off at Ennis, half full to Limerick.

That sounds quite a healthy loading to me.

foggy_lad

Neon-Circles wrote: »

And to report on the 1725 return to Limerick, full 3 carraiges leaving galway with standing from Athenry to Gort. Many got off at Ennis, half full to Limerick.

just wait until irish rails awful timekeeping and reliability record takes hold on this section of track or even a few inches of rain, and people will soon move back to their cars and busses.

Stroke Politics

How long will this begrudgingly sad thread continue?

lord lucan

Stroke Politics wrote: »

How long will this begrudgingly sad thread continue?

Until the loadings on the line plummet to the level we're expecting them to. It's not nasty,it's just that most on here reckon(me included) that this white elephant will fail miserably. Keeping an eye on the passenger numbers will either justify our fears or prove us all wrong.

steamengine

lord lucan wrote: »

Until the loadings on the line plummet to the level we're expecting them to. It's not nasty,it's just that most on here reckon(me included) that this white elephant will fail miserably. Keeping an eye on the passenger numbers will either justify our fears or prove us all wrong.

And I take it that will be mission accomplished then ? Yes ? :rolleyes:

lord lucan

steamengine wrote: »

And I take it that will be mission accomplished then ? Yes ? :rolleyes:

It's not meant like that!! I'd love to see the line succeed and have a healthy level of patronage and pay back some of the investment but i just don't see it happening. It's not some sort of Dublin centric view of things or anti-west of ireland thing.

Transportuser09

Theres a reasonably detailed account of passenger numbers yesterday on this site: http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/topic/1752?page=-1 (see message 83)

If they could keep this up I'd say the service will do quite well.

steamengine

Transportuser09 wrote: »

Theres a reasonably detailed account of passenger numbers yesterday on this site: http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/topic/1752?page=-1 (see message 83)

If they could keep this up I'd say the service will do quite well.

......+1 - at last - some welcome objectivity re the numbers

corktina

Once the novelty wears off, we'll see how many really are going to use it....a good measure will be how many use it to commute to work each day. Lets wait and see will we? Give it a month and then check the numbers.

dowlingm

The observation about the fumes with the 8 railcars all in at the same time at Limerick Stn is concerning and one would hope that it will be accounted for in the rebuilding of Galway Station (although IE will probably "deal with it" in Limerick by reducing the railcar count, i.e. abolishing the Nenagh service instead).

Apparently the trains ARE slowing down for farmers crossings which is interesting. As for Kiltartan, if that junction had been grade separated with an overbridge and a consequent raising of the approach alignment maybe the line could have opened earlier because the flooding wouldn't have wrecked the Athenry-Ennis driver training plan - and the people who chose the bus (like people in Clarinbridge or Shannon who don't have a rail option) wouldn't sit waiting for the (very expensive) gates and signals to permit passage.

Total counts are useful but counts including ticket yield analysis (how many discounted/free) at Sixmilebridge, Ardrahan and Craughwell are a must. If these halts are not paying their way in diesel burned to accelerate away and time then they should become peak-only stops in order to accelerate mid-day journey times - you could probably shave at least 5 mins off Gort-Athenry and minimally affect ridership.

Oh christ look at this:
http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/topic/370/t/Athenry-Ennis-relay.html?page=28

Quite a lot of track panels by the side of the track between Ardrahan and Craughwell. Also, there is a lot of water lying beside the track in a lot of areas, this might be a sign of more flooding to come on this line.

FlameoftheWest

Transportuser09 wrote: »

Theres a reasonably detailed account of passenger numbers yesterday on this site: http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/topic/1752?page=-1 (see message 83)

If they could keep this up I'd say the service will do quite well.

Oh yeah, that'll be real objective and unbiased... Connaught Ranger!

Transportuser09

FlameoftheWest wrote: »

Oh yeah, that'll be real objective and unbiased... Connaught Ranger!

It seems an objective enough post to me...the figure were hardly made up! Theres a bit of criticism and a bit of praise as appropriate. The numbers presented speak for themselves. Far more objective than a lot of the stuff I've read on this site lately anyway!

DWCommuter

Transportuser09 wrote: »

It seems an objective enough post to me...the figure were hardly made up! Theres a bit of criticism and a bit of praise as appropriate. The numbers presented speak for themselves. Far more objective than a lot of the stuff I've read on this site lately anyway!

I'd be interested in you highlighting whats not objective about some of the stuff written here. Does ones opinion have to be objective? This isn't a feckin leaving cert history class.

Transportuser09

DWCommuter wrote: »

I'd be interested in you highlighting whats not objective about some of the stuff written here. Does ones opinion have to be objective? This isn't a feckin leaving cert history class.

Does one have to be objective? I don't know, my post was in response to that of flameofthewest who seems to be of the opinion objectivity does matter.

What is unobjective on this site? (and I meant the C & T site in general and not just this particular thread) Well not much apart from what seems to be an attempt to find as much fault with the WRC as possible and dismissing any evidence to the contrary, a possible agenda against OAPs using the service, some also bring in issues such as the physical appearance of politicians and UK trainspotters as part of their argument, the usage of threads relating to state operated transport matters to slur various preservation groups even if it is of no relevence to the issue at hand.

On the other hand the post which flameofthewest implied was unobjective actually gave a list of facts as they were...

dowlingm

Transportuser09 wrote: »

the figure were hardly made up!

Well, hang on now, he could have posted there were 10 people or 160 people - it's not exactly verifiable is it?

Transportuser09

dowlingm wrote: »

Well, hang on now, he could have posted there were 10 people or 160 people - it's not exactly verifiable is it?

Well of course they of could have, but I don't see why they would. Its not that verifiable I accept but unless there is some big conspiracy out there I can't imagine theres many who would be deliberatley put up fake passenger usage amounts.

steamengine

dowlingm wrote: »

Well, hang on now, he could have posted there were 10 people or 160 people - it's not exactly verifiable is it?

The way this thread is running is that 10 would be ok - no need to verify that number but Wow ! hold on a minute ! 160 - you will have to verify that number !!! Pull the other one !!! there's bells on it :rolleyes:

Transportuser09

steamengine wrote: »

The way this thread is running is that 10 would be ok - no need to verify that number but Wow ! hold on a minute ! 160 - you will have to verify that number !!! Pull the other one !!! there's bells on it :rolleyes:

Exactly. It seems here you don't need to verify it if you're saying the train was 80% empty but you do if the numbers suggest that a decent number of passengers are using the service...

JHMEG

Is it possible to find out from IE or the DoT what the actual ticket sales are? Even as a FOI request?

DWCommuter

steamengine wrote: »

The way this thread is running is that 10 would be ok - no need to verify that number but Wow ! hold on a minute ! 160 - you will have to verify that number !!! Pull the other one !!! there's bells on it :rolleyes:

Well considering the Government funded it, the WOT campaign predicted it would work and the projected subvention figure is public knowledge, then yes the onus is on its supporters to verify substantial usage. Low usage is expected by many of us.

Obviously there's bells on your steamengine.

steamengine

DWCommuter wrote: »

Well considering the Government funded it, the WOT campaign predicted it would work and the projected subvention figure is public knowledge, then yes the onus is on its supporters to verify substantial usage. Low usage is expected by many of us.

Obviously there's bells on your steamengine.

Well, at least there's no spittle dripping out from my trumpet !!!:rolleyes:

DWCommuter

Transportuser09 wrote: »

Does one have to be objective? I don't know, my post was in response to that of flameofthewest who seems to be of the opinion objectivity does matter.

What is unobjective on this site? (and I meant the C & T site in general and not just this particular thread) Well not much apart from what seems to be an attempt to find as much fault with the WRC as possible and dismissing any evidence to the contrary, a possible agenda against OAPs using the service, some also bring in issues such as the physical appearance of politicians and UK trainspotters as part of their argument, the usage of threads relating to state operated transport matters to slur various preservation groups even if it is of no relevence to the issue at hand.

On the other hand the post which flameofthewest implied was unobjective actually gave a list of facts as they were...

You have a more defined "hang up" about your perceived hangs ups of others. All of the issues you raise are easily explained. What you cannot accept is that remarks made here by others are based on years of experience in either/or/all the areas you raised. To know that you would had to have done your research.;)

DWCommuter

steamengine wrote: »

Well, at least there's no spittle dripping out from my trumpet !!!:rolleyes:

Maybe you should check again. I think you've missed it.:D

KevR

Was stood at the level crossing on Church Street in Athenry yesterday (Sunday) when a Limerick-Galway train left Athenry station. The train had built up a bit of speed by the time it got to the level crossing but I was still able to do a headcount.

I counted roughly 12 people on the 17:50 Athenry-Galway train; possibly could have been 1 or 2 more that I missed as the train was moving.

Not sure how many got on/off at Athenry as I wasn't in the station, was at the level crossing waiting for the gates to lift.

steamengine

DWCommuter wrote: »

Maybe you should check again. I think you've missed it.:D

You misunderstood me - I was merely pointing out what your good at - blowing your own trumpet !!! :rolleyes: