Train From Dublin to Cork

Jamie2k9

Unless it can fly over the traffic from the Red Cow to the M9 junction at Naas, I'm not sure if there are any guarantees on a Friday afternoon.

My experience has been that Aircoach have been 5-10 minutes late on each occassion.

Wouldn't it be great if Irish Rail used traffic as an excuse for delays as thats what causes most of them but people who use buses seem to think its acceptable for them to be late. Should be a note on the timetable to include this....

bk

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Wouldn't it be great if Irish Rail used traffic as an excuse for delays as thats what causes most of them but people who use buses seem to think its acceptable for them to be late. Should be a note on the timetable to include this....

To be honest I find most to be on time, some are early (up to 15 minutes early), others have been late, but very rarely more then 5 to 10 minutes. On the whole I've been very impressed with how bang on they mostly are.

Having said that I've been on plenty of trains to Cork over the years that were late too. The 5pm ex-Dublin on a Friday that was scheduled for 2 hours 30 minutes never got in on time, always being about 10 minutes late, a few times it was even 20 minutes late.

One horrendous example jumps to mind when the train broke down and we had to wait for well over an hour for a back up engine to come.

So both trains and buses can suffer from delays.

Jamie2k9

bk wrote: »

To be honest I find most to be on time, some are early (up to 15 minutes early), others have been late, but very rarely more then 5 to 10 minutes. On the whole I've been very impressed with how bang on they mostly are.

Having said that I've been on plenty of trains to Cork over the years that were late too. The 5pm ex-Dublin on a Friday that was scheduled for 2 hours 30 minutes never got in on time, always being about 10 minutes late, a few times it was even 20 minutes late.

One horrendous example jumps to mind when the train broke down and we had to wait for well over an hour for a back up engine to come.

So both trains and buses can suffer from delays.

Not sure when you were last on a train from Heuston but very few delays nowdays, only services that are have common delays are Galway but everthing is always on time and if delayed most are less than 10 minutes. Best improvment is inbound in the mornings.

I will agree with you on how badly they handle train failures, most recently this morning on the 10 am to Cork but they are slowly learning how handle it better and quicker.

My main point was to one or two posters on here who go on about how unacceptable a train delay is but not a buse one.

foggy_lad

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Not sure when you were last on a train from Heuston but very few delays nowdays, only services that are have common delays are Galway but everthing is always on time and if delayed most are less than 10 minutes. Best improvment is inbound in the mornings.

I will agree with you on how badly they handle train failures, most recently this morning on the 10 am to Cork but they are slowly learning how handle it better and quicker.

My main point was to one or two posters on here who go on about how unacceptable a train delay is but not a buse one.

Delays of less than ten minutes are not considered delays even though trains don't have traffic to cope with.

Delays of 10minutes or more are a daily occurrence on the trains and are caused by several different reasons some which are outside the company's control but there are many other delays which as you say could be much shorter than this mornings 90minutes if only the company handled things better and made deciscions a bit quicker!

Jamie2k9

foggy_lad wrote: »

Delays of less than ten minutes are not considered delays even though trains don't have traffic to cope with.

Delays of 10minutes or more are a daily occurrence on the trains and are caused by several different reasons some which are outside the company's control but there are many other delays which as you say could be much shorter than this mornings 90minutes if only the company handled things better and made deciscions a bit quicker!

"traffic" dosn't just mean cars on the road and as you don't use the train very often how would you know about these daily delays and BTW that 90 minute tweet yesterday morning was incorrect the delay was shorter.

foggy_lad

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

"traffic" dosn't just mean cars on the road and as you don't use the train very often how would you know about these daily delays and BTW that 90 minute tweet yesterday morning was incorrect the delay was shorter.

Oh I am sorry, I was just going on the latest information from the company. How long was the delay in the end? Did they give out free tea and coffee to passengers? Were passengers still entitled to a refund? were all passengers informed of their entitlement to a full/partial refund?

Jamie2k9

foggy_lad wrote: »

Oh I am sorry, I was just going on the latest information from the company. How long was the delay in the end? Did they give out free tea and coffee to passengers? Were passengers still entitled to a refund? were all passengers informed of their entitlement to a full/partial refund?

Yes passengers were intitled to claim a 50% refund in the end it was around 70 minutes late a big improvment on the last few failures in the same area. Can't say about tea or coffee but I would expect they were given out.

Hilly Bill

Since the op have got their answer, should this thread be locked to stop it going any further off topic?

foggy_lad

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Yes passengers were intitled to claim a 50% refund in the end it was around 70 minutes late a big improvment on the last few failures in the same area. Can't say about tea or coffee but I would expect they were given out.

Is it only a 50% for an hours delay? I thought it was 100% after an hour. Passengers were entitled to a refund yes but were they informed of this at the time or when they eventually reached their destinations?

bk

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Since the op have got their answer, should this thread be locked to stop it going any further off topic?

Why, it is turning into a relatively interesting discussion that is only slightly off topic of the original post, but actually on topic for the thread title and this forum.

Jamie2k9 you are correct I haven't used the train in a year, so I do hope that with the new schedule, they are actually hitting the 2h30m. The old 5pm 2h30m was a joke, in reality it never hit that time.

I agree that of course their can be delays to buses too, I myself have pointed these out of the last year here on this forum, it is true of all forms of transport and as a regular public transport user you have to take this into consideration.

I will say however that I've been impressed with generally how on time the bus has been. I have suffered less delays then I had typically suffered on the train and certainly haven't suffered any awful more then 1 hour delays that seemed to happen too frequently on the train.

Richard Logue

bk wrote: »

Why, it is turning into a relatively interesting discussion that is only slightly off topic of the original post, but actually on topic for the thread title and this forum.

...

I will say however that I've been impressed with generally how on time the bus has been. I have suffered less delays then I had typically suffered on the train and certainly haven't suffered any awful more then 1 hour delays that seemed to happen too frequently on the train.

I'd love to see a contribution from you that doesn't take the opportunity to promote buses!

Jamie2k9

I will say however that I've been impressed with generally how on time the bus has been. I have suffered less delays then I had typically suffered on the train and certainly haven't suffered any awful more then 1 hour delays that seemed to happen too frequently on the train.

I was impressed with time keeping when it compares to other "so called" expressway services offered by BE which operate which operate to schedules of their own.

They need to cut the nightime buses by 15 minutes at least, when I took the 03.00 a while ago it was in Dublin Airport at 06.05 and scheduled for 06.30. Departuers between 19.00 and 05.00 each way need to be reduced.

Hilly Bill

Bk, it would be interesting if it was a new discussion that hasnt been done before everytime someone mentions dublin to cork by train. Slightly off topic? Can you please show me where in the opening post does it mention anything about buses. Why hijack a thread to promote your own prefrences?

bk

Richard Logue wrote: »

I'd love to see a contribution from you that doesn't take the opportunity to promote buses!

Go back two or three years and you will find many contributions from me supporting Metro North and Dart Underground (Both of which I'm big fans of) among many other topics.

Unfortunately these projects are unlikely to go ahead for the foreseeable future, due to lack of money. So instead my focus has shifted to cheaper projects that make the most of the infrastructure we already have to improve public transport.

That means things like RTPI, Leap Card, Integrated ticketing, smart phone information apps, route planners, google transit, etc.?

I talk about the new intercity bus services, because it is about the only major new development in public transport in the past three years and probably the most important development in intercity public transport in 30 years.

They have brought two important innovations to the market:
- Cheap, fast and comfortable intercity travel
- All day and all night public transport between our cities.

Buses may not be fancy or sexy, but they are a cheap and flexible way to improve public transport and I hope we see much more of this.

Again I'll point out I'm not a fan of bus or rail, I'm a fan of public transport in all it's forms and I look at the bigger picture of supporting public transport.

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Bk, it would be interesting if it was a new discussion that hasnt been done before everytime someone mentions dublin to cork by train. Slightly off topic? Can you please show me where in the opening post does it mention anything about buses. Why hijack a thread to promote your own prefrences?

Again are you another person that is suggesting that we shouldn't point out to a person another potentially much cheaper option for the question they ask?

I have to say that is a very twisted logic.

Of course the OP might prefer the train and decide to pay more to take it, but surely it is more then fine to also point out some cheaper alternative options.

Since then this thread has evolved and expanded as do many if not most threads here on boards.

If you aren't interested, then don't read it. Simple as that. Suggesting a thread should be locked, just because you don't like the direction it is taking, it back seat modding and not welcome.

Con Logue

bk wrote: »

Go back two or three years and you will find many contributions from me supporting Metro North and Dart Underground (Both of which I'm big fans of) among many other topics.

Unfortunately these projects are unlikely to go ahead for the foreseeable future, due to lack of money. So instead my focus has shifted to cheaper projects that make the most of the infrastructure we already have to improve public transport.

That means things like RTPI, Leap Card, Integrated ticketing, smart phone information apps, route planners, google transit, etc.?

I talk about the new intercity bus services, because it is about the only major new development in public transport in the past three years and probably the most important development in intercity public transport in 30 years.

They have brought two important innovations to the market:
- Cheap, fast and comfortable intercity travel
- All day and all night public transport between our cities.

Buses may not be fancy or sexy, but they are a cheap and flexible way to improve public transport and I hope we see much more of this.

Again I'll point out I'm not a fan of bus or rail, I'm a fan of public transport in all it's forms and I look at the bigger picture of supporting public transport.



Again are you another person that is suggesting that we shouldn't point out to a person another potentially much cheaper option for the question they ask?

I have to say that is a very twisted logic.

Of course the OP might prefer the train and decide to pay more to take it, but surely it is more then fine to also point out some cheaper alternative options.

Since then this thread has evolved and expanded as do many if not most threads here on boards.

If you aren't interested, then don't read it. Simple as that. Suggesting a thread should be locked, just because you don't like the direction it is taking, it back seat modding and not welcome.

Well, I think it has been a rather interesting thread, especially when bus journeys have been described as an "epiphany".

That's a new one on me

Have you accepted Aircoach as your personal saviour mode of transport yet?

Richard Logue

I don't believe in Aircoach. Does that mean I'm going to hell?

Con Logue

Richard Logue wrote: »

I don't believe in Aircoach. Does that mean I'm going to hell?

Repent and Believe before it's too late!

Richard Logue

Con Logue wrote: »

Repent and Believe before it's too late!

Thank you Father. What shall my penance be?

Con Logue

Richard Logue wrote: »

Thank you Father. What shall my penance be?

To be stuck in tailbacks at Newlands Cross in both directions. And may the Lord have mercy on your bladder.

bk

Sigh, very childish!

Despite me normally leaving at rush hour on a Friday, I rarely see any significant tail backs at Newlands cross. It is busy yes, but never like the old horrible M50 days.

Anyway Newlands Cross will be gone in two years time.

And while no Aircoach isn't my saviour as a regular public transport user it is the best thing to happen to public transport in years.

It is saving me about €1300 per year (holiday to the US) and I get to see my family and friends back in Cork far more frequently and for longer then was ever possible with Irish Rail and BE.

So yes, I'm very thankful for the significant improvement this has introduced to my life.

BenShermin

I can report that the 1700 Dublin to Cork train has been on-time the last two Fridays in a row. This comes from my parents who used the service.

I was completely pro-rail up until IÉ got rid of the yield management fare system that saw me get €20 return fares from Dublin to Cork on weekends that I went down. Once those fares were scrapped I started using the bus and I realised that BÉ done "relief" buses on busy Friday and Sunday evenings. These buses had me to Cork in 3hr30min with a 20min break in Urlingford. You have to remember back then most trains took 2hr50mins between Dublin and Cork, so I wasn't losing much time.

At this time both myself and BK saw an obvious niche in the market, non stop buses between Ireland's two biggest cities. Many posters on here shouted the suggestion down, but here we are around two years later with an almost 24hr non stop bus service between the two cities.

Last week two of my Corkonian friends needed to get to Dublin Airport for a flight. They were completely against travelling "with peasants on a toiletless bus stopping at every sh1tehole on the way" as they put it". They never knew that GoBÉ or Aircoach existed. I told them about the bus and They were shocked with how good the GoBÉ service was, one of them was quite shocked that a bus actually had a toilet on board. They slept like logs from Fermoy to Newland's X, nice and rested ahead of their flight. They said the only way they'd ever go back to the train was if IÉ brought their fares down.

The way I see it, IÉ are making great improvements to their timings, but whether the people on here like it or not the bus will always win until fares come down significantly. People are starting to understand that the train is a rip off and bus no longer takes 5hrs on the old N7/N8. Things like having a few beers on the train and going for a sit down meal are definite pluses, but I and many others won't pay a minimum of €20 extra return for this privilege anymore, especially when the trip is only 3hrs. As I said already the catering is dire anyway since Network Catering stopped operations.

I don't think threads like this should be locked, if anything they only lead to a bit of harmless healthy debate. The OP got the rail info he needed and also got a selection of other options which he might not have known existed, no harm at all.

Con Logue

I wouldn't suggest locking the thread at all, in fact I welcome the busgasm posts as one Friday night I propose to build a drinking game around them.

Verbatim unattributed quotes in the Irish Independent will win a bottle of Verve Cliquot *

*not really

Hilly Bill

bk, the op asked what the walk up fare would be. The answer was given. The op didnt ask for a debate on the merits of the bus over the train. Posting the price of the bus is one thing but hijacking a thread to tell us once again as to why you love the bus is another.

markpb

Hilly Bill wrote: »

bk, the op asked what the walk up fare would be. The answer was given. The op didnt ask for a debate on the merits of the bus over the train. Posting the price of the bus is one thing but hijacking a thread to tell us once again as to why you love the bus is another.

Like I said before, it was foggy, not bk who suggested the coach as an alternative. And a soon as he said it, Richard came along with his anti-bus rant before bk even made an appearance in this thread. Con's post should have been the end of it but no, the usual anti-bus and anti-rail crew came along to derail (yet) another thread.

I don't see why you think bk is the only one to blame. If you disagree with him, do it constructively. If you dislike him, add him to your ignore list. If you have a problem with his post, report it.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

devnull

The pro-rail brigade are just as bad as the anti-rail brigade in my opinion.

There is room for both types of transport and to say that either one is not needed on this route is folly.

Richard Logue

I would never say both forms of transport are not needed. What I am against is the notion that somehow IC rail is not needed because a bus with a jacks plies the same route.

bk

I suppose the pertinent question is, if the "buses with a jack" take a significant number of passengers from Irish Rail (potentially as much as 40% on the Cork route!) at the same time as the government is cutting subsidies to Irish Rail, then what does Irish Rail need to do to remain competitive and survive?

Perhpas this is a question that should be asked and discussed in another thread.

Con Logue

I wonder how much strain the sewerage system in Urlingford is under from the vast horde of bus travellers? Perhaps Aircoach should be asked to make a contribution for maintenance seeing as their passengers are making theirs.

Kilkenny County Council should undertake a fact finding mission. Would a motion of the full council be need to be passed?

.

Jamie2k9

I suppose the pertinent question is, if the "buses with a jack" take a significant number of passengers from Irish Rail (potentially as much as 40% on the Cork route!) at the same time as the government is cutting subsidies to Irish Rail, then what does Irish Rail need to do to remain competitive and survive?

Perhpas this is a question that should be asked and discussed in another thread

Well the taxpayers could save around 5+ million per year if the WRC and Nenagh branch line were closed. If political leaders want political railways operating then they will have to pay for them. I better stop now as I can see the direction that the threat might take.

Losty Dublin

Con Logue wrote: »

Would a motion of the full council be need to be passed?

.

He said motion

Richard Logue

devnull wrote: »

The pro-rail brigade are just as bad as the anti-rail brigade in my opinion.

There is room for both types of transport and to say that either one is not needed on this route is folly.

In fairness I would really fall somewhere between two stools on the extreme train or no train views...

Victor

Losty Dublin wrote: »

He said motion

Humour fine, but decorum please.

Moderator

Hilly Bill

bk wrote: »

I suppose the pertinent question is, if the "buses with a jack" take a significant number of passengers from Irish Rail (potentially as much as 40% on the Cork route!) at the same time as the government is cutting subsidies to Irish Rail, then what does Irish Rail need to do to remain competitive and survive?

Perhpas this is a question that should be asked and discussed in another thread.

At last

Hilly Bill

markpb wrote: »

Like I said before, it was foggy, not bk who suggested the coach as an alternative. And a soon as he said it, Richard came along with his anti-bus rant before bk even made an appearance in this thread. Con's post should have been the end of it but no, the usual anti-bus and anti-rail crew came along to derail (yet) another thread.

I don't see why you think bk is the only one to blame. If you disagree with him, do it constructively. If you dislike him, add him to your ignore list. If you have a problem with his post, report it.

Congrats on your new Moderator role.

Where did i say that i only blame bk?

markpb

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Where did i say that i only blame bk?

Show me where you criticised anyone else?

Hilly Bill

markpb wrote: »

Show me where you criticised anyone else?

I read that too quickly, i thought it said circumcised

Con Logue

Its fascinating on this very forum to see the kind of service that punters get where there is no railway for buses to compete with:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056416364&page=26


In respect of the often ballyhooed Navan railway, Dempsey delivered all right, but unsurprisingly it wasn't the railway that he delivered.

Con Logue

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Congrats on your new Moderator role.

Where did i say that i only blame bk?

Perhaps we should have threads with No Bus H8erz labels

bk

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Congrats on your new Moderator role.

This is ironic as you are the only one trying to do the back seat modding here.

You have yet to add a single constructive comment to this thread.

Hilly Bill, it looks to me that because you are annoyed at the valid points I'm making and have no come back to them, all you are doing is trying to disrupt the thread.

I see similar actions from other posters making childish jokes, it is pretty sad really.

Hilly Bill

bk wrote: »

This is ironic as you are the only one trying to do the back seat modding here.

You have yet to add a single constructive comment to this thread.

Hilly Bill, it looks to me that because you are annoyed at the valid points I'm making and have no come back to them, all you are doing is trying to disrupt the thread.

I see similar actions from other posters making childish jokes, it is pretty sad really.[/QUOT

You may need to re read the thread so. The Op asked for the fare, i posted that fare so please do tell how that wasnt constructive?
What valid points have you made regarding what the OP asked in the first post?
Have a look at the thread title and make a note of the word TRAIN. It doesnt say BUS nor does it ask about what is the best option to Cork so why are you going on about buses and giving out to the one poster that actually gave the OP the answer to the question in their opening post?
Annoyed? whats to be annoyed about?

Hilly Bill

Con Logue wrote: »

Perhaps we should have threads with No Bus H8erz labels

I cant wait until the Tour de France starts and for someone on here to suggest to Bradley Wiggins to get the bus instead .

Richard Logue

Now had bk told the OP about the 99 Euro family fare that would have been fairness in action...

Richard Logue

bk wrote: »

This is ironic as you are the only one trying to do the back seat modding here.

You have yet to add a single constructive comment to this thread.

Hilly Bill, it looks to me that because you are annoyed at the valid points I'm making and have no come back to them, all you are doing is trying to disrupt the thread.

I see similar actions from other posters making childish jokes, it is pretty sad really.

You're doing what you do here and that is to promote bus travel at the expense of a rail alternative where it exists. The OP found a bargain family fare all the way to Cobh and despite your best efforts to literally de-rail the thread the OP took the train.

I can feel your pain from here.

bk

In fairness Richard, not a single rail-fan mentioned this fare "promotion" * either, but then how could any of us have known that it applied to the OP, when the OP didn't mention anything about taking his whole family in any post.

The OP clearly makes it sound like he is asking about a standard adult ticket.

When the OP mentioned he had gotten that fare, I immediately acknowledged that it was a great deal and that with such a deal for a family of four it would be nicer to go on the train due to the face to face seats and table.

To be perfectly honest, had I known he was taking the whole family, I would have mentioned this fare promotion, along with price of the bus. I would even have said that in this case the train was worth the few extra euros.

* It should be pointed out that it is a temporary promotion, it is ends 7th of May.

Hilly Bill

it doesnt end on the 7th of may. You can also get a 3 day unlimited bus and rail for e99.

bk

Hilly Bill wrote: »

it doesnt end on the 7th of may. You can also get a 3 day unlimited bus and rail for e99.

Well that isn't what the Irish Rail website says:

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_offers.jsp?i=4639

The above fares are promotional offers and are available until 7th May 2013 from your local station.

Perhaps they will extend it, but this is the facts for the moment.

Con Logue

The train is the only way to get to Cobh by public transport, isn't it?

Rocky Bay

Con Logue wrote: »

The train is the only way to get to Cobh by public transport, isn't it?

You can get the ferry near Passage over to Carrigaloe and walk into Cobh, like I do.

Hilly Bill

bk wrote: »

Well that isn't what the Irish Rail website says:

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_offers.jsp?i=4639



Perhaps they will extend it, but this is the facts for the moment.

The facts of what?