Reduced Capacity on Peak service

Grandeeod

Losty Dublin wrote: »

In pretty much every other European city, they fund their public transport with enough money to pay for night services.

In pretty much every other European city, they have the national tax take to afford it. Lets get real here.

IS_a_Class

do most european cities have as many night or late night services as dublin though? this is one area where dublin probably holds its own tbh. i am not from dublin, but i have been out in a lot of places in europe and there is feck all late nite services. But this is wayyyy off topic, sorry OP

RonanM123

Completely agree Dublin has a good service compared to other places.

On another note,

Tuesday 3 Dec - Waterford services
06.05 4 piece
07.10 6 piece
07.50 6 piece

Wednesday
06.05 4 piece
07.10 6 piece (?)
07.50 4 piece

Got the 07.50 in Kilkenny, didn't get my "pre booked" seat, train full had to stand. Got offered a bus transfer from Athy as did others, I declined as believe it or not I needed to be somewhere once I arrive in Dublin and it would of taken to long on the bus.

Now IE know that this week the 07.50 has being very busy and online bookings would clearly back this up yet IE operations department clearly didn't see a problem in just dropping a carriage.

The best thing is tomorrow mornings services are all scheduled to be the same as Wednesday. Will we receive a bus transfer offer again.....

The train cuts seem to be primarily only effecting the Waterford route, there is no repeated problems on other routes. Take the mistake with the 17.05 to Sligo on Friday away and there is not other services across the network having significant problems.

I am currently planning on moving to Carlow and "had" planned to purchase a taxsaver ticket but currently IE won't be receiving such a large amount of cash until they sort themselves out and they better do it fast as passengers will be leaving thick and fast if it continues.

foggy_lad

That mistake on the Sligo line was more regular than a once off according to regular passengers, and the Waterford line has always been the poor cousin with regular long delays and breakdowns and bustitutions from Carlow/Athy to Waterford because the trains often couldn't get farther than carlow.

To side with irish rail, the Waterford line is an odd sort of line as some days it will appear almost empty yet on other days it is like it has been flash mobbed. The only solution is to keep longer formations for commuters who are the bread and butter or to continue to provide a bustitution to ensure al passengers are accommodated. I wonder is it the case that the bus transfer works out cheaper than adding two careiages?

BabyBirch

RonanM123 wrote: »

I am currently planning on moving to Carlow and "had" planned to purchase a taxsaver ticket but currently IE won't be receiving such a large amount of cash until they sort themselves out and they better do it fast as passengers will be leaving thick and fast if it continues.

I have just cancelled my Taxsaver rail ticket for 2014 and I'm sure a lot of others will do the same.

eejoynt

A total waste of time complaining here.

Go to your TD and or write to gerry murphy of the NTA

MDFM

eejoynt wrote: »

A total waste of time complaining here.

Go to your TD and or write to gerry murphy of the NTA

Whom in turn will do what? I think at this stage most local TD's & gerry murphy(?) are well informed of the chaos Irish Rail are creating for their passengers. The situation seems set to stay put, according to Barry Kenny when he was on The Last Word the other evening.

Highflyer13

I was on the 6.57am service from Maynooth this morning. A lady on the train collapsed if anyone here seen it was so overcrowded. This is nothing but a malicious exercise by Irish rail to make as much profit as they can by reducing capacity whilst raising ticket prices. The are fully aware people don't have many alternative options either

L1011

IS_a_Class wrote: »

do most european cities have as many night or late night services as dublin though? this is one area where dublin probably holds its own tbh. i am not from dublin, but i have been out in a lot of places in europe and there is feck all late nite services. But this is wayyyy off topic, sorry OP

Most European cities have late night services 7 days a week. Dublin has a pathetic attempt at a service on weekends only.

Brighton, a regional city the size of Cork, has 24 hour routes in addition to extra late-week/weekend services. Dublin is a capital city.

eigrod

Highflyer13 wrote: »

I was on the 6.57am service from Maynooth this morning. A lady on the train collapsed if anyone here seen it was so overcrowded. This is nothing but a malicious exercise by Irish rail to make as much profit as they can by reducing capacity whilst raising ticket prices. The are fully aware people don't have many alternative options either

Exactly. They keep saying it's standard across all major cities to have to stand - which is probably true to a certain extent. But what's not the case in other cities is that you would have to wait a half an hour for the next service (ie DARTs to Greystones) and I'm sure in other cities they didn't spend millions over a decade to increase capacity (longer platforms, more carriages) and then not a wet week after they've done that, they cut back the services in this manner. It's disgraceful.

bikeman1

What I find very interesting is this. The IE network is split into two divisions for management purposes etc / planning etc. The East South East is one which is:

Sligo-Dublin
Rosslare - Dublin
Waterford - Dublin
Belfast - Dublin (IEs portion)
DART
Connolly area suburban

The rest is West South West.

Now have a look at where the majority of the problems exist. Pretty obvious who the golden routes are and who are getting the cuts...

Or have the two areas joined or changed in recent times?

corktina

you'd expect it to be split Heuston/Connolly which would put the Waterford line in the south group

bikeman1

corktina wrote: »

you'd expect it to be split Heuston/Connolly which would put the Waterford line in the south group

You would expect that, but the Waterford line is part of the "Connolly" side network. Don't ask me why!

LXFlyer

I think where the cuts have hit is really down to which sets were reformed.

They're only starting on the Premier Class sets, but seem to have had a break for the last few weeks. Perhaps a reanalysis may be in the offing?

Jamie2k9

What I find very interesting is this. The IE network is split into two divisions for management purposes etc / planning etc. The East South East is one which is:

Sligo-Dublin
Rosslare - Dublin
Waterford - Dublin
Belfast - Dublin (IEs portion)
DART
Connolly area suburban

I have not idea what the reason is behind it being tied to Connolly side as no disrespect customer service on the Connolly side they have not got a clue about the line, they always have to pass it over to the Heuston side for attention or have to get answers from operations from Heuston side.

kknikon

What is the best approach to make a complaint? Last Feb/March when carriages were reduced from 6 piece to 3 piece on 18.35 to Waterford I spoke to Heuston Station manager, but I may well have been speaking to the wall. He filled me up with all this factual ****e about how there is no regulation on train capicities and therefore they have the right to cram people in with no regard to safety.

A suggestion to IE would be to take advice from Michael O Leary. If they want to cram people in there should be a standing only ticket for €1. I guarantee there would be no complaints as it would give value for money. My complaint is that soon my ticket will cost in excess of €4k and I'm not guaranteed a seat.

eigrod

I've been using the DART for 15 years or so and I never recall it being such a consistently bad service as it has been this Autumn, both from the perspective of reduced carriages at peak time and delays.

It's got so bad that I am starting to think there is something more sinister at play here, ie IrishRail are using it's paying passengers as pawns in a battle with the Minister to elicit more funds from the Government. The more we (the paying customer) complain about the service, the more IrishRail can moan to Government that they don't have enough funding to put it right.

As long as they have enough to pay their top brass bonuses, I guess they'll be alright though.

Highflyer13

eigrod wrote: »

I've been using the DART for 15 years or so and I never recall it being such a consistently bad service as it has been this Autumn, both from the perspective of reduced carriages at peak time and delays.

It's got so bad that I am starting to think there is something more sinister at play here, ie IrishRail are using it's paying passengers as pawns in a battle with the Minister to elicit more funds from the Government. The more we (the paying customer) complain about the service, the more IrishRail can moan to Government that they don't have enough funding to put it right.

As long as they have enough to pay their top brass bonuses, I guess they'll be alright though.

You only have to read twitter to get a sense of how angry commuters are. Problem is there isn't much alternative and i am sure Irish rail are aware of this.

Emme

foggy_lad wrote: »

That mistake on the Sligo line was more regular than a once off according to regular passengers, and the Waterford line has always been the poor cousin with regular long delays and breakdowns and bustitutions from Carlow/Athy to Waterford because the trains often couldn't get farther than carlow.

People from Athy and Carlow are changing from train to bus as it is. It's much cheaper than an annual train ticket. Bustitutions would be an outright rip off for people who have paid to travel by train. If people in Athy and Carlow wanted to travel by bus they would do so in the first place at a considerably reduced cost!

foggy_lad wrote: »

To side with irish rail, the Waterford line is an odd sort of line as some days it will appear almost empty yet on other days it is like it has been flash mobbed. The only solution is to keep longer formations for commuters who are the bread and butter or to continue to provide a bustitution to ensure al passengers are accommodated. I wonder is it the case that the bus transfer works out cheaper than adding two careiages?

The Waterford train is rarely almost empty from Carlow on. Indeed, it gets so packed these days that it is an almost daily occurrence to see a passenger faint or have a panic attack. Occasionally the train might be quiet up to Carlow but these days it's full because people are travelling to Dublin to do Christmas shopping. Even if the train is quiet up to Carlow it fills up quickly there and a lot of people commute from Athy. Iarnrod Eireann are guaranteed daily commuters from Carlow and Athy so why treat them so badly?

LoonyLovegood

There's issues on the sligo train again today...

https://twitter.com/_LauraGaynor/status/409397645883740160

@_LauraGaynor on twitter wrote:

.@IrishRail For safety & decency, will you start putting more carriages on the Sligo train? It's getting hot in here.

eigrod

They have now taken to deleting all negative tweets on the subject of reduced capacity that are directed to them (ie "@irishrail&quot. Therefore, when you search "irishrail" you will mainly see positive tweets or meaningless ones.

Someone's set up a new Twitter account called "@irishfailrail" and he/she is retweeting all the negative ones before they delete them so you will see them on his/her timeline.

What a ridiculous company but as they don't seem to be accountable to anyone, they continue to get away with it. Minister Varadker doesn't seem to give a ****.

n97 mini

Anyone tackled them over it?

LEIN

n97 mini wrote: »

Anyone tackled them over it?

I seem to be on the ignore list as I never get a response from them.

Highflyer13

eigrod wrote: »

They have now taken to deleting all negative tweets on the subject of reduced capacity that are directed to them (ie "@irishrail&quot. Therefore, when you search "irishrail" you will mainly see positive tweets or meaningless ones.

Someone's set up a new Twitter account called "@irishfailrail" and he/she is retweeting all the negative ones before they delete them so you will see them on his/her timeline.

What a ridiculous company but as they don't seem to be accountable to anyone, they continue to get away with it. Minister Varadker doesn't seem to give a ****.

Seen the @irishfailrail account. Great work being done to raise awareness. Hopefully commuters will rise up against Irish rail. 40 minutes late for work again! Unbelievable

eigrod

n97 mini wrote: »

Anyone tackled them over it?

Simon Harris and Andrew Doyle (both Wicklow TDs) met the CEO of IrishRail on the matter but seemed to be just that...a meeting. They didn't seem to get any assurances and the service has actually got worse since they met. Simon Harris carried out a survey in advance of the meeting and I think the outcome is on his website.

MDFM

DD9090 wrote: »

I seem to be on the ignore list as I never get a response from them.

I must be on that list too..!!

n97 mini

eigrod wrote: »

Simon Harris and Andrew Doyle (both Wicklow TDs) met the CEO of IrishRail on the matter but seemed to be just that...a meeting. They didn't seem to get any assurances and the service has actually got worse since they met. Simon Harris carried out a survey in advance of the meeting and I think the outcome is on his website.

Cheers, but I mean has anyone tackled them over censoring Twitter comments?

Jamie2k9

I'm sure that they are unable to delete the bad #irishrail tweets.

corktina

BR in the old days in the UK used to have a policy of choking off demand and I reckon that's what's happening here.

LXFlyer

If you just look on twitter for tweets with "@irishrail" you will see all of the tweets appearing, good, bad or indifferent.

The only tweets that you'll see if you actually look at the Irish Rail twitter account are the ones that they reply to, and any replies to them.

That's the same as any twitter account.

Hilly Bill

17.05 to sligo was a 6 piece with plenty of room at the front. 19.05 a 4 piece with plenty of room as of ten to 7.

Jamie2k9

Anyone confirm that configuration has stopped after the first few PC sets were changed around?

They did restore some capacity to Waterford Sunday services and Monday morning, however week 3 and the 14.10 ex Dublin and 18.05 ex Waterford services have remained a 4 piece with passengers standing between Dublin and Carlow and from Kilkenny/Muine Bheag to Dublin. IE telling passengers to book in advance is all well and good except when the service is sold out 5 days in advance. They also say they will restore 6 piece to the service but when/if that will happen is the next question.

LXFlyer

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Anyone confirm that configuration has stopped after the first few PC sets were changed around?

They did restore some capacity to Waterford Sunday services and Monday morning, however week 3 and the 14.10 ex Dublin and 18.05 ex Waterford services have remained a 4 piece with passengers standing between Dublin and Carlow and from Kilkenny/Muine Bheag to Dublin. IE telling passengers to book in advance is all well and good except when the service is sold out 5 days in advance. They also say they will restore 6 piece to the service but when/if that will happen is the next question.

I refer you to post #315 above which seems to have gone completely unnoticed by everyone.

Hilly Bill

Just because it wasnt thanked or quoted doesnt mean it wasnt noticed.

Emme

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Anyone confirm that configuration has stopped after the first few PC sets were changed around?

They did restore some capacity to Waterford Sunday services and Monday morning, however week 3 and the 14.10 ex Dublin and 18.05 ex Waterford services have remained a 4 piece with passengers standing between Dublin and Carlow and from Kilkenny/Muine Bheag to Dublin. IE telling passengers to book in advance is all well and good except when the service is sold out 5 days in advance. They also say they will restore 6 piece to the service but when/if that will happen is the next question.

IE are telling passengers to book in advance? If so what's the point of paying for a taxsaver ticket to commute to work on any of the Intercity lines? When my taxsaver ticket expires I will be either driving or bussing to work instead of paying IE more than Euro3,000 to stand for more than two hours a day on a train.

I have spoken to people who booked seats on the Waterford train in recent weeks and they couldn't get the seat they had booked because the seats were already occupied and/or train was too packed to navigate. If you book a seat in carriage F (which necessitates a 6 car train) weeks in advance and then IE decides to put on 4 cars what do you do? The carriage with your booked seat has effectively disappeared!

If IE's aim is to alienate people from travelling by train they are going about it in the right way. I suspect this is the plan behind the madness. Unfortunately the train is the only option some people have to get to work. However these people might be better off not working if IE keep increasing their prices - soon the amount over and above what some people would get on the dole will go on paying for train transport to and from work.

Hilly Bill

Emme, that taxsaver ticket only gives you a discount , it doesnt guarantee you a seat. Irish Rail would have informed anyone that would have been affected reservation wise regarding the shorter trains.

Jamie2k9

lxflyer wrote: »

I refer you to post #315 above which seems to have gone completely unnoticed by everyone.

I did notice it but would like more information as to reasons behind it as I get the impression its because external authorities have instructed them to do it.

We have Leo V involved with it and he seems to think the problem is not less carriages and he will be meeting with the CEO again to discuss the problems again soon while the RSC will monitor loadings with IE as they have received lots of complaints and plan to raise the issue further if necessary.

Mind you the reduced DART's have being discussed on US TV recently.

allandanyways

The IrishRailFail twitter account is a brilliant idea.

I wonder how much bad press Irish Rail have to get before they do something about their disgraceful service?

L1011

Barry Kenny making statements about safety today, claiming this is only a "comfort issue". Clearly hasn't been on some of the services I've been on.

Emme

MYOB wrote: »

Barry Kenny making statements about safety today, claiming this is only a "comfort issue". Clearly hasn't been on some of the services I've been on.

Aside from "comfort" :rolleyes: this is a health and safety issue. People are fainting on the train and also having panic attacks and asthma attacks from the overcrowding.

Commuter trains are not designed for standing. The Luas is fine for standing and has hanging straps in place. Apart from a few rails in between carriages on newer trains there is nowhere to hold onto when standing on a commuter train.

Despite overcrowding IE nearly always tries to cram the food trolley on board. The food trolley sometimes blocks exits from shorter trains (nowhere to put it) further compromising safety. When a large number of passengers are standing, sometimes in the aisles, it is dangerous to serve hot drinks on board the train.

I challenge Barry Kenny to stand on a crowded train for an hour each way for a week. Let him wait on crowded platforms and fight for a seat with the rest of them. Most important, he should pay for the privilege out of his own pocket!

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

LXFlyer

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

There are no food carts on commuter trains.

The previous poster is referring to an Intercity service between Waterford and Dublin and v.v. - that is hardly a commuter service.

Hungerford

That noted expert on transport matters Leo Varadkar speakth:

“Concerns about overcrowding have been raised with the chief executive of Iarnród Éireann and I understand the company has responded and reintroduced large carriages to accommodate passengers where this has been considered necessary”.

Large carriages? I am starting to suspect Leo wouldn't recognise a train if it ran over him.

Link: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/overcrowding-prompts-more-safety-inspections-on-trains-1.1623701

LXFlyer

Emme wrote: »

Aside from "comfort" :rolleyes: this is a health and safety issue. People are fainting on the train and also having panic attacks and asthma attacks from the overcrowding.

Commuter trains are not designed for standing. The Luas is fine for standing and has hanging straps in place. Apart from a few rails in between carriages on newer trains there is nowhere to hold onto when standing on a commuter train.

Despite overcrowding IE nearly always tries to cram the food trolley on board. The food trolley sometimes blocks exits from shorter trains (nowhere to put it) further compromising safety. When a large number of passengers are standing, sometimes in the aisles, it is dangerous to serve hot drinks on board the train.

I challenge Barry Kenny to stand on a crowded train for an hour each way for a week. Let him wait on crowded platforms and fight for a seat with the rest of them. Most important, he should pay for the privilege out of his own pocket!

First off - I am assuming you are referring to trains to/from Carlow? These are all Intercity services and not commuter trains.

The 22000 sets that operate them do have handgrabs on each seat bordering the aisle and there are handrails in each vestibule - I would dispute that they are not designed to carry standees. That being said, it isn't good enough to have a situation where people are fainting, etc. However, I was under the impression that the 0605 ex-Waterford and the 17:35 ex-Heuston had reverted to full 6 coach trains again?

As I said in the previous post, the trains are Intercity services to/from Waterford - should someone going to/from Waterford not be able to buy a tea/coffee on board?

What I think probably will need to happen when the next timetable is prepared is that some of the additional stops that have been tagged onto Intercity services between Heuston and Kildare may have to be removed. While this may mean a smaller choice for people travelling to stations between Heuston and Kildare, it would relieve the pressure on the longer distance Intercity services.

I do think people are however missing the main point here. The Minister of Transport proposed, and voted for (along with his FG and Labour colleagues) a 7% cut in PSO subsidy in 2014 following a similar % cut in 2013. Yet, he and everyone else seem to expect the company to magically provide the same level of service as before. People need to start lobbying their TDs on this because that frankly is the real cause of this problem.

circular flexing

Emme wrote: »

Despite overcrowding IE nearly always tries to cram the food trolley on board. The food trolley sometimes blocks exits from shorter trains (nowhere to put it) further compromising safety. When a large number of passengers are standing, sometimes in the aisles, it is dangerous to serve hot drinks on board the train.

There is a reserved space for the trolley, but what happens is people don't read the signs and usually just fill it up luggage.

Emme

lxflyer wrote: »

First off - I am assuming you are referring to trains to/from Carlow? These are all Intercity services and not commuter trains.

Apologies for the error but I and hundreds of others commute to work using the Waterford line. I would argue that people who commute to work on the Waterford and other Intercity services are no less important than people who commute to work on commuter trains.

lxflyer wrote: »

The 22000 sets that operate them do have handgrabs on each seat bordering the aisle and there are handrails in each vestibule - I would dispute that they are not designed to carry standees.

I thought the hand grabs on the seats were to assist the people getting into the seats. There are hand grabs on the window seats too - are people in the aisles supposed to lean across passengers sitting next the corridor and grab those?

lxflyer wrote: »

That being said, it isn't good enough to have a situation where people are fainting, etc. However, I was under the impression that the 0605 ex-Waterford and the 17:35 ex-Heuston had reverted to full 6 coach trains again?

Sometimes but this is sporadic. The 17.35 might have a 4 carriage train and the 18.35 might have a 6 carriage train or vice versa. Both are peak time trains carrying commuters (even though they are only Intercity trains).

lxflyer wrote: »

As I said in the previous post, the trains are Intercity services to/from Waterford - should someone going to/from Waterford not be able to buy a tea/coffee on board?

Of course and this is extra revenue for Iarnrod Eireann who continually whinge about being cash strapped despite increasing charges and decreasing quality of service. However it is difficult for the food cart operator and the passengers if the train is only 3 or 4 carriages long and packed with people sitting and standing.

lxflyer wrote: »

What I think probably will need to happen when the next timetable is prepared is that some of the additional stops that have been tagged onto Intercity services between Heuston and Kildare may have to be removed. While this may mean a smaller choice for people travelling to stations between Heuston and Kildare, it would relieve the pressure on the longer distance Intercity services.

This would make sense but some people get on at Newbridge or Kildare and get off at Athy or further down the line. When the trains were shortened I noticed that passengers who had the option of getting off at or before Kildare started avoiding the Waterford train and despite this the train was still overcrowded with 3 or 4 carriages.

lxflyer wrote: »

I do think people are however missing the main point here. The Minister of Transport proposed, and voted for (along with his FG and Labour colleagues) a 7% cut in PSO subsidy in 2014 following a similar % cut in 2013. Yet, he and everyone else seem to expect the company to magically provide the same level of service as before. People need to start lobbying their TDs on this because that frankly is the real cause of this problem.

Another point is that everybody is taking cuts in their salaries and having to stump up for price increases elsewhere including transport. Iarnrod Eireann and other semi-state transport operators keep hiking their fares. Surely that would make up for the cuts in subsidy? The average worker can't demand extra wages to subsidise the extra demands on their pockets. Even so they are magically expected to provide the same level of service in their jobs and more. All this while being crammed like sardines morning and evening on overcrowded trains with some unfortunates fainting and getting ill in the process. This is no mean feat!

Methinks the transport operators are deliberately upsetting and endangering the health and safety of customers to make a point to the government. Commuters on my train have already lobbied their TDs but so far queries and complaints have been fobbed off.

circular flexing wrote: »

There is a reserved space for the trolley, but what happens is people don't read the signs and usually just fill it up luggage.

They can put luggage there if they're lucky but recently people have had to cram themselves into that space on account of overcrowded trains.

LXFlyer

Emme wrote: »

Apologies for the error but I and hundreds of others commute to work using the Waterford line. I would argue that people who commute to work on the Waterford and other Intercity services are no less important than people who commute to work on commuter trains.

I thought the hand grabs on the seats were to assist the people getting into the seats. There are hand grabs on the window seats too - are people in the aisles supposed to lean across passengers sitting next the corridor and grab those?

Sometimes but this is sporadic. The 17.35 might have a 4 carriage train and the 18.35 might have a 6 carriage train or vice versa. Both are peak time trains carrying commuters (even though they are only Intercity trains).

Of course and this is extra revenue for Iarnrod Eireann who continually whinge about being cash strapped despite increasing charges and decreasing quality of service. However it is difficult for the food cart operator and the passengers if the train is only 3 or 4 carriages long and packed with people sitting and standing.

This would make sense but some people get on at Newbridge or Kildare and get off at Athy or further down the line. When the trains were shortened I noticed that passengers who had the option of getting off at or before Kildare started avoiding the Waterford train and despite this the train was still overcrowded with 3 or 4 carriages.

Another point is that everybody is taking cuts in their salaries and having to stump up for price increases elsewhere including transport. Iarnrod Eireann and other semi-state transport operators keep hiking their fares. Surely that would make up for the cuts in subsidy? The average worker can't demand extra wages to subsidise the extra demands on their pockets. Even so they are magically expected to provide the same level of service in their jobs and more. All this while being crammed like sardines morning and evening on overcrowded trains with some unfortunates fainting and getting ill in the process. This is no mean feat!

Methinks the transport operators are deliberately upsetting and endangering the health and safety of customers to make a point to the government. Commuters on my train have already lobbied their TDs but so far queries and complaints have been fobbed off.

The hand grabs are on the top of each seat along the aisle and are there to use when standing or walking along the aisle. I'm not referring to arm rests.

When was the last time either of the 06:05 ex-Waterford or 17:35 ex-Heuston was a 4 piece set? Those are the two key trains that absolutely need to be 6 piece sets, and which I understood from an earlier post IE had said they would do.

The trolley service is operated under contract by Rail Gourmet and not Irish Rail. It generates no additional revenue for the railway company as it is provided under contract.

The fare increases are not making up the differences in the subsidy - that much is obvious from the fare determination reports and annual report, hence IE are having to cut costs wherever they can, including using shorter trains in some cases to try and reduce fuel costs. Clearly as I said above neither the 0605 ex-Waterford and 17:35 to Waterford are not suitable for that.

As for lobbying TDs - people need to start specifically asking them how they expect the service levels to be maintained in the face of the subsidy cuts that they voted for.

It's very easy to just blame the railway company, but transport is no different from any other government department in having to bear the brunt of expenditure cut backs. The front line has been shielded from this until now through the transport companies cutting costs, but I think we are now at the point where that status quo cannot be maintained.

I would think that IE have better things to do with their maintenance teams than take trains out of service for the best part of a week to reform them in a deliberate effort to make things look worse than they are - that's taking things a bit too far.

At the moment there appears to have been a halt to train reformations, so there may be some movement on that. However it will just mean that costs will ultimately have to be cut somewhere else.

corktina

that sounds ominous.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

LXFlyer

I'm only expressing my opinion, but as a finance professional I would suggest that costs will need to be cut somehow.