Will Sligo Services be Stopping at Broombridge?

end of the road

n97 mini wrote: »

If people are determined to keep journey times down then sacrifice the least busy station if it means gaining an even greater patronage elsewhere by stopping at Broombridge.

or, bring the line up to a higher speed so that all users can benefit, rather then making some users lose out for others.

tabbey

Jem72 wrote: »

Broombridge is actually a lot tidier than it was a few years ago. They did some sort of community involvement project a couple of years back where they got kids to paint the panels and it seems to have been left alone since. No doubt the 24 hour security from the Luas construction site also helps.

I was in Broombridge halt this week,the panels look well and are witty, especially the the one which tells us to NEVER JUDGE A STATION BY IT'S NAME.

However the basic information needed is totally missing.
There are about twenty (ten each side) bilingual signs warning us of the gap between train and platform. A similar number of bilingual signs telling us to stay behind the yellow line. There are signs identifying platforms 1 & 2, as well as signs which indicate the direction to exit.

Far more useful would be a timetable, or list of departure times with destinations and intermediate stations served. There was not even something to inform the public which platform for the city or where else we could reach by train.
There were two Romanian? ladies on the down platform, they probably knew where and when they would go, but a casual visitor would not have a clue whether the train might serve Finglas, Foxrock or Fairview.

As for the leap card reader, I did not try it, but I would not like to depend on it.

ClovenHoof

tabbey wrote: »

Far more useful would be a timetable, or list of departure times with destinations and intermediate stations served. There was not even something to inform the public which platform for the city or where else we could reach by train.
There were two Romanian? ladies on the down platform, they probably knew where and when they would go, but a casual visitor would not have a clue whether the train might serve Finglas, Foxrock or Fairview.
.

The old CIE tradition whereby the actual needs of the commuters and PT user being completely irrelevant in their infrastructure. The 'ah sure, everyone knows the time da train comes...."

I actually imagine a CIE manager on half a million a year doing nothing but research into hanging baskets.

Jem72

I would imagine the signage they have put up is all stuff that is a legal requirement. I know some people have an emotional attachment to paper timetables and departure times but the vast majority of people who use trains regularly find smartphone information much more useful. In reality Irish Rail's timetable is one of the great works of Irish fiction, so the real-time app is far more likely to give you an accurate indication of when a train is likely to appear.

I know - not everyone has smartphones but most people do and would prefer that Irish Rail devote resources to making timetable information more accessible that way than on distributing paper information.

That being said a "Trains to city" and "Trains to Maynooth & Sligo" sign on the appropriate platform would be somewhat helpful. They are also very bad at signposting entrances to stations. I had to try to get into Hazelhatch station for the first time ever a few months ago after walking out there from Connolly and it took me quite a while to find the entrance when coming from the canal.

Del.Monte

Jem72 wrote: »

I would imagine the signage they have put up is all stuff that is a legal requirement. I know some people have an emotional attachment to paper timetables and departure times but the vast majority of people who use trains regularly find smartphone information much more useful. In reality Irish Rail's timetable is one of the great works of Irish fiction, so the real-time app is far more likely to give you an accurate indication of when a train is likely to appear.

I know - not everyone has smartphones but most people do and would prefer that Irish Rail devote resources to making timetable information more accessible that way than on distributing paper information.

That being said a "Trains to city" and "Trains to Maynooth & Sligo" sign on the appropriate platform would be somewhat helpful. They are also very bad at signposting entrances to stations. I had to try to get into Hazelhatch station for the first time ever a few months ago after walking out there from Connolly and it took me quite a while to find the entrance when coming from the canal.

I thought the perceived wisdom is that all rail travellers are OAPs and many of that age bracket don't even have mobiles.

Losty Dublin

Del.Monte wrote: »

I thought the perceived wisdom is that all rail travellers are OAPs and many of that age bracket don't even have mobiles.

Do I get off here for my hospital appointment?

ClovenHoof

"Jem72 wrote: »

That being said a "Trains to city" and "Trains to Maynooth & Sligo" sign on the appropriate platform would be somewhat helpful. They are also very bad at signposting entrances to stations. I had to try to get into Hazelhatch station for the first time ever a few months ago after walking out there from Connolly and it took me quite a while to find the entrance when coming from the canal.

Creating public confidence in every aspect of cultivating a sense of reliability from services to signage is vital.

tabbey

tabbey wrote: »

However the basic information needed is totally missing.
There are about twenty (ten each side) bilingual signs warning us of the gap between train and platform. A similar number of bilingual signs telling us to stay behind the yellow line. There are signs identifying platforms 1 & 2, as well as signs which indicate the direction to exit.

Far more useful would be a timetable, or list of departure times with destinations and intermediate stations served. There was not even something to inform the public which platform for the city or where else we could reach by train.

Considering that anything that was put in the station ended up in the canal shortly afterwards, I can understand why the station is still very spartan. Hopefully it can improve due to the Luas.

loyatemu

It might be worth running an extra set or 2 up and down from Maynooth to Docklands during the day - would greatly improve frequency on the line, passengers for the CC could change at Broombridge.

n97 mini

ClovenHoof wrote: »

Creating public confidence in every aspect of cultivating a sense of reliability from services to signage is vital.

They can't get the basics right: every station on the Maynooth line has a stainless steel and glass display board for showing timetables. They had timetables in them in the beginning, but they've been empty for the last 10 years.

L1011

n97 mini wrote: »

They can't get the basics right: every station on the Maynooth line has a stainless steel and glass display board for showing timetables. They had timetables in them in the beginning, but they've been empty for the last 10 years.

The one in Maynooth now displays local info for tourists; but no timetable.

tabbey

L1011 wrote: »

The one in Maynooth now displays local info for tourists; but no timetable.

But Maynooth has a departure timetable, showing destination and intermediate stops. It is inside the building, on the left as you go in the front door.

L1011

tabbey wrote: »

But Maynooth has a departure timetable, showing destination and intermediate stops. It is inside the building, on the left as you go in the front door.

The building does actually close occasionally. Very occasionally, but still. There will be time its closed and the platform PIS just has "next train xx:xx" with no details.

n97 mini

The same disease applies to DB. All the timetables at bus stops (in Leixlip anyway) are updated when the new fares come into effect but the timetables themselves are around 4 years out of date, showing the wrong times. Even though they're freshly printed. You couldn't make this stuff up.

n97 mini

L1011 wrote: »

The building does actually close occasionally. Very occasionally, but still. There will be time its closed and the platform PIS just has "next train xx:xx" with no details.

It was closed yesterday at ~18.30 when I was there.

sdaly213

Makes sense to add connectivity to any transport system, time will tell how many people from ICR’s to the city would want a change here or not, the benefits could well be huge.

Why not up the ante a bit, lets run some bus services here too, A new Local service from Finglas using the new bridge at Reily's Crossing to come to Broombridge, and 120 also, make Broombridge a mini transport hub for the area. Got to have some benefits to remove some extra cars off the road that currently head through Phibsbrough? Maybe a park and ride on the canal side??

cronos

I wonder is there any update on this with the new changes on the Irish Rail timetable? I haven't heard brombridge covered sadly. Crazy really.

ArcadiaJunction

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/102436412#Comment_102436412

The Boards NPCs wrong once again. All Sligo services to stop at Broombridge.

"An additional stop will be added to train services from Sligo from next Monday (August 26), Iarnród Éireann has confirmed.

All Sligo line services will now call additionally at Broombridge for interchange with Luas Green Line services."

https://www.westernpeople.ie/news/alert-new-stop-added-to-sligo-train-line_arid-29152.html

end of the road

public transport connectivity is great, nobody is arguing against it, at least not on this thread.
but when transport connectivity comes at the expense of making an already slow service even slower, for people who could just hop off at maynooth and use the suburban to go to broombridge, then understandably people would have concerns and suggest that perhapse stopping sligo services at broombridge may not be the best idea.

knucklehead6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122540853#Comment_122540853

you resurrected a 7 year old thread to give out about 7 year old information an say it’s wrong.

And used a 3 day old link to backup your assertion that the 7 year old information is wrong

The Mathematician

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122541077#Comment_122541077

In fact a lot of the down journeys are actually faster. The old timetable had a huge amount of padding, while the new timetable has a bit less. Leaving at 5 minutes past the hour works much better.

This change will make a big difference for large parts of South Dublin, it is a journey I do regularly and it will save me 15 minutes each way. I think it might end up with more people getting off at Broombridge than at Connolly.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122541732#Comment_122541732

the new time table might be a bit faster but the sligo line is one of the slowest in the country, so adding extra stops to it just brings it back to the slowness level it had at best when the faster timetable should be taken advantage of to improve journey times.
i've no doubt the stop will benefit some but at the moment until the regional and inter city lines are at a reasonable speed and with reasonable journey times, then adding more stops especially within the dublin suburban area when there already are interchanges all be a bit more inconvenient for those doing them, is just going to slow up those services more.

The Mathematician

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122542375#Comment_122542375

In general I would agree with you, but this is a special case since the services can't really be speeded up due to the constraints of a two track railway and the Maynooth stopping trains. If the Sligo line trains missed Broombridge, they would just crawl along behind the Maynooth trains anyway (and this happens far more in practice than the timetable suggests). Broombridge is also a better destination for large parts of Dublin. Indeed it will be quicker to get to O'Connell Street by changing at Broombridge.

In terms of numbers, in the last census, on the Sligo/Maynooth line, 5086 alighted at Connolly, compared to 1682 at Broombridge. With the new option to alight at Broombridge on the Sligo trains, this gap will close substantially.

Grandeeod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122541077#Comment_122541077

Its happened so deal with it. A bit like your rersponses on the Foynes thread. Suck it up dude as its far more relavent.

Grandeeod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122540853#Comment_122540853

You were right and now you can see how the reaction runs silent. Run and hide from the truth is the usual playlist here. It hasn't changed in over 20 years!

OisinCooke

I presume once ML opens, a Glasnevin stop will be added to all Sligo services as well… At this stage (a post-DART+ world with 10/15 minute frequency trains on the Western and Northern Lines) I can only see that it would make far more sense for all Sligo services to be routed on the grade-separated canal line from Glasnevin and terminate at Spencer Dock, avoiding the near impossible merge with the Northern Line at North Strand.

This would mean a direct connection with Green Line at Broombridge, Metro at Glasnevin, and Red Line at Spencer Dock, all of which would result in a much faster collection to the city centre and the north/south city than going to Connolly and walking all the way to Busáras

I could be missing something but that seems to make the most sense from a non-user perspective…

On a side note, while I know that line doubling from Maynooth to Mullingar is a goal, is four tracking of the Maynooth Line from Glasnevin on the cards? Does it even need to be done…? There is potentially space, with maybe minor rerouting/narrowing of the canal in certain places…

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122615757#Comment_122615757

I'd say we'd be more likely to see the Maynooth→Hazlehatch/Adamstown link built (as envisaged in the AIRR) rather than a quad tracking of the Maynooth line. With Sligo services using that to terminate at Heuston instead. Would free up the tracks east of Maynooth purely for Dart services then.

OisinCooke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122619950#Comment_122619950

Yes actually, very good point, I completely forgot about that… Thank you!

I do suppose the point still stands that maybe half of the Maynooth and Hazelhatch Phoenix Park Tunnel commuter services could go to Spencer Dock to avoid the North Strand Jnct merge…?

I haven’t seen IÉ’s DART+ planned frequency graph for the Western and Southwestern Routes but I wonder what their plan is…

Drifter100

I think there is an over abundance of opinions here from Greater Dublin travellers. I use the train weekly from Dromod to Connolly. It really winds me up when you get on a 4 coach 22K railcar and its full of Dublin commuters and generally I have to move someone from my seat. The train trip from Connolly to Sligo is already 3 hours and adding in more stops will add to that. The move to reopen long closed Killucan/Kinnegad station serving between 5/7,000 potential more travellers is hard to resist but Irish Rail have to find a way to stop choking the intercity train with commuters going to Leixlip and Maynooth. Adding in Broombridge cannot help the inter city train. The line can cope comfortably enough with 7 trains daily in each direction. Taking that up to 9 is the max capacity but will bring delays with trains waiting in stations for the line to clear. What about passengers on the intercity train paying a minimum fare to Mullingar to use the intercity train. CIE used to use that system on buses travelling from outer suburban areas to stop this and it worked

spillit67

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122615757#Comment_122615757

I would have thought Broombridge would get the chop as a stop as Metrolink would be so much faster to connect with.

Of course those taking the Green Line further south than Charlemount would have to change again but I’m sure that would be a minority.

As it is, is there stats around the numbers who change as Sligo as it is?

The Mathematician

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122692611#Comment_122692611

The Sligo trains have only been stopping at Broombridge for a few weeks, so there are no published numbers yet.

In Post 74, I gave the split of all the trains on the Maynooth line in the last census. Remember these include the Sligo trains that didn't stop at Broombridge, so this year I would expect the numbers to be closer.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122631546#Comment_122631546

The train trip from Connolly to Sligo is already 3 hours and adding in more stops will add to that.

Maybe speed things up by cutting out the stops at towns with pop under 1,000? 😶

LXFlyer

More Sligo services will use 6 piece trains from Monday which will help, as a result of the reformed ICR sets programme.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122631546#Comment_122631546

There is no chance of Killucan reopening until the line is doubled between Maynooth and Mullingar - it would throw the trains even more out of kilter with the location of the loops.

Serving Broombridge will make no difference from a timing perspective overall, as the Sligo trains will be trundling along in between the Maynooth/M3 commuter services as it is.

Drifter100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122704658#Comment_122704658

Yes, I take your point that Dromod had a population of 500 and commentators / politicians etc jump on that. What people don`t always see is that the park and ride facility at Dromod is well busy with commuters and travellers from the town of Mohill 8 km away with 2000 residents. The 654 bus is a direct link from the the rail station to Mohill as well

Hotblack Desiato

That's still a tiny number for a heavy rail service.

LXFlyer

The notion of trains not stopping at the likes of Dromod due to perceived low demand will not make one jot of difference to overall journey times.

The timings on the Sligo line are dictated by the single track and locations of passing loops.

Each train needs to pass other trains at typically three locations en route - namely Maynooth, Edgeworthstown and Boyle. Missing a station just means longer sitting at one of those until the other train arrives.

At peak times that rises to four or five locations (the 17:05 ex-Sligo passes other trains at Boyle, Dromod, Edgeworthstown, Mullingar and Killucan).

Without additional or extended dynamic loops, you cannot improve the journey times.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838282#Comment_122838282

not when it's passing through anyway and it's a railhead for other areas which is why this and a couple of other small stations survived.

if we are removing stops, removing the stops served by other services like broombridge is the better option as it relieves overcrowding somewhat even if it only makes a small difference to journey times.

overcrowding is a problem on the sligo line and 7 carrages is the maximum it can take i believe and even then all services don't get that capacity.

road_high

politically I’d say a non starter to skip stations along this route- they have a great service both ways and wouldn’t want to give that up. I’d say most bar the few Sligo rural ones have healthy passenger numbers

roadmaster

Since sligo trains now stop in broombridge could they divert sligo & longford trains to docklands?

Anyone looking to go to drumcondra or any where along the luas line could transfer there.

SeanW

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122872323#Comment_122872323

One thing I would like, though it would probably be insanely expensive, would be for a terminal Platform 8 to be built in Connolly beside P7, so that trains from Maynooth/Longford/Sligo could go via the Midland line to Connolly and terminate there without blocking any of the "through" platforms (5, 6 and 7).

roadmaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122899260#Comment_122899260

The problem i think with connolly is they dont have room to swing a cat. The new station they hope to build as part of dart west at north wall quay would work well for a tie in with the luas for all sligo and future navan trains.

Where the car hire place is do CIE still own that or will that have to be a cpo if the build the station?