Mechanical issues

madnessnmayhem

Over the last number of days I've noticed Irish Rail have been tweeting that their trains are being delayed due to mechanical issues, how come this is constantly happening? Are trains not being looked after properly? Are they short of maintenance staff? Is there any way of complaining other than Irish Rail why do constant mechanical issues on their trains

Stanford

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L1011

It seems the 22ks are not having a great time of it in the heat. Considering they're East Asian in design and origins that is quite pathetic.

Jamie2k9

L1011 wrote: »

It seems the 22ks are not having a great time of it in the heat. Considering they're East Asian in design and origins that is quite pathetic.

Don't see heat been a major factor, more cancellations due to drivers than failures these days!

They were near prefect when it was actually hot in June and earlier this month.
Suspect the fleet has been stretched with specials and possibly higher numbers traveling requiring more trains adjustments. Year on year failures are probably the same if not less.

With so few sets in Connolly, the same set could have caused the faults on the 17.05 to Sligo on the 17 & 18 July and 15.50 to M3 on the 19 July, the latter causing a lot of disruption.

Over the last number of days I've noticed Irish Rail have been tweeting that their trains are being delayed due to mechanical issues, how come this is constantly happening? Are trains not being looked after properly? Are they short of maintenance staff? Is there any way of complaining other than Irish Rail why do constant mechanical issues on their trains

A mechanical fault can be something as simple a wiper not working.

Stephen15

L1011 wrote: »

It seems the 22ks are not having a great time of it in the heat. Considering they're East Asian in design and origins that is quite pathetic.

The ICRs are a pathetic train. They are not Intercity trains as they are too uncomfortable and badly built and they are not commuter trains as they don't have the capacity.

IE should have bought actual Intercity trains and actual commuter trains instead not these cheap pieces of crap. It sickens me to think they are on the rails while the MKIII's are rotting away in Inchicore and Dublin Port. Instead of buying the ICRs he remaining MKII's and Craven should have been replaced with MKIV's and the MKIII's should have been refurbished. Also more commuter stock should have been purchased.

L1011

The mk3s have nearly all been cut up or converted for Belmond. There isn't a full set left lying around.

andrewfaulk

Stephen15 wrote: »

The ICRs are a pathetic train. They are not Intercity trains as they are too uncomfortable and badly built and they are not commuter trains as they don't have the capacity.

IE should have bought actual Intercity trains and actual commuter trains instead not these cheap pieces of crap. It sickens me to think they are on the rails while the MKIII's are rotting away in Inchicore and Dublin Port. Instead of buying the ICRs he remaining MKII's and Craven should have been replaced with MKIV's and the MKIII's should have been refurbished. Also more commuter stock should have been purchased.

Do you have any basis to this or is it just based on your opinion? The ICRs seem to get a lot of hate because they replaced loco and carriage set up, but can’t see why they are considered particularly badly built

Stephen15

andrewfaulk wrote: »

Do you have any basis to this or is it just based on your opinion? The ICRs seem to get a lot of hate because they replaced loco and carriage set up, but can’t see why they are considered particularly badly built

Ever sat on one for more than 2 hours even some actual commuter trains are more comfortable. They were replacing perfectly good Mark III's which could have been refurbished similar to the Enterprise.

My other bigger issue is that IE were cost cutting when they bought these trains as they seemed to want which could double as either commuter or Intercity stock. They are too uncomfortable for long intercity journeys and they don't have the capacity for busy commuter services.

end of the road

Stephen15 wrote: »

My other bigger issue is that IE were cost cutting when they bought these trains as they seemed to want which could double as either commuter or Intercity stock. They are too uncomfortable for long intercity journeys and they don't have the capacity for busy commuter services.

i think the plan was for most of them to operate long distance services only with a small few for suburban which in turn i believe have (or had) suburban interior. then it changed and they operate all heuston suburbans + some on the connolly side with the long distance services either being operated by something else (applies to connolly services) or having capacity issues.

Stephen15

end of the road wrote: »

i think the plan was for most of them to operate long distance services only with a small few for suburban which in turn i believe have (or had) suburban interior. then it changed and they operate all heuston suburbans + some on the connolly side with the long distance services either being operated by something else (applies to connolly services) or having capacity issues.

What is the difference between the suburban ICRs and the Intercity ones?

Jamie2k9

To be honest I expect IE are happy with the iCRs and the majority of passengers are as well.

L1011

Stephen15 wrote: »

What is the difference between the suburban ICRs and the Intercity ones?

Solely the set formation originally, they were 6 car with no premium/catering when delivered; these are now cut to 4 or 5 car due to set reconfig.

They were bought for outer suburban services. They are not suitable for the inner surburban services they end up on - single leaf doors at the ends, limited standing accommodation that is not air-conditioned to the same extent as the seating compartment and realistically an over-provision of toilets for inner suburban use hugely reduce the capacity and comfort as well as increase dwell times.

NIR bought their entire DMU fleet for a compromise layout of mostly seating / limited standing and double leaf doors at thirds (like the other Irish Rail DMUs have) and no vestibules that makes them better suited for the mix of services they operate.

Stephen15

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

To be honest I expect IE are happy with the iCRs and the majority of passengers are as well.

So why the moans and groans every time one appears on a Cork service rather than a MKIV

Stephen15

In my opinion here's what IE should have done instead of buying the ICRs.

Refurbish some of the MKIII carriages for Sligo, Westport, Waterford and Rosslare services aswell as direct Limerick and Tralee trains.

Buy more MKIV's to run exclusively on Cork and Galway services perhaps even use them on the ocassional Waterford or Limerick/Tralee direct run.

Buy more 29000 cars for suburban services these could be used on all Hueston and Connolly commuter services if the 2800 weren't stuck on Limerick suburbans and the WRC they could be used too.

Jamie2k9

Stephen15 wrote: »

So why the moans and groans every time one appears on a Cork service rather than a MKIV

Nobody cares what Cork people think!!

ICRs are way better than Mark IV on the Cork route.

Jamie2k9

Stephen15 wrote: »

In my opinion here's what IE should have done instead of buying the ICRs.

Refurbish some of the MKIII carriages for Sligo, Westport, Waterford and Rosslare services aswell as direct Limerick and Tralee trains.

Buy more MKIV's to run exclusively on Cork and Galway services perhaps even use them on the ocassional Waterford or Limerick/Tralee direct run.

Buy more 29000 cars for suburban services these could be used on all Hueston and Connolly commuter services if the 2800 weren't stuck on Limerick suburbans and the WRC they could be used too.

Way to costly, MkIII would require a second staff on all services and MkiV are would be terrible on lines outside Cork for ride quality.

Stephen15

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Mark IV on the Cork route.

Explain?

Jamie2k9

Stephen15 wrote: »

Explain?

Ride Quality
Plugs Working - individual coaches fair on Mark IV regularly
Air Condition System
Tables Aligned to Windows
PA Volume
Lighting far Easier on Eyes
Tables better positioned

Aside from bikes and CityGold the Mark IVs are useless and I am a person who loves 201's hauling trains.

ED E

ICRs are not uncomfortable. Though maybe I'm an exception not being an OAP on an FTP.

Losty Dublin

Stephen15 wrote: »

In my opinion here's what IE should have done instead of buying the ICRs.

Refurbish some of the MKIII carriages for Sligo, Westport, Waterford and Rosslare services aswell as direct Limerick and Tralee trains.

Buy more MKIV's to run exclusively on Cork and Galway services perhaps even use them on the ocassional Waterford or Limerick/Tralee direct run.

Buy more 29000 cars for suburban services these could be used on all Hueston and Connolly commuter services if the 2800 weren't stuck on Limerick suburbans and the WRC they could be used too.

If anything they should have gotten the 22000's years earlier.

Del.Monte

ED E wrote: »

ICRs are not uncomfortable. Though maybe I'm an exception not being an OAP on an FTP.

What does this even mean?

end of the road

Del.Monte wrote: »

What does this even mean?

i suspect that it's just another shoehorning in a rant about the ftp and OAPS, who are the minority of users really.

whisky_galore

Stephen15 wrote: »

So why the moans and groans every time one appears on a Cork service rather than a MKIV

Because it's not a 'proper' train; with a loco. :pac:

goingnowhere

It goes without saying the 22k fleet is vastly more reliable than what it replaced. Still not a single breakdown or tech delay on a 22k for me.

I've had loco failures, door failures, generator van failures

end of the road

goingnowhere wrote: »

It goes without saying the 22k fleet is vastly more reliable than what it replaced. Still not a single breakdown or tech delay on a 22k for me.

I've had loco failures, door failures, generator van failures

same here, i've only had 1 issue, a door failure. only ever had a small number of loco failures however.

Old diesel

Stephen15 wrote: »

L1011 wrote: »

It seems the 22ks are not having a great time of it in the heat. Considering they're East Asian in design and origins that is quite pathetic.

The ICRs are a pathetic train. They are not Intercity trains as they are too uncomfortable and badly built and they are not commuter trains as they don't have the capacity.

IE should have bought actual Intercity trains and actual commuter trains instead not these cheap pieces of crap. It sickens me to think they are on the rails while the MKIII's are rotting away in Inchicore and Dublin Port. Instead of buying the ICRs he remaining MKII's and Craven should have been replaced with MKIV's and the MKIII's should have been refurbished. Also more commuter stock should have been purchased.

I thought I was the only one that thought these new trains were crap.

Apart from the toilet flushing the Mk 3s were a nicer train to actually travel in.

The Cork to Dublin Mk 4s (I think) are no great shakes either.

And I'm not a train geek

XPS_Zero

I often suspect the ICR v MKIII refurb debate is a matter of train anoraks/geeks (no offense lads, a combo of you and having to use trains about 500% more in the last 2 years have turned me into one too! all hail trains) being rose tinted noistalgic for what never really was.

Reminds me of what a friend in the Garda ERU says about old timers wistfully speaking of the days of the UZI v the new H&K MP5s they use now which are far superior, he reckons they want the UZi back for the same reason you guys want the Mkiiis, rose tinted memories of the ERA rather than the actual thing, that maybe it was the era that felt better the service was not actually better. In the case of the UZi it's nicknamed the "spray and pray" because it's hard to control and is infamous in the occupied territories in Palestine for unintended (and covering intended to look as unintended) civilian deaths due to aforementioned spraying.



To me ICRs are a good train but for:


1. THe seats, they are way too hard they need new cushons. Others here are correct sitting on one on the Sligo or Rosslare or Galway route gives you sciatica after a while. I'm a young fit guy with a mens health frame and some damn good bubble-butty glutes and I swear my ass rotated between being numb / asleep and giving me stabbing pains during those journeys

2. The way they use the 'Premier' and restraunt cars annoys the living hell out of me. Instead of just having all MKIVs on the Cork route they spliced a few of these Premier equipped ICRs onto the Cork route, even though as a first class it's a joke. I don't know how many of you have had the misfortune to make a comparason but if you compare MK4 or Enterprise first class to this...there is no comparason.
Lets take my frequent trip, the Enterprise first class has:
-Ultra comfy leather reclining seats
-WAY more space and leg room (50%+) than standard class
-You can have food cooked by a chef actual MEALS like Pizza, Chicken Tikka Massala (just added to Enterprise I highly reccomend!, drink water with it but it's nice!), a kind of breakfast deal where you can get either a fry or for health nuts like me a fruit salad/yougurt with honey and granola and wholegrain toast deal....it's great!
-Newspapers and free juice and free top ups on your tea or coffee
-Slide down shade to stop the sun turning your laptop/tablet into a mirror and air conditioning fins around the window (though standard has this too)

The ICRs have:
-Leather cushons
-A table lamp

....that's it! The restraunt is just a shop, no seats, no fresh cooked food.

I would be really angry if I paid first class and an ICR turned up, really angry.


I also hate how they use the non-cork premiers, they sit parked at Heuston and end up on the Galway route or going out to the outer commuter belt, this is a huge waste of what could be a nice add on to other services. Why not stick a proper Premier service on for an upgrade fee of say 10euro and put them on the rosslare and galway routes or sligo? the longer routes? They're not WORTH paying full FC prices but you could get away with an upgrade and it would also put a nice shop on those routes. The sligo and Galway and Rosslare routes can be tedious even with your ebooks and laptops and its a nice break to go to the shop and get a bag of crisps and a drink.


Far from groaning when they see an ICR on the Cork route I groan when i see a commuter set on the Rosslare route!! TOTALLY not appropriate place for one!

end of the road

i'd have to disagree it's rose tinted glasses. the mk3 really was in most respects a much better train in terms of onboard environment. better interior, more comfortable and from memory, a better ride as well. no wifi or plug sockets though. i'm sure for regular users they weren't perfect but no train is . mk2 and cravens stock were also a lot more comfortable, though to be fair, a lot of the mk2 were in a bad state.
still, the ICR isn't a bad train but could be a lot better, and it's way way better then any other units i have had to put up with. the mk4 also has the potential to really be a premium offering in terms of onboard environment with a good refurbishment, as things stand it's a decent train but nothing special.