Plans to end direct rail services between Wexford and Dublin

the bone shaker 29 was only ever on that service as it runs to dundalk.

apparently that service is to be split at connolly, so if there is a will and a want, it can be swapped with the ICR on the gorey.

yes it will, frequencies would be increased direct to dublin a little bit later once rolling stock would be freed up.
i understand it very well, essentially do nothing or do something to make it look like something is being done when it isn't being done in reality, a swapping of deck chairs.

but in reality regardless of what some studdy suggests, there is a better option on the table that is deliverable and can deliver way more then a ridiculous shuttle service that could not be operated at an hourly frequency in reality, and that is a little less frequent but direct service that could be operated at a 2 hourly frequency which is more realistic.
the shuttle is essentially a do nothing service while pretending to do something, a varient of the failed and discredited no growth model imposed on a couple of franchises in the uk, the previous northern rail franchise and the former wales and borders franchise as examples.
a slightly less frequent direct service on the other hand is very much doing something and really improving the service.
there will always be space to fit the direct service in because greystones is a very very long way off requiring anything more then an half hour to 20 minute frequency.
if we get to the stage where there is no room for direct services from wexford, then we are at the stage where there is no option but to build more infrastructure as removing rosslare services would free up very little in reality even at an increased frequency as there will always need to be room for maintenence vehicles, and the large amount of ECS movements that would be needed to sustain the shuttle anyway as due to diagramming and maintenence/servicing etc the same 2 trains won't be on the line for the whole day anyway, not even near it because none of those will be changing to suit this ridiculous plan.
increasing the frequency of the line with a shuttle would not revolutionise this line, would not bring any real capacity improvements and would not lead to any real growth but more likely contraction as the benefits of actually taking the train would be lost and it would make the service pointless.
there would be a small few who might use it certainly, but in reality it would end up with actual low usage and actually would be under thread for genuine reasons rather then the current ideological/cultural ones.
irish rail won't be able to wash their hands of the line, those days are gone and people are becoming more and more aware of irish rail's nonsense thanks to campaign groups.
climate change also helps even though it brings it's own challenges for certain parts of the line and wexford is getting no more motor way apart from perhapse the bit into rosslare port so given that network is full to beyond capacity the rail line will remain.

For correctness it is a 29000 set - it is used simply because the 4 car ICR would not be able to cope with the loading on that service (the 05:35 ex-Rosslare) in the morning. It has greater capacity as it has more standing room.

Most stations aren't all stations. Rail infrastructure doesn't exist solely to serve the commuter.

Wexford is a good example of this. The census is flawed in my opinion, as a dull day in November does not give a full picture of the usage of the Rosslare line.

Also on the numbers quoted. It suggests that Rathdrum has more passengers than Arklow and not far off Wicklow.

I would politely suggest this is nonsense and throws into question the entire census.

the elephant in the room of this service is the fragility of the alignment. Trapped against the shoreline until Wicklow, including several rounds of rock armouring at the Murrough, then turning west through wetlands. At some point Bray Head may need new tunnelling to once again retreat from cliff face instability. This is already an expensive issue for IE but if the Irish Sea warms and/or rises as science tells us we should expect, the battering the sea front will take is likely to cause significant breaches.

Rathdrum is not nor never has been busier than Arklow, Gorey or within an asses roar of Wicklow.

Yup, you're talking huge money to bore through that.

That being said, it offers an opportunity to increase the loading on that part of the track.

I've said it multiple times, there's gonna need to be a huge political push to sort out the rail network here and bite the bullet of the costs.

Double and Quad tracking is common on mainland EU as it Electrification and Double deck rolling stock.

I've often thought we could do with HS Rail, but Gravity models seem to suggest otherwise (Maybe Belfast/Dublin/Cork)

Regardless, we seem to be way behind.

In relation to money, the portion of rail between Kilbarrack and Raheny needs to be redone.. "Badly". The community liaison officer only told me this week they have finally been given funding for it. (waiting years apparently). So if it takes that long to replace worn out rails (Basic maintenance) imagine how long a serious project like double tracking Greystones via a new tunnel would take.

I choose the time I leave work in order to avoid certain train types. It's a massive difference in standing most of the way, or getting a seat due to the different train layouts

it would be a barrier to an extent to be fair, but how much of a one would be hard to quantify, and even then it would depend on routes.