General News READ OUR WEBCHAT ON TRANSPORT 21 FROM THURSDAY 7TH DECEMBER by Corporate Communications Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us for this Webchat on Iarnród Éireann’s investment plans under Transport 21.   We’ve had hundreds of e-mails across a wide range of investment plans and issues, and we’ll try to address as many of them as possible.  We hope, if your own question isn’t specifically addressed, that the general topic is covered.   Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann Dick Fearn and Transport 21 Manager for Iarnród Éireann Tom Finn, are ready and waiting so lets kick off.   CLICK REFRESH FOR LATEST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS!     Nicky asks: Can there be more services available for northern commuters to and from Dublin, via Dundalk Dick Fearn: Hi Nicky, and welcome everyone to the webchat.  Yes there can be, and the first step on that is in our new timetable in January – Dundalk is getting an extra service in both the morning and the evening, at 07.03hrs from Dundalk and at 16.50hrs from Connolly.  We do envisage Dundalk benefiting in the coming years from the resignalling in the city centre, which will benefit the Northern line in general, and for developing plans to go hourly on the Enterprise service. As with much of what we do, it’s demand driven, so as Dundalk grows, so will the service.   Navan Commuter asks: Why is the scoping study of the former Navan Clonsilla railway line going to be finished a year and half after Transport 21 (was announced), especially when it is going to mean that the new Meath County Development plan will have to come into force without reference to the route of the railway? Tom Finn: The scoping study is an essential piece of work for us to develop the plans for the Navan line – we’ve gone to tender to appoint consultants, which will happen in the coming weeks, and the study will be complete by mid-2007.  Meath County Council are partners in this work – indeed they are co-funding it – so the County Development Plan will obviously play an important role in informing this study.   Sheila asks: In case demand to view the webchat exceeds the websites ability to deliver it, will a transcript be available afterwards? Dick: I’m not sure myself and Tom are such a draw as to strain the website Sheila!  In any event, a link to the full transcript will remain on our main website homepage for at least a month, and will then be in our archived news centre at http://www.iarnrodeireann.ie/news_centre/archive.asp  for ever more, so you can check up on us to see if we’re doing what we said!   Steven asks: Is there any updates on when Clondalkin railway station will close? Tom: Clondalkin Station will not be closed until the replacement station Clondalkin Fonthill, 700 metres west of the existing station is open.  Under the Kildare Route Project, precise scheduling is to be agreed with contractors, but at this point it is expected to be in late 2008.  The frequency and capacity of the service will expand as a result, and we will have cycle and walkways from the old station to the new one.   Sean Cullen, Kieran Ryan, Desmond Piel, and Eamonn Byrne were amongst a number of customers with variations on the same question: what is going to happen to existing Maynooth line services to Connolly, Pearse and south of Pearse when the Docklands Station opens? Dick: Gentlemen, as the cliché goes, I’m glad you asked me that question!  Lest there be any confusion, let me make it clear: All existing Maynooth line trains, including Longford commuter trains, will continue to operate as they currently do when the Docklands Station opens.  If your train currently runs to Connolly or Pearse or Bray, it will still do that. The only trains that will go to Docklands Station are new services. From March 12th 2007 when we open, four additional trains will run from Clonsilla to Docklands in the morning peak, and vice versa in the evening peak.  There will also be regular off-peak services running between Clonsilla and Docklands, but again, these will be additional to the existing services, not replacing them.   Damien Carbery asks a related question: Where will the rolling stock for the Clonsilla/Docklands services come from when the station opens in March? At a recent transport meeting (Joan Burton, Littlepace, Nov 7) Michael Power said that all rolling stock is in use at peak times. How many carriages will be on the Clonsilla/Docklands trains? Dick: Damien, thank you for taking such an interest in the service.  Initially when the Docklands Station opens, using our existing fleet a bit more intensively, and we’ll start with four-car trains on the extra services.  Then, as demand increases, we will be in a position to expand the size of these trains, and other four-car services on the Maynooth and Drogheda lines, when the Intercity railcar fleet is delivered through 2007 and 2008.  We can do this because the Intercity railcars will free up commuter railcars currently in use on the Sligo and Rosslare lines.   Which leads us nicely to questions from Michael Gallagher: When can passengers traveling from Dublin to Sligo by rail expect to travel on InterCity standard trains as opposed to the commuter standard rail car that is presently available? AND Noel Mahon: I was just wondering when are the new carriages going to be arriving on the Sligo line, as I travel up and down from Dublin every week end and on a Sunday evening I am almost guaranteed to be standing or sitting on the floor as there seems to be less seating on the NEW commuter trains. Also there is extremely limited catering at the weekends as there is no dining car ,so if the train is full the trolley does not go through the carriages. AND Gerard Scott: Can you be specific about the introduction of new inter city railcars on the Sligo Dublin line. When in 2007 will they be introduced and what features will they have compared to the present railsets. Also what are the timetable plans, Thank you. Nigel Devitt: Future plans outlined in your Nov 21 Supplement are to be welcomed and will greatly enhance Public transport in Ireland. However there is no mention of the badly neglected existing Dublin Sligo route, currently serviced by Railcars. With replacement services being added to the Cork route, why can't the extra InterCity coach/loco units be added to the Sligo route to enhance comfort which perphaps entice greater numbers. At least once daily Intercity service at peak times would greatly enhance the service on this route. Good luck with your Plans. Dick: Sligo-Dublin will be the first route in the country to get the new Intercity railcars.  The first carriages are nearing completion in Korea as we speak.  I expect them to be on the high seas in January, and arrive with us by the end of February. After a period of testing, the first carriages should enter service in the Summer of 2007.  We will phase them in through 2007 and 2008, so during 2008, they will have completely replaced the existing trains on the Sligo line, and by the end of 2008, they’ll give us a further increase in frequency, with trains every two hours. The current trains on the Sligo line have their fans and their critics.  They’ve certainly improved punctuality and reliability dramatically on the route, they’re accessible for wheelchair customers and the heating and lighting faults of old are a thing of the past. Demand is way up since their introduction, and the expanded timetable was brought in, by about 15%.  That brings its own issues, such as Noel describes on Sundays.  Hence we are looking forward to the new fleet and higher frequency just as much as our Sligo line customers.   Staying with Intercity railcars, John King says: Will the new InterCity railcars have space for transporting bikes? The lack of such space is a major negative feature about the current generation(s) of railcars, 2600, 2700, 2800 etc. Tom: The current railcars in the fleet are primarily for commuter routes, and as such maximum passenger capacity is the priority in the design – our daily commuters would not think kindly of us reducing precious capacity to cater for bikes.  This is why only some of the 2700s have bicycle facilities. However, the Intercity railcars will have space for bicycles, albeit a limited number per train.  Basically, if you have a 3-carriage train, there’ll be space for 3 bikes, a six-carriage train 6 bikes, and…well, you get the idea!   Lisa asks: Do the trains from Spain actually exist? Dick: Lisa, yes they do, they are not just a figment of Craig Doyle’s imagination!  All but two of the new CAF Intercity trains have now entered service.  They’re already in service on the Cork-Dublin route.  I hope you get a chance to try them soon.   Desmond Piel asks: What measures have been or will be taken to improve the riding quality of the new CAF mk 4 coaches? Can they be easily adapted to front and rear power car operation as per HST 125 sets in the UK? Dick: With any new fleet, only through thorough testing and initial in-service period do you get to the final product.  With manufacturers CAF, a modification is being rolled out through the fleet to ensure that the CAF Intercity trains have an excellent ride quality.  We’re very pleased with initial tests on the new modifications, and customers will really see the improvement. Regarding power cars, we’re undertaking a feasibility study to establish the costs and possible timescale to upgrade the Cork-Dublin route to 200kph running.  Introducing twin power cars and upgrading infrastructure would be required to achieve this.  Technically, of course it’s possible – we just need to get the full costs to allow us to decide how best to proceed.   Back to the Dublin area now for a bit: Martin Dignam asks: When will all peak time DART trains be extended to 8 carriages? Dick: Martin, at present about one-third of DART trains are eight carriages long, and from January 2007, over half will be 8-car. We’re getting the original DART fleet refurbished at the moment, to ensure the reliability and performance of this 22-year old fleet (which is hard to believe) can be maintained for many years to come. When they are all refurbished, we will have enough DART cars to run all DART services at peak times with 8 cars.   The pace of the refurbishment is geared to maintaining the current service capacity.  This is being discussed with Siemens, our contractors.   Dave Lally asks: when oh when is AERDART returning. Not everyone wants to go from D/Airport into Atha Cliath .We UK-based exiles from Skerries etc used it to get to Malahide then n/bound to home. Bring it (or something similar) back and extend it for a slightly higher all-in A1bus/train tkt price to all stns to Drogheda (+all to Wicklow in the other direction) best wishes Dick: Dave, AerDART was a privately run bus link, and we joined with AerDART to offer attractive integrated tickets from anywhere on the DART and Commuter network to Dublin Airport. Unfortunately, they decided to cease the service for commercial reasons in early 2005.  Now that the new Howth Junction/Donaghmede Station is completed, we’re looking to see if another operator will join with us in this service.   Ciaran asks: The interconnector seems to be the key element of Transport 21 in terms of increasing capacity and integrating with other services. Given that the public consultation and planning have started for Metro North when will the same start for the interconnector? Are the DART upgrade elements for the Kildare, Meath and Maynooth lines planned to happen sooner than 2015, if so when will the planning start? Tom: We agree Ciaran - the Underground DART Interconnector is the most critical project in Transport 21 in delivering capacity and frequency on all routes, and delivering a fully integrated network to the Greater Dublin area. You’ll be pleased to here that planning is underway.  Because we’re integrating with other rail modes at Docklands, Pearse, St Stephen’s Green and Heuston, we have an identified alignment. Between now and Autumn 2007, we’ll be progressing some key areas, such as route verification; conceptual design; station design and geotechnical investigations. That will allow us go to full design and planning.  We’ll obviously be consulting widely with all relevant bodies during this first phase as well. On the DART extensions, we feel that certainly in the case of Maynooth, Meath and Northern lines, that we can deliver electrification significantly earlier than 2015.  We’re currently examining options as to the best way to proceed to give maximum customer benefit earliest, and deliver best value to the taxpayer.  Kildare electrification would be towards 2015, as the Underground DART Interconnector will be the means by which it connects with the rest of the electrified network.   Ian Larkin asks: Do you plan to extend the DART to Drogheda in the future? Tom: As I mentioned, we’re looking at options for electrification.  We will progress the option that makes most sense on the Northern line – that is, that ensures we can best meet the different needs of all commuters along the route, including Drogheda, other existing northern commuter stations, and the existing DART customers.  Extending the DART to Drogheda is one of the options we are currently examining.   Stephen Meagher asks: I live in Wexford. When are we likely to see improvements in frequency of trains between Wexford and Dublin and on the line between Rosslare and Waterford. Dick: Stephen, you’ll see new trains on the Rosslare line during 2007, with the Intercity railcars, and the frequency will increase by the end of 2008, when we will be expanding frequency to Wexford.  There are no plans at present to increase frequency from Rosslare to Waterford.   Conor B asks: Has any decision been made regarding the proposed Limerick to Ennis line upgrade works to accommodate a link to Shannon airport and a new station at Sixmilebridge. If there is any news good, bad, or indifferent please let me know. Tom: Conor, you’ll be pleased to know a new station at Sixmilebridge has been approved under the Western Rail Corridor plans.  We expect it to be open in 2008.  We’ve commissioned a feasibility study to examine the possibility of a rail link to Shannon Airport, and we expect it to be completed early in the New Year. Marie asks: What are the plans for Newbridge train station. Is it to be developed with additional facilities and carparking. Is the station to be moved to another location. Will trains continue to terminate at Newbridge. Will the frequency of services increase. Will there eventually be a DART service. Dick: I’ll try to answer all those for you Marie! Newbridge Station will see a big increase in car parking.  Car parking facilities generally is one of the biggest issues we currently face, and we are working with local authorities and the Department of Transport to improve facilities in a wide range of locations.  We hope to have good news on this shortly. Specifically to Newbridge, we have firm proposals to double the size of the car park from 300 spaces to 600 spaces.  There’ll be planning permission required, but all going well with that, we’d hope to deliver this by the end of next year. There are no plans to move the location of Newbridge Station. Peak frequency will increase following the Kildare Route Project which four-tracks the line from Hazelhatch to Cherry Orchard, and will also benefit commuters on the Kildare line and from longer distances. We don’t plan to extend the DART to Newbridge at present – we would envisage it terminating at Hazelhatch when extended to the south-west.   Paul Williams asks: Can you tell me why the current rail line that runs from Heuston to Connolly via Cabra is not incorporated into the transport 21 plans? Tom: There’s a few reasons for that Paul. Firstly, Connolly cannot take any more trains at peak times.  We have Howth DARTs, Malahide DARTs, Northern Commuter, Maynooth/Longford Commuter, Belfast and Sligo trains going to and from Connolly.  To bring Kildare services or other trains through would result in cancellations of existing services into Connolly. As we resignal Connolly and open Docklands, the extra capacity will be needed for Northern line trains, DARTs and Maynooth line trains.  The Kildare Route Project will provide the extra capacity for Kildare trains too. What’s often overlooked as well is that even if we did have the capacity to bring the trains over, we’d be adding 20 minutes to the journey each way – meaning more trains required to deliver the same service, and an additional journey for customers as well. Ultimately, the Underground DART Interconnector will be the key, meaning people traveling on services from Hazelhatch would stay on their train, and continue on to St Stephen’s Green, Pearse, Docklands and the Northern line.  The existing line does not deliver any additional capacity – the Underground DART Interconnector delivers it in spades.   Cork Cycling Campaign asks: Is there to be provision for passengers' bicycles on all trains on the Cork to Dublin line. Will there be sheltered bicycle parking at each of the new stations on the reopened Cork to Midleton line. Dick: Yes, the new fleet for Cork-Dublin can take passengers’ bicycles.  Also, all new stations on Cork-Midleton, as well as new commuter stations on other lines in the Cork area, will have sheltered bicycle parking.   Tom Stamp asks: As the new Cork DCE (Cork-Dublin Express, the new Intercity fleet) trains are a part of transport 21, is it not correct that you should have bought power cars at each end instead of using existing locomotives, given that you will be looking for them in the future Dick: Hi Tom, The new Cork-Dublin carriages were ordered to be immediately compatible with our existing mainline locomotive fleet.  However we are looking at the potential in terms of both infrastructure and traction power to increase the speed of the trains to 200kph in the future and the carriages have been designed and built with this in mind.     Alan Scully asks: Having lived in Zurich for several years, I became aware of the rail city concept, where the rail company SBB incorporates large retail to shops, restaurants etc. To reduce the cost of the proposed stephens green station, have you given any though to allocating one large underground level to potential retailers. As retail space on Grafton street is at a premium, what about getting a developer to build the station and have a long lease on the retailing space. Tom: Retail space is now part and parcel of most large underground station interchanges and will be examined as part of the interchange in the RPA.  Obviously we won't be impacting on the amenity, long-term, of St Stephen's Green at surface level.     Mark Lynam asks: Are there any plans to increase capacity or frequency on the Carlow line in the near future?   Dick: Hi Mark,  Yes we do intend to increase the frequency of service on the Carlow line and the key to this is the introduction of the fleet of new InterCity railcars.   The new trains will be delivered during 2007 and 2008 and by the end of 2008 I anticipate being able to significantly increase service frequency to and from Carlow.   Matt Wallen: When would the trains to Limerick from Galway start and Will the schedule accomadate for commuters working between the two cities arrival at business hours . Tom: We expect to have the Ennis to Athenry line re-opened by end 2008 thus facilitating direct trains between Limerick and Galway.  The timetable will incorporate commuter services inwards to Galway and Limerick on the morning peak and reverse in the evenings.  The exact timetable has yet to be finalised.     James asks: Have you ever used the trains in Italy or France and seen the standard they operate their business at both on time and extremely clean and comfortable transport.   Dick: Hi James, Yes I have used trains in Italy and France on several occasions in recent years.  Now that we are enjoying comparable levels of investment Iarnrod Eireann is benchmarking itself against the best in the rail business in terms of punctuality, cleanliness and customer service.  Our investment programmes in new rolling stock and infrastructure are designed to enable us to meet our customers needs with high standards of service.     Liam Christian asks: Having spent money upgrading the trackwork between Dublin and Rosslare, why is there no improvement in the journey times. Even allowing for congestion in the DART area, the average spped between Greystones and Rosslare is only about 35mph.  And a supplementary, when will Intercity standard trains be reintroduced on the route.   Tom: Hi Liam, The Rosslare line will always present a challenge because of the difficult alignment following the coast and river alignments.  However, when the track renewal is finally completed and the line is re-signalled in 2007 we will be able to offer faster and more comfortable journey times on the new Intercity railcars which we plan to introduce on the line.  These new railcars will be to Intercity standards.      James Sheehan asks: Please explain the difference between the 67 rail carriages on the dublin-cork route and the 150 railcars ordered for other routes such as dublin-limerick.   Dick: Hi James,   The 67 InterCity carriages for the Dublin Cork line operate with a locomotive to provide power to drive the train.   The 150 InterCity railcars will operate in sets of 3, 6 or 9 carriages and have distributed power systems throughout the trains so no locomotive is required.     Nicki: Further to John Kings question, 1 bike per carriage is hardly going to encourage people like myself to get rid of the car and rely on the trains.  If demand is sufficient can an extra carriage not be laid on Also, the new Spanish trains are lovely but do we really need blue tinted windows spoiling views of our beautiful landscape.     Dick: Hi Nicki,   In providing capacity on Intercity trains we need to balance the needs of comfortable seating layouts, ease of access, toilet provision including disabled toilets, and accommodation for luggage and bicycles.   On the issue of the blue tinted windows on the new InterCity trains, I'm sorry that you don't like them but they do help maintain, along with the airconditioning, a pleasant ambient on-board temperature and have been well received generally.     Michael: In addition to the large capital send can Iarnrod Eireann also do the simple free things like making sure that all gates are open when exiting stations?  Connolly and Tara street commutes have to queue to get out of the station when some of the less experienced ticket checkers are working the gates.   Dick: Hi Michael,   Yes we understand the importance of free flowing access and egress at main stations in peak times and we are investing in new automatic ticket gates for both entrance and exit on our DART and Commuter network.   You may have seen some of these new gates already at Grand Canal Dock and Clontarf Road, and they are currently being installed at stations such as Connolly and Tara St .   John H: When is the new Phoenix Park station due to open for us who barely manage to get on in Ashtown, if Maynooth trains stop there, there is no way we could then.  Will it only be Docklands destination trains to stop there   Tom: John, the new Phoenix Park station will open in Autumn 2007.  Commuter trains to and from the city centre will serve the station, including the new Docklands bound trains, meeting the demand from the new station.   Last few questions now.....   Paul asks: Given that the Kildare Route project will adversely affect journey times out of Hesuton, as indeed will in all probability the Interconnector work immediately afterwards,  when can Intercity travellers expect real improvements in journey times over those when IE was established in 1987?   Dick: Hi Paul,   I understand the desire of customers to see very significant reduction in journey times on our InterCity network.   Actually the completion of the Kildare Route project will assist in this regard, allowing fast trains to overtake slower trains on the new 4 track section.   My responses to previous questions referred to the achievement of 200Km/hr on the main line to Cork, and are directly geared to provide journey time benefits.   Finally the new fleet of InterCity railcars will have performance characteristics that will provide quicker journeys on our regional routes.       John Aldridge asks: What about services in the future on the Westport line. No 1st Class and only 3 trains per day is not good enough. Sligo has five per day.   Dick: Hi John, I agree that we need to provide a more frequent service on the Westport line, and the delivery of our new Intercity railcars in 2007 and 2008 will enable us to do so.   The increase in frequency recently on the Sligo line from 3 to 5 trains per day each way has been tremendously successful in terms of the increase in numbers of passengers using the route.   We look forward to achieving the same success on the Westport line in due course.       Desmond: How do you envisage maintaining the existing Enterprise Schedule if the Dart service is extended to Drogheda.   Dick: We actually intend increasing the Enterprise schedule to hourly in due course, jointly with our colleagues in Translink.   With the DART extended to Drogheda, and an increased Enterprise frequency, we will totally re-draft the timetable on the Northern Line to maximise capacity for DART, Commuter and Enterprise services.     Dick: That concludes today's webchat.  Thank you all so much for your interest in our investment and expansion programme, and for the questions you have submitted.   I hope myself and Tom have been able to cover a wide range of the topics that you've raised with us.   It's been enormously successful from our point of view, and we look forward to holding another webchat with you in due course.   Most importantly, we look forward to delivering the improvements we have described in the coming months and years.   And, with the season fast approaching, may I take this opportunity to wish all our customers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.       << Back