Ireland has a lot of catching up to do with our infrastructure to reach the standard of our European neighbours. Up to 30 years ago we weren't a very rich country. Over the last 20 years priority was given to motorways over rail. We now have a European standard motorway system. The emphasis will now hopefully shift to rail. If you are over 66 in Ireland you are entitled to free travel on the entire transport system. An 11 am train is bound to be full!

@redwitch95

6 ай бұрын

And even then, the first motorway only opened in 1983! Independence was financially very difficult, and a lot of things got cut - with the substantial rail system being one of the first to go. Most motorways have signs showing that they were built in part thanks to EU funding. EU membership and the Celtic Tiger really turned things around for Ireland in terms of infrastructure, to say the least.

Ireland hasn't electrified it's rail network because up until recently, rail has been seen as a lower form of transport and many rail lines have been cut in recent years. Dublin's suburban services will be electrified in the next few years thankfully

@gab_v250

Жыл бұрын

aren't they already though? (the DART, Greystones-Malahide/Howth)

@d1234as

Жыл бұрын

Dublin suburban service (DART) is already electrified at 1500 d.c.

@huss.313

Жыл бұрын

@@gab_v250 The commuter lines to Maynooth (Western) and Naas (SW) will be fully electrified and integrated into the DART network

@gab_v250

Жыл бұрын

@@huss.313 oh, so an extension of DART? with the same 1.5 kV DC system? And would Dublin Heuston get OHLE for the first time?

@danieloreilly6328

Жыл бұрын

@@gab_v250 Yes! Lines to Hazlehatch/Celbridge, Maynooth, M3 Parkway and Drogheda are all planned to be electrified in the next few years under the DART+ programme. Also a new terminus station at the Docklands is proposed and a metro interchange at Glasnevin

Good video! Although at 3:27 you said that there are no electrified track in Ireland, but the DART network in Dublin's City and suburbs (53km) is electrified. You even showed a picture with a DART train and OHLE at 0:21.

@chrisclark1761

Жыл бұрын

He's not wrong. The rail network is unelectrified. I think he means the mainline rail, as opposed to tramlines.

@IrishTransportGuy

Жыл бұрын

@@chrisclark1761 The DART is not a tram, it's an electrified heavy rail network. You are thinking of the Luas.

@TheEpicAppleEater01

Жыл бұрын

@@chrisclark1761 The DART network is heavy rail Irish-gauge

@martinkearns8205

Жыл бұрын

@@chrisclark1761 the dart is train and is electrified by OHLE at 1500v DC

@batlin

Жыл бұрын

@@chrisclark1761 you're mixing up the DART with the Luas trams. The DART is a catenary-powered electric train that shares the rails with several intercity routes including the Dublin-Belfast line. Unfortunately rail in Ireland followed a similar pattern to the Beeching cuts in the UK, so a lot of intercity lines have been closed, and the electrified rail system never expanded beyond the north/south Dublin route.

My girlfriend took this route just a few days ago but in the opposite direction. Today she took the rail from Galway to Cork, changing at Limerick. It's always amazing to me how much value for money European rail travel is. Here in the US we pay through the nose for comparable distances, at least 3 times as much, and for generally worse service. It's always a pleasure to come back to Europe and ride the trains, and we hope to come back to Ireland together soon enough to do it! 😀

Also great pronunciation of Iarnród Éireann!!!

I'm so glad to finally see a video about the trains in Ireland! ☘ I'd love to see a review of the other train you mentioned.

A few comments. Ireland has one electric railway. DART operates in Dublin from Malahide and Howth in the North to Bray and Greystones in the south. It has been electrified since 1984. You even feature a DART train in your video when we see the picture 22037 at Connolly, complete with OHLE. Catering tender needs to be relet following a mutual termination earlier this year as the catering contractor could not resource sufficient staff after it let them all go when covid started. Ride quality is generally good on a 22000 set. Looks like the set you travelled on required a visit to the wheel lathe. Overall a very good video.

You didn't mention the most interesting quirk of the Irish railway system: the fact that it's a 5'3"/ 1600mm gauge. Railways in Northern Ireland are the same, so we have wide gauge railways in the UK.

@marcusdamberger

Жыл бұрын

Is the width of the train cars any winder inside for the passenger with these Tokyo Car Corporation of Japan wide gauge rail passenger cars versus maybe a version that is made for standard gauge? Do they make them for standard gauge too? He mentioned they are also used in Ukraine who use 1520 mm broad gauge, which would make sense with Ireland using 1600mm that this train would end up in other broad gauge countries.

@oscarosullivan4513

Жыл бұрын

@@marcusdamberger The park royal coaches are quite wide from what I have read

@jgcondron

Жыл бұрын

@@oscarosullivan4513 There's definitely 3m wide loading gauge used in the past. Irish Rail obscure the loading gauge diagram in all their yearly network reviews. I'd say deliberately so. They tried to claim the Phoenix Park tunnel was too narrow to support the trains. That was complete nonsense.

@oscarosullivan4513

Жыл бұрын

@@jgcondron Quite bizarre

@briank10101

Жыл бұрын

It's a pity there is engine noise in 2023 and rough ride when approaching the line speed. There are modern engineering techniques that could address these short comings. Better signaling and train reliability could prevent the wait in siding delays.

YES!!!!! Thank you so much for doing my country. Much appreciated!!!

Wouldn't mind seeing more videos on Irish Railways being honest, honestly would love to head to Ireland one day, great video

Delighted to see you covering Ireland. I agree that the shaking on the ICRs is annoying but I haven't experienced it that much since my daily journey is so short. Today I managed to get an earlier train than usual but sadly it was one of the fairly horrific commuter trains, hopefully they'll be replaced soon.

@TheEpicAppleEater01

Жыл бұрын

The Commuter trains have to go: agreed.

@oscarosullivan4513

Жыл бұрын

The CAF trains floor shakes

@CityWhisperer

Жыл бұрын

Which commuter trains?

@oscarosullivan4513

Жыл бұрын

@@CityWhisperer The CAF 29000 class like a fecking mini earthquake inside

@briank10101

Жыл бұрын

@oscarosullivan4513 They need high torque diesels not the buzzbox lawnmower engines.

Great video of the Irish countryside by train. Very enjoyable. The trip is the same length from San Diego, Ca to Los Angeles,CA for Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliners that I travel on between San Diego & Los Angeles which is 130 miles. It’s great that train travel is popular in Ireland there. My family name on my late father’s side was from County Leitrim/County Sligo.

great video man appreciate the research done

Nice video! If you want a recommendation for a future video then I suggest you travel on an ALVIA train in Spain from Madrid to Gijón. It travels quickly through the flat countryside of Castilla on a high speed line, and then it changes to an Iberian gauge line, where you can have great views of Asturias’ mountains

I can see you have not gotten around to it yet so... YES i would love to see more Irish trains and more of Ireland. please

Yes to presentation of their premier train 👍🏻

Ireland is such a pretty country, thank you for the video

I’m always so impressed with your videos since the first time I subscribed. You cover such a range and always make an excellent effort to pronounce station names and places with virtual native accuracy (even when they aren’t always the easiest!). Loved this review, made a good start to the weekend for me to see the lovely greenery of Ireland 🤗✌️👏

Great video, mate!

Of course we want to see the video on the premier train. I'd also love a video on the link between Coleraine and Derry, especially the bit between Castlerock and Derry!

I take this route once a month to see my Grandparents in Galway and I very like it.

Thank you for the video! New subscriber here. The price seems great value compared to rail travel in the UK. I don't know much about Irish Rail apart from the DART system in Dublin being the only fully electrified section on the rail network. I definitely would like to see a trip report from Dublin to Cork :-)

Welcome to my homeland, I’m at that age where my travel is free in Ireland,hopefully next year I’ll do the whole rail network, nice post

@martinrea8548

Жыл бұрын

Fair play. If I had that free pass I'd use it as much as possible. I think it covers the ferries out to the Aran Islands too and it's cross border.

Really good video, so well laid out and so informative! Totally agree about the lack of catering and unfortunately it's set to stay that way. IE just started to receive delivery of their new shipment of stock, all standard intermediate saloons and no plan to reintroduce catering cars as yet. You were lucky to get the trolley from what I hear!

Great trip report

Great trip. Yes, you should try that train, or trying trip from Dublin to Belfast.

I've been to Ireland many times and been on many trains. I've used both the DART and Intercity/Commuter services and the journeys are always great. I've only been on the Intercity/Commuter services from Dublin Connolly to Rathdrum as well as the DART from Connolly to Greystones but the line is stunning particularly going along by the sea from Booterstown to Dun Laoghaire and Killiney to Wicklow.

I did this route back-and-forth in March, using a four-day rover. A fantastic sunny route.

I did this journey from Dublin to Galway, with a break in Athlone. It was lovely and the train was super. Not many electronic information boards on the platforms in the smaller stations.

It would be interesting to see you do both the Dublin-Cork service and the Dublin-Belfast "Enterprise" service, the latter of which I have had a part in timetabling. It would be interesting to see how the post-Brexit UK-Ireland border affects this service...

@jgcondron

Жыл бұрын

Those on the Northern Ireland side pay about twice as much as those living in Ireland. Standard class is as cheap as 14 Euro each way on Irish Rail and you can upgrade online for 10 Euro extra meaning 24 Euro for what I call true first class. I think Irish Rail is subsidised more heavily by the Irish government compared to Translink.

I did Heuston to Ennis & it was a fantastic journey. Did it via Limerick Junction and Colbert due to the train strike (that got cancelled on the day) but it was still a good trip.

great vid albie, just slight correction at 1:42, there used to be a galway to dublin bus eireann route the 20/x20 but thats gone now, to get buses to dublin you use galway coach staion which is a short nearby walk and is operated by aircoach and citylink

From the little that I know about railways in Ireland, is that a lot can be explained by chronic underinvestment. Other comments have mentioned that, until relatively recently, Ireland was not a particularly wealthy country, and the first thing you do when you earn a bit of money is to buy a car. Then, when you earn REALLY a lot of money, you buy a high-speed train. 🙂 Still, I wasn't aware that they run 160 km/h these days in Ireland, which is an improvement over even a few years ago. And, living in a country (Malta) where the last train ran over 90 years ago, even an underfunded railway would be nice. There are plans for a metro, also bearing in mind that Malta is the most densely populated "proper" country in Europe (with apologies to the good people of Monaco and Gibraltar), by a country mile, it could do with one. But building a metro for just over half a million people...

@SuperalbsTravels

Жыл бұрын

Think they've had 160km/h for quite some time now. The 1990s diesel locos were capable of 100mph, so I presume at least some of the routes were good for it.

Also yes please! I would love a Dublin-Cork trip report on the Mark IV’s!

@jackharold8379

Жыл бұрын

I'm on them fairly regularly and they're very similar to the normal ICRs but I'd love to see what the first class is like. Then again with the lower prices now I'll probably book it for a trip quite soon.

@garyingle4689

Жыл бұрын

@@jackharold8379 was on the Mk4 first class a few weeks ago. Fairly similar to standard class. You've and extra light and your chair can recline slightly

Cool, nice to see a tripreport from Ireland as you don't see many tripreports from Ireland

5:52 My aunt lives in Westport, she's of polish origin! Also, I remember this train, when we rode from Heuston Station to Westport and vice versa.

Yay a new video

Your point about the Fully Flexi ticket is somewhat correct, however it's saved my arse on more than one occasion. If you miss your train, and you have a fully flexi ticket, you can get on any train for the terminus which your destination is on. I missed my train from Heuston to a station on the Ballina branch, and though I had already printed out my ticket, I was able to hop on the next train, granted it was 3 hours later, but sure it was sound day no rain so I just went to the museum for some craic.

Hazelhatch/Newbridge to Grand Canal Dock trains stop at Heuston platform 10 only for driver changes so passenger doors would be kept locked

Good thing all 🚄 lines run from county Dublin to all of Ireland😊

awesome video

The Irish scenery is so beautiful! So nice to see almost no disgusting graffiti along the tracks, something that's become quite impossible in most of Europe nowadays... Also great to see the train full of passengers, although I got the strange feeling that most of them were pensioners and elderly people. Are trains not popular among the Irish youth?

@ballyhigh11

Жыл бұрын

A lot of them looked like American tourists, so I'm guessing this was recorded in summer and hence why it's so busy.

@marcusdamberger

Жыл бұрын

@@ballyhigh11 I'm American and could hear a loud mouthed American senior in that group as he walked down the isle. 6:30 ish..

@rianxmcg

Жыл бұрын

Yes! In ireland those under 24 years old get half price fares and those over 66 get a free travel pass hence the higher proportion of passengers in that age group or could be the time/day of travel

@kristinajendesen7111

Жыл бұрын

I noticed that about the graffiti too. Always annoyed me with my 31 years on the railway in the South West of England.

@Sandwich4321

8 ай бұрын

they are but usually for commuting to places

Pre-pandemic, we did the reverse journey from Dublin and it was very OK; especially in comparison to our previous journey in 2003. As a matter of fact, we are planning a railway holiday in Ireland for 2023

The DART commuter rail system and the Luas tram are electrified! ;D

About platform 10 at Heuston, it used to be islandbridge station, and serves trains through the Phoenix park tunnel. I don’t know if it is currently in use. I feel like it isn’t.

I do like those ICR trains in the Republic of Ireland as they are very nice and the seats do look really comfortable. ☺️

@frankiewilde7791

Жыл бұрын

They are great if you can get a seat. Useless on the commuter services though as they don't have much standing room.

@AndrewG1989

Жыл бұрын

Interesting

Platform 10 at Heuston was only used for a short period of time when the station was being refurbished, I can't remember when exactly but early 2000s I think. Nowadays it's only used as a driver interchange point for the service between Grand Canal Dock and Hazelhatch. There's no public access. But they have done some work on it recently such as installing updated passenger information displays, which might mean they plan to use it but could also just be a guinea pig.

@jgcondron

Ай бұрын

It's going to be part of the new Heuston West station as part of Dart Plus South West. There will be additional electric lines that will be exclusive to the DART trains.

The only electrified railway in Ireland is the DART. Irish railways have always seen under-investment. Trains are full because there are relatively few of them on each route. Catering has been reduced significantly over recent years. Most buffet/restaurant cars removed etc. There used to be thriving freight traffic on Ireland's railways until hauliers complained it was putting them out of work so a political decision was made to move freight traffic to the roads. Talking of the MGWR station at Athlone, the GSWR one is used as it is better sited for the town. Of course, previously all trains to Galway, Westport & Ballina used the MGWR shorter route via Moate to Broadstone & then Connolly & Pearse before they decided to reroute via Tullamore to Heuston & close the MGWR route only to freight traffic which no longer exists..

@markellis6413

Жыл бұрын

Should also point out where the mural is opposite the platform was once another platform. The current platform 2 is where the trains on the long closed line to Clifden once departed.

I get this train twice or more a week and still watched this whole video

Nice presentation.

@SuperalbsTravels

Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much! :)

Amazing video

@SuperalbsTravels

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! :)

Don' t worry about electricity, your trains are very nice but I prefer the fantastic Ireland music. Great from Greece.

3:28 isn’t the Dublin area rapid transit electrified the line from Howth - Dublin- Bray? Great video I wish I could visit Ireland

That's the back entrance into ceannt Station, the front entrance is a bit more attractive.... kudos on the pronunciation of athenry though, it was spot on.

I did some online research and it seems like the double-tracked main trunk line from Dublin to Cork will be upgraded and electrified in the near future.

@jgcondron

22 күн бұрын

All the InterCity services between actual cities will be electrified to 25kV AC but it won't be that soon. It will likely be at least 15 to 20 years from now when the current rolling stock reach end of life. The 22000 will likely become battery hybrids. The exception to this is the Dublin to Belfast line as the rolling stock is nearing 30 years. That line will be electrified first and likely quite soon as they will have new rolling stock that will support it.

2:23 Malaysia also has similarly designed trains for their intercity services as well

Dublins Dart trains which serve the purpose of suburban heavy rail from malahide or howth into dublin city and out as far vs greystones are electrified, they consist of 8 carrriage sets (2+2+2+2)/(4+4) or 6 car sets (2+2+2) of EMU's the latter is usually only used for extra services during matches at the aviva or such, although their is talk of electifying the lines further ut in different directions which are currently served by Commuter DMUs

Ireland does have electric trains, but they only work DART services as of now. These units operate on 1.5kV overhead, ranging top speeds between 60-70mph. The national speed limit in mainland Ireland and Northern Ireland is 100mph, which only very few electrified lines have.

Have you done a video on board the enterprise Dublin to Belfast?

I usually get the Concord to knock airport and the chanel tunnel back to kerry and the ferry to Australia

It is 1600mm gauge railway system right? 😊 As per Wiki, Dublin’s DART system is an electrified railway.

I’ve used the ICRs on various routes and would prefer them to any other railcars. They are comfortable and quiet enough. Both the Cork express and the Enterprise between Belfast and Dublin have a far superior ride and more comfortable seats especially in First Plus on the Enterprise.

I traveled roundtrip between Dublin and Cork in 2018, and overall I thought the service was great (quick, a clock-face schedule, very nice trains, decent quality catering), my only complaints were the expensive walk-up fares (I had just flown overnight from Boston and didn't want to book in advance, in case of a delay. Next time I'll reserve and just make sure I have a few extra hours in Dublin, since I made it from the airport to Heuston in plenty of time for the train I wanted) and that the exteriors of both trains I took were filthy, and that detracted the views out the windows. You would think that since the stunning Irish scenery is one of the advantages of the train, Iarnród Éireann would be a little bit more attentive of this..

Nice video production. Good point about the irritating lack of on-board food-- which was really pretty good pre-covid. Couple of station announcements. Galway Ce( hard c)annt not Keyunt station, Chooam not Tooam, Balinasloe (short i) not Baleenasloe, Athlone (normally)not Ahlone, Tull ( like Hull) amore.

Ireland's rail network is almost completely unelctrified because until 2020 the rail network was in managed decline since the formation of the state. It was basically accepted that all non-intercity routes would close. Our motorway network is very extensive so the default option for people is to drive everywhere. Thankfully, in the last 2 years things have changed. Dublin's entire suburban network is being electrified (at 1500V DC unfortunately) and Dublin-Cork may be electrified by the end of the decade. Heavy rail investment has quadrupled since the minister of transport changed 2 years ago.

@sublivion5024

Жыл бұрын

Disgraceful how there's plenty of money for roads but none for rail

@matuskriska8361

Жыл бұрын

Is there a reason for not electrifying at 25 kV AC?

@sublivion5024

Жыл бұрын

@@matuskriska8361 any brand new system would certainly use 25kV, but historically in urban areas 1.5kV was cheaper to build and considered safer. An expansion of an existing system would likely be 1.5kV for interconnectivity due to the disruption and cost upgrading the whole network to 25kV would incur. There are some trains (like the Eurostar class 374) that can run on many voltages though.

@nerd2814

Жыл бұрын

​@@sublivion5024even more disgraceful that car-centric infrastructure is seen as desirable compared to car-free infra

@sublivion5024

Жыл бұрын

@@nerd2814 support for more walkable and bikable places is growing very quickly, we have hope

The Irish system looks very middle of the road. Not terrible, but nothing really stands out as being very good compared to anywhere else. I don't know what it used to be like, but even if it's improved a lot, it looks like there's quite a lot of things they could still do to improve it.

@smartandhandsome

Жыл бұрын

Ireland's railway network as a whole has declined over the past century; the few remaining lines are slow to update but have basically made it to first-world standards (excluding the fact they're not electrified lol).

Just traveled extensively on Irish rail Dublin Tarlee Limerick Sligo & Belfast that premier set of coaches you pointed out I think that is the set that travels Dublin-Belfast return run by not Irish nor NI rail but is independently run by a company called Enterprise surprisingly boarding at Belfast the other day station staff were indicating to many people that the train was booked out my particular carriage I was in was only 3/4 full hence I couldn’t understand why they were turning customers away!!

What is the premier train? (Yes I would like to see a video on it)

yes! do a video on the enterprise in first class (The meals on the enterprise are incredible and I do beleive they still exist on that train in C19

@TheEpicAppleEater01

Жыл бұрын

Yes. The Enterprise has catering now!

Nice

Fully flexible fare means you can travel on any train on the same route all day, semi flexible means you can travel on one service before or after the one you booked

The train was busy was this during garth brooks gigs in septemnber

Ireland actually has some electrified railways. The DART commuter rail network in dublin.

@SuperalbsTravels

Жыл бұрын

Ooh, good point!

3:30 actually there is a electric DART train that operates in some regional routes in Dublin

@SuperalbsTravels

11 ай бұрын

Ooh yes, good point!

Just so you know ICR trains do have a configuration that includes first class. Its usually only used on Belfast (when normal enterprise isnt available) or cork (when normal cork config not available) or mayo line for some reason

@SuperalbsTravels

8 ай бұрын

Yes, but only 2+2! 🫤

Can you show us the bike storage in future?

Fantastic Journey and Review you Filmed!😃.Was the Train Service busy?.Did many board and alight the Train Service?.At 9:17 you labelled that Train Station as Monasterevin, but it's actually Kishoge, it's a Train Station that was built during the good times of building property, but was not opened due to the downfall in the economy that Ireland suffered back the years in 2007/2008. But it has been confirmed recently that Kishoge Train Station will open soon, within the year or so.

The Dublin LUAS and DART are the only electrified Irish rail network

9:42 Vilnius flashbacks 🐸

Does this train have a bar wagon?

I live in Galway and i see those Class 22000's and 2800's Regulary

6:07 awww my water bottle 😂

Video request please do Dublin Connolly to Belfast journey time 2hours 10 mins and there is catering is available with free WiFi

@2:46 the Irish Rail system by default displays your name - but you can very easily tick the box to just show your reservation number! although on the trains the reservations don't always actually get displayed - so sometimes it's a bit of a scrum!!

Just don’t go anywhere via rail that involved a change in Mallow because it’s a pain in the arse. Everything in and out I’ve ever gotten from it arrives 20+ minutes late. I think this is because the entire line from Mallow to Tralee is single track so you can’t really run two trains at once (which is a pain). Could be wrong but it seems like most branchlines here are single

This is definitely much better than the MARC train I regularly ride in America. It’s a shame that arguably one of the worst rail networks in Europe still blows most American trains out of the water. I would also like to add. I am mildly saddened by the fact that it’s cheaper to take a train across the width of Ireland than it is to travel a couple dozen miles on a slow commuter train in Maryland (for a single one way ticket I pay 8 USD for a trip that takes a little under an hour (a comparable time to just using the motorway) and regularly gets delayed by freight trains. I once had to wait an extra hour and a half stranded on my train because a freight train broke down in front of us.)

You need to do dublin-Belfast and Dublin-cork If your in cork give a buzz

7:18 The reason there isno catering is because the previous catering service pulled out of their contract with IÉ, but they plan to hae catering services back in early 2023 at the earliest

At 2min and 7 sec you can clearly see electric lines. The DART suburban service ie electried at 1500 V DC. I don't know why the choice of low voltage DC was used as most lines use 25KV AC as it uses only 1/16th of the current to supply the same amount of power so the wires are much small diameter and the masts are lighter, hence cheaper. There obviously is a reason for this but assume any long distance electrification would use AC.

they are starting to electric the dart to maynooth and celbridge

@00:31 - There's a job at RTÉ News for you with that pronunciation. 😁

2:43 The 22000 DMU Railcars you rode on do have first class to an extent, it is called Premier class but is seldom used as only the 5 car sets (and more recently extended 6 car sets) have them, and usually more capacity is needed, and the 5 car sets are never coupled with any other for one journey, but you are not missing out on much as the first class has nothing more to it really then a little table lamp, not even better seats or reclining features and retains the 2+2 seating layout

Maybe the bar service on board is not profitable, now I think it would not cost much to put vending machines on board. Thanks for the ride. 🇺🇾

@barvdw

Жыл бұрын

those vending machines tend to break down, though. Cans and packages getting stuck, the coin locks defaulting... I agree it would be great to have some form of catering, but I'm not sure this is the best solution. I'm probably making some conductor union reps mad, but why not have them sell snacks and drinks after their ticket rounds? Especially as most stations in Ireland have ticket inspection pre-boarding...

@steeviebops

10 ай бұрын

Catering was suspended due to Covid but the reason why it never restarted is that the private company who operated it (RailGourmet) decided to pull out of the contract. It has since resumed on Dublin-Cork using the same company that provide catering on the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise service. Irish Rail used to do their own catering under the brand Network Catering until around 2005 or so when it was farmed out.

Try out the train between Dublin and Belfast

I've been in that old train station near athlone and I don't think it would be good because its cramped on the inside and people would need to climb stairs to reach the platform. plus it would be impossible to heat in the winter

@barvdw

Жыл бұрын

thanks, I was wondering why they chose this station over the old one.

@jgcondron

27 күн бұрын

It's also in a better location on the Westmeath/Leinster side of the town. Athlone is one of the worst planned towns in Ireland. It's about 8km long but only 100m wide in places. You'll see this if you ever look at it on Google Maps. A textbook ribbon town.

@shadowtrain451

27 күн бұрын

@jgcondron and its made worse every year. recently they shut down one of the main roads so they could convert it into a pedestrian walkway

The majority of Ireland’s railway network is unnelectrified. This is because it has not been a priority when it comes to transport. Over the last decade or two roads have been the main priority, since we had such a bad road network before the EU helped us. We had no motorway until the 1980s. The only electrified rail in Ireland is the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) tram that runs from Greystones to Howth or Malahide (depending which line it is). New DART trains are due this year and it’s hoped that the electrified section will be extended to Drogheda. The Luas tram serving suburban Dublin and Dublin City Centre is also electrified.

@jgcondron

Ай бұрын

It's not about priorities. It's about money, money and money. The bulk of the motorway network was paid for the EU and private capital. Only until very recently has there been EU funds for railways.

@jgcondron

Ай бұрын

It's not about just being a rich country. It's about being a rich country for a sustained period of time. The country with arguably the best railway and public transport in the world is Switzerland - their transport budget alone is Ireland's entire budget. And they have this spending power, year after year, after year. We have had two periods of prosperity in Ireland and the first was a mirage that was fuelled by debt and windfall taxes from property. During that period we still managed to reopen the Western Rail Corridor and build Ireland's first four tracking - we had to knock and rebuild several stations to get that done.

@jgcondron

Ай бұрын

We're in the second age of prosperity now. We really only started to have money from about 2017/2018 onwards after we recovered from the Great Recession that affected much of the West. The money really started to pour into rail from 2020 onwards and we have effectively had two years lost since 2020. Still in this period we have bought a new fleet of Darts that will start to be delivered at the end of next year. Dart Plus is progressing nicely. Cork to Middleton is getting double-tracked this summer/autumn. Kent is getting new through-platforms and reconfigured. Limerick to Foynes is being reopened, Ceannt and Plunkett are getting rebuilt and we have been slowly adding more and more services year-on-year to all the InterCity offerings.

Dart Services in and around Dublin are electrified.

Great

The pronunciation of the irish names was a little off hahahha 😅 I use the route regularly and its definitely my favourite way to get to and from home

Very interesting. Seems like the Irish network actually shares a lot of similarities with the Danish railway network. Low rate of electrification, no catering, but still rather crowded trains, and stations without many facilities. Heck the ticket type you booked is even very similar to DSB's own "Orange Fri" class of tickets which allow a refund up to 30 minutes before departure. But yeah if you think its bad on the Irish trains with no catering its worse here. We've had no trolley service since 2014, no vending machines onboard, and though in 2020 they started trialling a backpacker kind of catering service with coffee and snacks, thats only on select trains and you have no idea of knowing whether your service will even have that or not. The only place its guaranteed is on the Lyntog+ services. At least the new trains being ordered from Alstom and Talgo will have vending machine areas. Still just 15 euros is amazing value for money! Especially with such a flexible ticket for a route over 200 kilometers long.

@hellohumans8442

Жыл бұрын

Ireland used to have catering and on some trains they have a section of coach A for coffee/food etc and we had trolleys but during Covid they stopped and as far as I’m aware they never resumed the service

@jgcondron

Жыл бұрын

The company that handled catering folded due to covid. Irish Rail are trying to get both short-term and long-term catering contracts in place. Something is supposedly going to be announced soon. You can get cooked food on Irish Rail trains. However, it is only on the Enterprise between Dublin Connolly and Belfast. At the moment you can only get cooked breakfast and cold bistro menu items along with trolley and dinning bar food and beverages. Cooked Bistro menu items will be restored.

@drdewott9154

Жыл бұрын

@@jgcondron Wow lucky. Here DSB has a contract with 7eleven to run station kiosks (even though those are becoming rarer and rarer too), and those backpacker things I mentioned. But again there's no guarantee there'll even be anything, and thats while trips can take close to 5 hours end to end on some services.

@jgcondron

Жыл бұрын

@@drdewott9154 I took the IC3 between Hamburg and Copenhagen last month. Very comfy seats. In first class I got complimentary tea and coffee. On the return trip a small breakfast was included and a sweet treat later on. The thing I didn't like was the laptop flew up a little from the table every time it passed a moving train. The 7/11 backpack made an appearance too. Pretty good, but really you need catering. There's always been catering or a trolley service on Irish Rail with the exception of Covid so not having those services won't fly. Even less now that money is being poured into Irish Rail.

@drdewott9154

Жыл бұрын

@@jgcondron Trolley? Again, we haven't had a trolley service for 8 years! It was cut away to cut on costs. And yeah we have no guarantee that a 7eleven backpack guy will even show up on any given train. The only things that are confirmed are that the next generation of DSB trains (Talgo coaches for trajns to Hamburg, and Alstom Coradia Stream EMUs for domestic traffic) will feature vending machines with snacks and coffee.