Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) had to revise its new timetable introduced on 26 August for Dublin suburban services that pass through Connolly station, following disruptions that caused delays to several services, as Hassard Stacpoole reports...
The new timetable introduced additional intercity services but resulted in congestion, particularly at Connolly, affecting commuter routes through the station.
On 18 September, revised departure times were implemented to address these issues. The original timetable changes, approved after a public consultation in May, aimed to increase services from Dublin to Galway and Waterford, add a new hourly service between Dublin and Belfast starting in October, and provide more weekend services to Cork. It also included a new stop for Sligo services at Broombridge and opened a new station at Kishoge in West Dublin on 26 August.
As part of the changes, some services that previously terminated at Pearse were rerouted to Connolly Station, and DART and commuter schedules were modified, because of the delays they caused. The changes caused significant congestion in the Connolly Station area, leading to delays for intercity and DART services and drawing complaints from passengers and local politicians.
Barry Kenny, Head of Corporate Services, acknowledged that the timetable has had a negative impact, particularly during peak times. He told RAIL before the changes were implemented that: “We have experienced some issues impacting punctuality performance in the first two weeks of the implementation of the new timetable, notably arising from congestion in the Connolly Station area affecting Commuter routes feeding into Connolly, for which we apologise to customers.
“Having analysed these issues, and liaised with the NTA, we will implement a number of timing changes from Monday 16th September which will assist in improving punctuality for our customers. This will involve time changes mainly of between 3 and 7 minutes on a range of services on the Maynooth and Drogheda lines, with some minor changes on other routes. We look forward to delivering improved punctuality, and again apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused over the past fortnight.”
The delays have been attributed to three main factors: the increase in services on the Dublin-Belfast route to hourly, overly ambitious reductions in commuter journey times, and the competition for track space between express, limited-stop, and all-stop services on the northern suburban line.
Comment as guest
Comments
No comments have been made yet.