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Title: Iarnród Éireann to refurbish 28 carriages after six years out of service Post by: WEX-RSB-FGH-BPW-PAD on August 13, 2017, 23:43:43 Quote The Irish rail service, Iarnród Éireann has issued tender notices to refurbish 28 carriages which have been out of service for the past six years. The plans to refurbish them comes in response to customer demand. The carriages, which are known as the 2700-class commuter fleet, will increase the overall commuter fleet. While they are planned to be used in the Limerick area, they will free up other trains for use in the Greater Dublin Area, to increase overall service capacity, and will re-enter service from late 2018 and into 2019. The trains, which originally began operating in 1998, were withdrawn from the fleet in 2011-12, in response to the economic downturn and falling passenger numbers. Now, with passenger numbers growing again, Iarnród Éireann plans to refurbish them and return them to service. A total of 42.8 million passenger journeys were made in 2016, approaching the peak levels of 45.5 million from 2007. By ensuring that demand can be catered for, this will also generate additional revenue which will help address the company’s challenging financial position. Extract from source at: http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/iarnrod-eireann-to-refurbish-28-carriages-after-six-years-out-of-service-799559.html Picture of 2700 class available at: http://www.newstalk.com/Irish-Rail-to-refurbish-old-carriages-to-increase-capacity Note: The 2700 class worked, inter alia, Rosslare - Wellingtonbridge - Waterford (until the service ceased in September 2010) and Waterford - Clonmel - Limerick Junction (until replaced by the 2800 class which were in turn replaced on this route by a 3-carriage InterCity railcar set). Title: Re: Iarnród Éireann to refurbish 28 carriages after six years out of service Post by: IndustryInsider on August 14, 2017, 10:53:53 Interesting to see that IE's annual passenger figures dropped massively by getting on for 20% between 2007 and 2012 following the global recession, whilst Britain's figures grew by roughly the same percentage during the same period.
Pleasing to hear they are bouncing back now. Title: Re: Iarnród Éireann to refurbish 28 carriages after six years out of service Post by: Noggin on August 15, 2017, 10:59:06 Interesting to see that IE's annual passenger figures dropped massively by getting on for 20% between 2007 and 2012 following the global recession, whilst Britain's figures grew by roughly the same percentage during the same period. Pleasing to hear they are bouncing back now. Good news I'm no expert, but I believe that until the economic boom, there was little rail commuting or business travel in Eire outside Dublin, and so part of IE's response to the loss of subsidies and declining ridership was to cull services, which didn't help passenger numbers. Even now, long distance service density is pretty low, and services no faster than the motorway, so unless you are going city centre to city centre, it's probably faster (and more convenient to take the car). For example, Cork to Dublin (which is a bit further than Cardiff to London) is 2h15 at best, and mostly 2h40, with a roughly hourly service, although it's a snip compared to GWR at €70 return. Wexford and Waterford (roughly the same distance as Bristol to London) to Dublin are about the same timings, so not really commutable, even though they are even cheaper. This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |