Irish Rail 22000 class formation chagnes

[IR-Mark4/ICR]

All 22000 are to be changed to all 3 and 4 coach trains by the end of the year to match capacity and demand and to say costs.

The 15 6 car sets (10 first class and 5 high capacity) will have two coaches removed to being them down to 4 car sets.

All these coaches will be used to increase 3 car sets to 4 car sets.

Provided trails and software changes work and they operate normally, by early 2014 at the latest the fleet will be 10 4 car (first class) trains, 35 4 car trains and 18 3 car trains.

Also Mark 4's will operate very few Cork services in the near future to cut costs.

 

[hurricanemk1c]

Today a trial was undertaken with 22045 sans 22445 and 22545 to test it out. Seemed to be a sucess. Pcitures from Clonkeen Bridge, just south of Laois Traincare, are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/95093559@N06/9202770216/ with a link to another photo of the working.

The removed cars from the 6pce sets will go to the original sets (22001-22030 including 11/12 I believe)

I would be suprised to see less use of the MKIV's however. I would doubt that there would be enough spares of 22000's to cover their diagrams sufficently

 

[43167]

Can never work out how replacing a train with 1 engine with a train with 3, 4 or 6 engines help keep costs down.

If some of the Mk4's are stored, wouldn't that be seen as a waste of public money?, trains that are less than 10 years old.

 

[4SRKT]

Can never work out how replacing a train with 1 engine with a train with 3, 4 or 6 engines help keep costs down.

If some of the Mk4's are stored, wouldn't that be seen as a waste of public money?, trains that are less than 10 years old.

Wasting public money is not something either Irish Rail or Translink worry about much.

 

[IR-Mark4/ICR]

Can never work out how replacing a train with 1 engine with a train with 3, 4 or 6 engines help keep costs down.

If some of the Mk4's are stored, wouldn't that be seen as a waste of public money?, trains that are less than 10 years old.

What the problem is in many cases is 3 car trains are to small and 6 car trains are to big.

Also Dublin-Rosslare can't take 6 car sets and are restricted to 3 car trains and 8 car 2800. 4 car ICR's will work on this route.

Costs will be saved while keeping passengers happy.

It's not 100% about the Mark4's but an article in a newspaper over the weekend said that IE are going to apply for 200km/h speeds.

If the department of transport were to give funding for 8 new locomotives that can do 200k/m, then the savings on Cork route would be major.

IE are getting their costs down and even management are being made to work for free early mornings/evenings to check tickets as fare avoiders is quiet high.

 

[hurricanemk1c]

It's not 100% about the Mark4's but an article in a newspaper over the weekend said that IE are going to apply for 200km/h speeds.

From what I have gathered, 125mph is a 'future ambition' and not going to happen any time soon. Lead time for a new loco would be 2-3 years at least. The use of MKIV's is reasonably secure, as they have just gone out for tender for new carpets and minor other works. Plus there are no spare 22000's to cover their diagrams.

I'm not too sure about 4pce and 3pce ICR's. Yes, there are platforms that can't take 6ICR's, but on some services it is needed. Will IÉ create a problem of overcrowding on services that were previously 6pce and now 4pce?

 

[IR-Mark4/ICR]

On many 3 car services that have 190 seats, they are just slightly to small for demand so the extra 72 seats could cope with most of it so this is where the savings will come from.

 

[island]

8-car 2800 or 29000 is too long for Rathdrum and the loop platform at Enniscorthy. No SDO. Longest train that can run that line is 6-car 2800. The 4-car ICR would be perfect for that route.

 

[GM078]

From what I have gathered, 125mph is a 'future ambition' and not going to happen any time soon. Lead time for a new loco would be 2-3 years at least. The use of MKIV's is reasonably secure, as they have just gone out for tender for new carpets and minor other works. Plus there are no spare 22000's to cover their diagrams.

I'm not too sure about 4pce and 3pce ICR's. Yes, there are platforms that can't take 6ICR's, but on some services it is needed. Will IÉ create a problem of overcrowding on services that were previously 6pce and now 4pce?

I'm sure IÉ will provide two 3 car sets where needed, maybe even two four car sets. A suspect two 3 car sets is more flexible than one fixed 6 piece set; say you have a busy inbound service to Heuston that needs a 6 car set but its return midmorning working would only justify a 3 car set - having a dividable set makes splitting easier.

As island pointed out a 4 car would prove useful on the DSER where platforms prohibit 6 car ICRs. Hopefully it will allow for the eventual removal of 29000 class Commuter stock on long distance Rosslare services, though that's probably not IÉ's primary objective here.

 

[island]

The main counterpoint to having two 3-car sets is that first class is only available in the 6-car sets and I think the buffet is the same.

 

[hurricanemk1c]

For everyone saying that 4ICR's are a good thing, just think about other operational requirements.

GM078 makes a point about some Heuston services requiring 6ICR to the city, but the return journey only 3ICR. That already happens, and the 6ICR with first class and buffet are used to what demand needs. Often, in the Weekly Circular, there is a request for '6ICR PC to work XX:XX Heuston - XX on Thursday 25th July'

The 4ICR is too long for some platforms on the Kerry line, and on the Western Rail Corridor, which enjoys an ICR service. Unless IÉ fit SDO to the sets, some of these services will have to be formed of the 3ICR. No problem, you may say. But what if a 4ICR has to form a service with stations only suitable for 3ICR? Such things happen with the large fleet of 3ICR's, but it isn't a problem. 6ICR's don't tend to stray too far from their diagrams, only replacing 3ICR when they operate as a pair for the day. You can guarantee that as soon as a 4ICR appears on one of the 3ICR diagrams, they'll be problems

 

[IR-Mark4/ICR]

For everyone saying that 4ICR's are a good thing, just think about other operational requirements.

GM078 makes a point about some Heuston services requiring 6ICR to the city, but the return journey only 3ICR. That already happens, and the 6ICR with first class and buffet are used to what demand needs. Often, in the Weekly Circular, there is a request for '6ICR PC to work XX:XX Heuston - XX on Thursday 25th July'

The 4ICR is too long for some platforms on the Kerry line, and on the Western Rail Corridor, which enjoys an ICR service. Unless IÉ fit SDO to the sets, some of these services will have to be formed of the 3ICR. No problem, you may say. But what if a 4ICR has to form a service with stations only suitable for 3ICR? Such things happen with the large fleet of 3ICR's, but it isn't a problem. 6ICR's don't tend to stray too far from their diagrams, only replacing 3ICR when they operate as a pair for the day. You can guarantee that as soon as a 4ICR appears on one of the 3ICR diagrams, they'll be problems

4 car sets are not a problem on the Kerry line, at least one platform in any stations could take them. Only the Cork route could take two 4 car sets and I don't think we will see many 8 car sets. 3, 4, 6 and the odd 7 car set.