Irish Railway Record Society

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Mk III Push-Pull   The three-piece Limerick-Limerick Junction push-pull set worked its last scheduled local train on Tuesday 9 March. It was replaced by a railcar. Its last working was the 10.30 Ennis-Limerick, formed by 134 + two + DT6102. The train worked empty to Dublin from Limerick , passing Killonan Junction at 13.11. However, on Wednesday 10 March the 08.00 Ennis-Limerick was worked by 148 + 2 Cravens + GSV.

The push-pull set was reformed into a 5-car set and deployed on InterCity services out of Heuston. Also on most Sundays, the 15.00 Dublin Connolly - Belfast Central and 18.15 return is worked by a 5-car push-pull, but it can also be worked by a set of Cravens carriages.

A push-pull set has been cleared for towed operation at 90-mph instead of 70-mph. The clearance is specific to the set with driving trailer 6105, although 6104 can also be used ‘in emergencies’ if modified, and is only allowed between Dublin and Westport . The speed limit remains 70-mph if the vehicle is working in push-pull mode or if the train size is less than five vehicles. Nos. 6104 and 6105 are fitted with the standard BT22 bogie used under Mk III vehicles as opposed to a DART Linke Hofmann Busch bogie fitted under Nos. 6101-03. One of the first workings on the Westport route occurred on Tuesday 23 March when a push-pull worked the 12.55 Dublin-Westport, but this was not a regular working.

Mk IIab   With the exception of six vehicles saved for preservation, all withdrawn Mk IIab carriages were scrapped in Inchicore in February. Electric Generator Vans (EGVs) 4601-03 were not scrapped and are still used to transfer air-braked vehicles to and from Inchicore. The RPSI will receive 4104 and 4112, the Waterford and Suir Valley Railway will receive 4106 and the West Clare Railway will receive 4108, 4110 and 4402.

GSVs   ‘Dutch’ vans 3157 and 3159 were scrapped in Inchicore in February.

CAF Mainline Carriages   AEA Technology, Derby , was the successful bidder for the contract to provide ‘build quality audits’ for the 67 new mainline carriages.

These carriages will launch a new InterCity livery of green-white and are expected to be used to provide a clock-face hourly Dublin-Cork service from 2006. Trains will have nine carriages, consisting of six standard class vehicles, a restaurant car, a first class carriage and a generator van with driver's cab.

LOCOMOTIVES

121-Class  Locomotives 124 and 134 alternated working on the 3-piece Mk III push-pull that operated between Limerick Junction-Limerick-Ennis until a railcar took over from Tuesday 9 March. This ended regular daily passenger working by the class after 43 years.

Both locomotives remained in passenger and freight service, including working the 17.10 Dublin-Ennis between Limerick and Ennis. On Saturday 20 March, 134 +141 + 23 wagons worked the 14.05 Waterford-North Wall empty bulk cement train. It crossed the RPSI Kilkenny-Thomastown steam special, “4” + 7 Cravens + GSV, in Thomastown. However, the steam special returning from Kilkenny to Heuston later that evening overtook the cement train in Kildare where it was held up by the 14.40 Waterford-Dublin, 228 + 8 Mk III + EGV, which had failed and had been pushed into Newbridge up platform by the 15.10 Galway-Dublin, NIR 112 + 7 Mk IId + EGV. The cement train then followed the steam special.

In late April, 134 was awaiting new wheels in Inchicore, while 124 received a routine exam and was back working Cork-Limerick cement trains in early May, double heading with a 141-class.

141/181-class   Despite the virtual take-over of local services by railcars, Limerick can still boast a considerable number of locomotives, which are visible at weekends. On Sunday 4 April, they included 142, 148, 159, 160, 176+166, 183, 187+173. No. 142 departed Limerick at 13.10 with a GSV for Cork .

DIESEL RAILCARS

New Railcars   In February, IÉ revised the EU Journal notice for the supply of inter-regional railcars. The ‘initial requirement’ has been increased from 64 to 90 vehicles and the notice indicates that the contract may include maintenance support. The vehicles may be purchased or leased.

IÉ has visited various manufacturers in preparation for the issue of an enquiry for railcars. It is understood that these railcars are to be the backbone of two-hourly clockface trains on all routes other than Dublin-Cork and Dublin-Belfast. IÉ are also investigating locations for a possible new maintenance depot for these railcars. It is expected that this will be located on the Dublin-Cork line.

2600-class   From 29 March it is permitted to couple 2600-class and 2800-class railcars in any combination up to 8 cars long. The first revenue earning working in early April featured 2601/2602+2610/13+2809/2810.

2700-class   A two car set, 2707-08, was in Limerick in February for training Limerick , Cork and Galway drivers. By March, most services in the Limerick area were being worked by railcars. On Friday 19 March, the 15.40 Limerick-Limerick Junction was worked by 2709/10, the 17.00 Ennis-Limerick was worked by 2751+2753 and the 18.40 Ennis-Limerick was worked by a two-car 2600-class.

By April, a second 2700-class set had entered service in Limerick and the single car units were split and added to the two-car sets to make up two three-car trains.

2800-class   Set 2811+2812 was the first of the class to be painted in the Commuter livery.

2900-class   With all except the last set commissioned in February, all Drogheda line services were composed of 8-car sets (2700-class, 2800-class or 2900-class). The exception was the 06.40 Drogheda-Pearse, which was worked by a 4-car 2600-class, which went to Heuston on arrival at Pearse.

The final four-car set (2977-80) of the current order of 80 vehicles was delivered on Tuesday 17 February. They were hauled from the quay to North Wall yard by locomotive 175. After trial running and mileage accumulation, it entered service by end of March.

Availability and performance of the 2900-class class continues to be very good. Availability was such that a 4-car 2900-class was available to work a relief from Dundalk in advance of the late running 06.50 Belfast-Dublin  and  second  4-ca  2900-class  worked a  relief  from  Maynooth  in  advance  of the late running Longford-Pearse on Monday 1 March.

On Saturday 8 May, set 2933-6 was used for a clearance trial from Dundalk to Belfast GVS, thence to Antrim via Lisburn and on to York Road . In the afternoon it was booked to cover the Bleach Green crossover before returning to Dundalk via GVS.

DART

8520-class   The first four sets of 4-car 8520-class DART sets from Mitsui were shipped from Japan ahead of schedule in mid-February. They were offloaded from the MV Jumbo Challenger at Dublin Port on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 April. Unusually, a set was hauled from North Wall to Pearse via Newcomen Junction. At 12.30 on the Friday, 182 hauled 8621/8521/ 8522/8622 up Newcomen bank to Connolly and on to the down loop at Pearse for storage. Later that evening, 8623/8523/8524/8624 were hauled direct from North Wall to Malahide Quarry for storage. On Saturday, 8625/8525/ 8526/8626 were hauled to Malahide Quarry at noon and 182 hauled 8627/8527/ 8528/8628 to Fairview Depot, leaving North Wall at 16.45.

They are expected to enter service in August after commissioning and testing. The remaining 24 carriages of the order will be delivered in July, to enter service after testing and commissioning at the start of next year.

The 8520-class are similar to the 8510-class, but are the first DART carriages to be fully air-conditioned. The flat roof has very noticeable housings for the air conditioning units over the driver’s cab and in the centre of the vehicle. The units also have CCTV monitoring of the passenger compartments linked to a screen in the driver’s cab to improve security.

The 40-car order will see the DART fleet reach 154 vehicles, which is almost double the 80 vehicles in existence five-years ago. The fleet will be:

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 154, published June 2004.

Copyright © 2004 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: October 06, 2006 .