Joe O’Brien TD calls on Irish Rail to revert to old timetable for Northern Commuter line

Following a week of delayed trains on the northern commuter line Joe O’Brien TD for Dublin Fingal has demanded that Irish Rail and the NTA suspend the new train timetables. Following the publication of the proposed revised new timetables today he stated that:

During the consultation process during the summer I raised serious concerns about the timetable options being offered to people on the Northern Commuter line and I know many others did too. Unfortunately I don’t think Irish Rail appreciated the scale of the problem and when the new timetables were published at the end of August it was clear there were major deficits.

Again I raised these concerns at the highest level and was temporarily hopeful when I was informed that the new timetables would be looked at again. However its clear from what was published today that the changes have been largely cosmetic and in some respects the service is worse again.

At this stage I think Irish Rail need to realise that what has been done is unacceptable and that we should revert to the pre-August timetable which we know worked for people.

They need to go back to the drawing board to see if they can find another way to accommodate an improved Dublin to Belfast service which I understand has been the root cause of the issues of Dublin commuters.

 I think its widely accepted that we want more people using trains and we want better train service. And while I think people are happy to adapt to minor changes what has been proposed is too far especially in terms of the 30 minute gap in services during peak travel times. The platform termination changes have also caused significant issues.