Rail transport in Ireland: Encyclopedia II - Rail transport in Ireland - Rolling Stock

Rail transport in Ireland - Rolling Stock

The 'Enterprise' service has the most modern rolling stock on the island. The carriages, commissioned in 1997, are by De Dietrich. They comprise a dining car, first class carriage(s) and driving van trailer (DVT) for push-pull operation. Notable is the omission of a generator van (the DVT does not have its own generator either). This requires the GM locos to supply head-end power (HEP) for heating and lighting.

NIR also has a rake of refurbished Mark II carriages acquired from the Gatwick Express service and converted to run on the Irish 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in) track gauge. These are generally referred to as 'the Gatwicks'.

The backbone of IÉ's main intercity services to Cork, Limerick and Galway are the Mark IIIs. These carriages are the next most modern intercity stock after the De Dietrichs, being built in 1980, 1986 and 1989. Unlike their British equivalents they are equipped with power-operated external doors. They include a dining car, first class carriage (although on all but two of the sets, the carriage is half first class and half standard class), generator van and typically six ordinary carriages (prior to the smoking ban in the Republic, one of these was a smoking car).

Routes such as Dublin to Waterford and Sligo, as well as some early and late services to Cork are typically served in some part by Mark IIs. Air conditioned Mark IId type carriages date back to 1972, and are distinguished from the similar Mark IIIs by having slam doors and being about 2 m shorter. Earlier Mark IIa/b/c carriages dating back to 1966/1970 have recently been scrapped (even before older carriages) since they suffered from corrosion.

The oldest carriages run by Iarnród Éireann are 40 years old (1963/1965) and are termed the 'Cravens', the builder's name. They now only operate very rarely. These are slamdoor stock and are soon to be placed as reserve carriages. They may be scrapped, but the interior has been refurbished and they are structurally sound, unlike the Mark IIas. They are also steam-heated, leading to the scenes of a by-gone era gracing Ireland's railway stations, with jets and clouds of steam flowing out from the carriages while stationary. Problems with the ageing generator vans have made these carriages unpopular, as the heating (and even lighting) can be out of service.

IÉ received 67 new intercity carriages (including dining cars, generator vans and DVTs) built by CAF of Spain in 2005. None of these carriages have yet been placed into service, however; they can be seen in storage at the Iarnród Éireann depot at Inchicore, Dublin, and at Limerick Junction. These will be formed into eight 8-car trains which will permit a massive expansion in service frequencies -- by 2008 IÉ anticipates frequencies on the network will be:

• Dublin - Cork: Hourly all day.
• Dublin - Limerick: Hourly, with a mixture of direct services, and shuttles connecting with Dublin - Cork services at Limerick Junction.
• Dublin - Galway: Hourly in the peak, 2-hourly the rest of the day.
• Dublin - Waterford: 2-hourly all day.
• Dublin - Sligo: 2-hourly all day.
• Dublin - Westport: Existing through trains with extra shuttles connecting with Galway services at Athlone.
• Dublin - Tralee: Existing through trains with extra shuttles every 2 hours connecting with Cork services at Mallow.
• Dublin - Rosslare: Existing services with extra commuter services to Arklow/Gorey.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Rolling Stock", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki