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overheard on the DART during the week
Mar. 4th, 2007 07:51 pm"is yer man Gadaffi still runnin' the show in Libya?"
commute update
Sep. 19th, 2005 10:54 pmDoor to DART: ~10 mins
DART to Tara Street, walk to Aston Quay: ~35 mins, fare €1.90 (single)
Bus to James' Gate: ~10 mins, fare €0.90
I think I got extraordinarily lucky with the bus (noone wanted to get on or off for the whole length of the quays) and the inter-mode timing (DART arrived within minutes of me getting to the station, bus was waiting at the stop when I reached it and departed within minutes of me getting aboard) but it certainly looks like a viable commute. I walked from the office to the DART on the way home - 30 minutes, roughly - and just to reassure me that not all was sweetness and light, the DART was running slowly due to some problem with a level crossing, meaning the trip home ran a good deal longer (the southbound DART wasn't as fortuitously timed, either).
DART to Tara Street, walk to Aston Quay: ~35 mins, fare €1.90 (single)
Bus to James' Gate: ~10 mins, fare €0.90
I think I got extraordinarily lucky with the bus (noone wanted to get on or off for the whole length of the quays) and the inter-mode timing (DART arrived within minutes of me getting to the station, bus was waiting at the stop when I reached it and departed within minutes of me getting aboard) but it certainly looks like a viable commute. I walked from the office to the DART on the way home - 30 minutes, roughly - and just to reassure me that not all was sweetness and light, the DART was running slowly due to some problem with a level crossing, meaning the trip home ran a good deal longer (the southbound DART wasn't as fortuitously timed, either).
Since I will need to figure out a regular means of getting from Chez Waider to (approximately) the Guinness Brewery, and more immediately from Chez Waider to the Life Bar, I've been poking at the various websites of Dublin Bus and the DART to see what my options are. For the latter trip, the DART is closed this weekend due to the ongoing upgrade scheme, and is being replaced with a bus service. In my case, a special bus service as opposed to a beefed-up version of the regular service. The DART site helpfully fails to provide any information about this service; the Dublin Bus site doesn't immediately appear to do so, either, but after digging around a bit I found the press release for the service in their news archive which tells me I can catch said bus from outside the Post Office in Dalkey "every hour, on the hour between 7am and 9pm". First problem solved, at least, although it'd be nice to know if I could catch the bus any closer to home. The work commute led me to look at what passes for multi-mode transport tickets, as there's not a single bus or rail route that will get me to the office. The DART site appears to have the better version of the shared ticket information; apparently you can get an unlimited Rail ticket, an unlimited Rail/Bus ticket, or an unlimited Rail/Luas (tram) ticket, but you can't get an unlimited City transport (i.e. Rail, Luas and Bus) ticket. I'm no stranger to the skull-bursting idiocy of the commuter services here, but it still astounds me how close they can get to The Right Thing without actually getting there - or even being aware that there's anything wrong.
DART redux
Aug. 17th, 2005 12:51 pmBizarrely, common sense appears to have prevailed. Who'd've thunk? Now I want to know how, if a majority of the drivers voted against action, this ended up in the labour court in the first place?
making the trains run on time
Aug. 14th, 2005 03:11 pmFor the last two years or more, there has been near-constant disruption on Dublin's commuter rail service (the DART) because they've been extending platforms to accomodate larger trains. Now that they're almost finished, the drivers are threatening to go on strike unless they're paid more money for driving the longer trains. Gah.
I may yet be a Luaser
Nov. 21st, 2004 06:06 pmHowever, the Railway Procurement Agency had to review warning signs on the routes following a series of collisions between trams and cars. It is currently planning to extend the Tallaghtline to the Dublin Docklands and the Sandyford line to Cherrywood.That latter bit would put the south end of the line in reach of, say, my bike.
I think it's an insult, but I'm not sure.
Nov. 4th, 2004 02:31 pmA spokesman for the RPA told ireland.com that although the current roadmarkings "meet the highest international standard, they will see if they can make them more suited to the Irish culture".RPA is the Rail Procurement Agency, who have some responsibility for the Luas.
role reversal
Oct. 27th, 2004 02:28 pmSo far this week there have been three Luas collisions. Commentary from the political parties:
Opposition Party Person: People need to respect red lights at Luas junctions. (direct quote not given in article)
Incumbent Party Person: "It is not sufficient to say that road users need time to get used to sharing road space with the Luas. People need to be made more aware of the dangers and a simple remedy is to increase the number and the visibility of the warning signs."
Now, there are plenty warning signs. There are traffic lights; they are like other traffic lights, in that they indicate you should stop. That they are for the Luas rather than for other road users should have no bearing on whether people respect them or not - driving through a red light is a traffic offense regardless. For the cluefully challenged there are also HULKING GREAT TRACKS ON THE ROAD, and the trams have fairly distinctive horns. If you're still unaware of the tram after all that, you fully deserve to be rammed. Repeatedly.
It's nice to see that the knee-jerk statement of the opposite isn't solely confined to the parties not in power.
Opposition Party Person: People need to respect red lights at Luas junctions. (direct quote not given in article)
Incumbent Party Person: "It is not sufficient to say that road users need time to get used to sharing road space with the Luas. People need to be made more aware of the dangers and a simple remedy is to increase the number and the visibility of the warning signs."
Now, there are plenty warning signs. There are traffic lights; they are like other traffic lights, in that they indicate you should stop. That they are for the Luas rather than for other road users should have no bearing on whether people respect them or not - driving through a red light is a traffic offense regardless. For the cluefully challenged there are also HULKING GREAT TRACKS ON THE ROAD, and the trams have fairly distinctive horns. If you're still unaware of the tram after all that, you fully deserve to be rammed. Repeatedly.
It's nice to see that the knee-jerk statement of the opposite isn't solely confined to the parties not in power.
Click on image for (brief) story link. 
our very own Down Street, almost.
Aug. 16th, 2004 05:59 pmApparently we have a rail tunnel under Phoenix Park. Poking around on Maporama, it appears that a spur breaks off the line into Heuston a few hundred yards before the station proper (i.e. the enclosed section) and disappears on the map when it hits Conyngham Road, and there's another stub line to the northeast of North Road which could well be the other end. I might wander up and have a look at the weekend, see what I can see.
whee! trams!
Jul. 1st, 2004 10:00 amAnd so, the Luas arrives. In the Dublin way of naming things[1], it's been referred to as "the Daniel Day", which is a bit of a mouthful. Expect something more catchy and snide before long.
[1] Molly Malone Statue: The Tart With The Cart. The Anna Livia Fountain (now removed): The Hoor (Whore) In The Sewer. The Millennium Clock (also removed): The Time In The Slime. The Millennium Spire: The Stilletto In The Ghetto. You get the idea.
[1] Molly Malone Statue: The Tart With The Cart. The Anna Livia Fountain (now removed): The Hoor (Whore) In The Sewer. The Millennium Clock (also removed): The Time In The Slime. The Millennium Spire: The Stilletto In The Ghetto. You get the idea.
public transport redux
Mar. 24th, 2004 11:09 amActually, the real problem is that I'm a lazy bollox.
