Recently, I needed to go to Dublin again, for the first time in two years. The reason? Well, my German ID card had expired all the way back in 2019 and after a succession of bereavement, job changes, hospitalisation and, you know, a pandemic, I finally got around to fixing it. I’ll spare you the details as the admin work in question is just a rehash of what I went through when I applied for my new German passport, something I already wrote a blog post on. Instead, what I want to focus on this time is the experience of shlepping all the way up from Cork to Dublin and back without a car. I’ve never had a driver’s license and, given how little money I have left over at the end of the month as it is, I have no desire to change that anytime soon. This leaves me at the mercy of public transport in Ireland, in particular Bus Éireann, something that is a frequent source of frustration. Having said that, my recent business in Dublin gave me the perfect opportunity to test how public transport is supposed to run in this country. Apart from a pre-booked 1st class intercity ticket, I only used my regular Leap card for this trip, nothing else. I fervently hope that I’m not jinxing anything, given that I started writing this draft somewhere between Limerick Junction and Mallow, so still on the train back from Dublin, but here goes nothing!
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| Not since the invention of Microsoft Excel has there been a creation of man so infuriating and yet so damnably essential as the 220 bus route in Cork! |
The journey starts the way most of my workdays start: with a ride on that perennial source of delight and frustration, Bus Éireann’s 220 bus service into Cork city centre. On this particular day, probably owing to the fact that most schools are out already, this is surprisingly painless, and I make it to Grand Parade with plenty of time to spare. The next part of the trip is equally unsurprising. I use TFI Bikes to bridge the distance between Grand Parade and Cork’s Kent Railway Station. I’ve been a fan of this service since its inception and while maintenance can be a bit hit and miss, on this particular day, I hit the jackpot with a near perfect bike. As a result, the ride from Grand Parade to Kent ids comfortable, quick and easy, marred only by a number of idiot motorists that are quite frankly to dumb to understand the basic rules of the road.
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| Small but airy, and with everything you need. I really like Kent Station. |
Up until this point, this could have been just another regular trip to work, given that I work in one of the office buildings near Kent station. This time however, it’s through the underpass and into the train station itself. Up until now, I’ve used my Leap Card, as I would on my regular commute. For the next leg however, from Kent station in Cork to Dublin Heuston, I need to collect my pre-booked Irish Rail tickets. I booked only a week or two in advance and decided to splurge on 1st class, simply because I like having both a window and an aisle seat at the same time. That decision will pay dividends later on. For now, I pick up my tickets at one of the ticket machines in the station concourse. Irish Rail only recently started introducing mobile tickets, but I don’t quite trust that yet, so I opt for the old-fashioned magnetic strip ticket. With the ticket, as well as some much-needed breakfast, in hand, it’s time to board Irish Rail’s intercity service to Dublin Heuston, which is already waiting on Platform 4.
Once aboard, I get quite the surprise. The service to Dublin sports a recently refurbished 1st class coach, and I have to say, I’m impressed. The leather seat covers look stylish, as do the new tables. Unfortunately, the new seat is nowhere near as comfortable as the pre-refurbishment ones, even though they look like they’re basically the same seat with a different cover. Maybe my seat is just stuck in a bad position because I can’t really get them recline to work. Beyond that though, the redesign is a massive improvement. There are plenty of charge points at the table, with one full power socket, one USB-A and one USB-C port integrated into the table lamp and thus easily accessible. More impressive is the wireless charging pad for smartphones that is integrated right into the table itself. As much as I like Irish Rail, I wasn’t expecting this much of a feature bump given Ireland’s track record with convenient public transport. All in all, this refurbishment to the 1st class coaches on the Cork Dublin service is a massive improvement over the old CityGold coaches.
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| The Mark IV coaches in use on the Dublin-Cork route are really the flagship product of Irish Rail. |
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| Also, I just think they look great! |
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| Between the Dean hotel, the office block where I work, and the apartments currently going up, the station area has changed almost beyond recognition over the last decade or so! |
In the minutes before departure, the train fills up quite considerably. Now, I’m not the most frequent traveller on the Cork-Dublin run, but I don’t remember the trains on this route being this full in the past. It makes sense I guess, given that I’m on the 9.25 service out of Cork, but it’s still surprising. It’s also great to see the service this full, it’s a welcome counterpoint to a lot of the anti-rail and anti-public transit talking point that seem to dominate public discourse on that matter. Even more welcome is the return of free coffee or tea for 1st class passengers. I’d stocked up at Kent Station based on my experience on my 2022 trip, but it’s great to see regardless. Equally great is the apparent improvements to the onboard WiFi. Whilst it still won’t set any speed records, it is a whole lot faster and more stable than it used to be, with dropped connections effectively a thing of the past, at least on this service.
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| Okay, I wasn’t expecting this. Irish Rail have refurbished their first class coaches, at least the Mk. IV ones. |
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| They’ve even added a wireless charging pad to the tables, something that the nerd in me absolutely approves of! |
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| The regular charging options have been moved from below the table to a much more accessible position. USB-A and USB-C ports have been added as well! |
However, as we make our way up towards Ireland’s administrative capital, it becomes obvious that one thing hasn’t changed. The ride is rough, with a nearly constant vibration, coupled with some pretty noticeable swaying and bouncing. Irish Rail really need to get some specialists from the continent to take a look at the trackbed, because this is pretty much unacceptable.
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| I’m actually surprised at how much building activity there was along the line. |
We arrive into Dublin Heuston feeling like James Bond: Shaken, not stirred. It’s here where Ireland’s centralised approach to public transport starts to pay dividends. The transfer between Irish Rail and the LUAS is pretty much seamless. No need to get another ticket, I just tap my Leap Card onto the reader at the LUAS stop and I’m ready to ride. I give the first overcrowded tram a pass but am soon on my way. At my destination, I simply tap the card again and the correct amount is automatically debited from my Leap Card. After a quick lunch and toilet break at Dublin’s Jarvis shopping centre, I catch the tram to Connolly.
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| Heuston Station is its usual hive of activity. |
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| Will we ever see something like this in Cork? |
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| As convenient as the DART may be, these trains are way overdue for replacement! |
Yeah, about that. Connolly is definitely the most visually distinct of Dublin’s major railway termini, sitting on an elevated section of track and sporting a prominent terminus for the LUAS’s Red Line at the station. That being said, the station feels somewhat grotty and run down, with a clearly visible ground swell of antisocial activity in the public areas of the station. Things do get better once I’m past the ticket barrier, which once again simply requires a tap with my Leap Card, but the station definitely needs a deep clean and a massively increased Garda presence. This is the terminus for the Enterprise for crying out loud, Ireland’s only international train service! Thankfully, the DART service to Bray, which I will take as far as Booterstown, arrives pretty promptly and is refreshingly empty. Booterstown DART station is a welcome breath of fresh air, quite literally, given its coastal location. However, I’m definitely not a fan of Irish Rail’s new approach of requiring a video call to get access to the elevators. I know that antisocial activity is a concern, but there has to be a better way to deal with that issue. At least that’s the verdict of my knee at the bottom end of the station’s footbridge. Thankfully, the walk to the embassy is much less problematic, and I’m there within ten minutes.
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| Booterstown has to be one of the most scenic commuter stations I’ve ever seen! |
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| Not sure about the Celtic Tiger era additions though… |
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| Well, it’s not Cork… |
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| The LUAS terminus at Connolly might be visually striking, but is also a haven for some less than desirable elements… |
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| Looks cool though… |
The return trip starts within half an hour of arriving at the embassy gates with a leisurely walk to Booterstown station and an equally leisurely train ride, I arrive at Connolly. Seriously, for the last ten minutes, it’s basically stop and go. As a result, I miss a LUAS service at Connolly station by literally seconds, but easily manage to grab the next one ten minutes later. Once again, there’s a definite seedy feeling about the station that is pretty much inescapable. I get off the tram a few stops down the line to grab a coffee, but there’s not really much time for anything else, especially since Irish Rail doesn’t do fully flexible tickets anymore.
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| My ride back to Cork has seen better days… |
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| Typing up my notes for this trip on the way back to Cork. |
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| The unrefurbished MK IV cars feel positively ancient now… |
I make it to Heuston Station with about twenty minutes to spare before the departure of my train back home, right in the middle of the evening commute. As a result, Houston is a hive of activity. Given that Irish Rail doesn’t have a full dinner service on its intercity services, I grab a quick to-go dinner before making my way through the ticket barrier. The train for my return service is a surprise, and not a good one at that. For starters, it still uses the old pre-refurbishment “CityGold” 1st class coaches, rather than the refurbished ones that I enjoyed on the way out. Now, don’t get me wrong, they’re still comfortable, but the chairs and tables are definitely tired, and the power supply options are positively archaic. It takes me until Portlaoise to get the one awkwardly positioned power socket to work. Similarly, the WiFi on this train is far slower than on the outbound service. I’m not sure if the trains are getting equipped with new equipment for that, but the difference is very definitely noticeable, even leading to loss of signal in areas where the connection was perfectly stable on the outbound journey.
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| What’s with the blue tint on the windows, anyway? |
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| After a trip like this, even Blackpool becomes attractive…. |
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| Back at Kent station. |
Secondly, the train is absolutely packed! Even the 1st class coach has almost 100% occupancy, something I haven’t seen before, even before the pandemic. Most passengers also seem to be going the entire way from Dublin to Cork, which makes sense given the time of day and the fact that my service only has intermediate stops at Limerick Junction and Mallow to allow for connections. Still, even with that, the service turns out to be quite pleasant, especially once I figure out to get the aforementioned power outlet working. The ride is still pretty bumpy though, which is more of a fault of the trackbed than the train.
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| Still love the look of the Mark IV coaches. |
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| On yer bike… |
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| Of course, the one time I want to capture a picture of the rental progress, I hold my card the wrong way… |
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| I really love the South Mall bike lanes. |
Still, by the time my train pulls into Kent Station, I’m more than ready to get off and go home. Unfortunately, Ballincollig doesn’t have a rail connection anymore and I’m definitely not in the mood for walking, so the first order of business is to grab at TFI Bike for the ten-minute bike ride from Kent Station to Grand Parade in order to catch my bus home. As wrecked as I am, the bike ride home is actually pretty nice in the mild of this July evening, something helped by the fact that the weather down here in Cork is much better than it was in Dublin. In an example of just how seamless public transport in this country can be when everything works as intended, my bus home pulls into the Grand Parade stop just minutes after I’d dropped off my bike at the local TFI Bikes station. The bus ride home is unremarkable, but I’m pretty wrecked by the time I get home.
So, at the end of this trip, where do I stand? Honestly, I’m torn. Ireland has all the ingredients for a truly seamless public transport system. I didn’t need to worry about buying tickets for the DART or LUAS in Dublin because the same Leap Card I use down here for my daily commute works just as well up in the capital. In the same vein, TFI Bikes down here in Cork just keeps showing its utility time and time again, being the perfect solution to bridge the gap between Grand Parade, where my bus from Ballincollig stops, and Cork Kent Station. This is one of the great advantages of systems like this, and I feel it is still woefully underutilised in this manner down here on Leeside.
Irish Rail continues to impress me as well. Cork Kent is just a pleasure to use, compact and yet with all the services you’d need at a station. The south entrance opening up onto Horgan’s Quay is a major improvement to the station, putting it within mere meters of city-bound bus services as well as TFI Bikes. The platform barriers work as flawlessly as I’ve come to expect. I am honestly disappointed that Irish Rail hasn’t managed to implement a completely mobile-based ticket solution, even though the old magnetic-strip tickets worked well and are small enough to be easy to handle. I mean, come on! It’s 2024, and even Deutsche Bahn has managed to get mobile ticketing working!
The upgrade of the 1st class coaches on the Cork-Dublin run is something I absolutely didn’t expect, but that is all the more welcome. The additional charging options for devices in particular, whilst a minor detail in the grand scheme of things, is a major step forward. Too bad that it seems to be limited to 1st class, this should become standard on all long-distance services.
And yet, despite all of this, despite the fact that all my connections worked out more or less perfectly on this trip, I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by the experience. My local bus route here in Cork is the 220. Whilst it was touted as Cork’s flagship bus route, Ireland’s first 24/7 bus service, and one that is supposed to run every 15 minutes during the day, it has turned out to be none of that. Buses simply don’t turn up or are terminated half-way through their timetabled run, others are cancelled without notice. And the 220 isn’t the only such service. The entire bus system down here in Cork seems to be falling apart, and nobody seems to be interested in resolving this issue. It is this apathy, rather than any failing of the hard product that is causing public transport in Ireland, and particularly here in Cork, to fall behind.
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