Commuting Kilkenny to Dublin via train

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Newbie!

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The time has come for us to consider moving out of Dublin as it is the only manner in which we can upgrade our house and manage the negative equity which will arise when we sell our own house.

As we have family nearby, we are looking at moving to Thomastown or close to Kilkenny city. I will continue to work in Dublin city centre and my husband will hopefully find work locally. I'm curious if anyone else here currently does that commute? It would mean a 35 minute drive to Bagenalstown and then getting the 7am train to Dublin which arrives to Hueston at 8:10. I could leave my bike there overnight and cycle about 10mins into work to be in before 9am. Getting the 5:30 train home would have me home around 7:30pm mark.

This is something which we never wanted to do but needs must so I'd love to hear opinions from other commuters.
a: Do train times tend to be accurate (allowing a small margin for lateness)
b: is the commuting hard on you physically and mentally?
 
I don't know about that particular commute.

I know a commuter who does Portlaoise to Dublin and she has a 30 minute drive to the station at Portlaoise. She has been doing it for years and it works for her.

Commutes that take long times are very draining physically and mentally. Your monday to friday is just commuting and working, saturdays too tired to do much. I had a horrible 90 minute commute mornings and evenings once and packed it in after 6 months. It depends as well on your job, how stressful that is or how much you enjoy it.

There are thousands of commuters who do this type of commuting. What you suggest is very intensive, up at 6am to be in work for 9am. Long term, get a job in Kilkenny.
 
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Newbie! said:
The time has come for us to consider moving out of Dublin as it is the only manner in which we can upgrade our house and manage the negative equity which will arise when we sell our own house.

As we have family nearby, we are looking at moving to Thomastown or close to Kilkenny city. I will continue to work in Dublin city centre and my husband will hopefully find work locally. I'm curious if anyone else here currently does that commute? It would mean a 35 minute drive to Bagenalstown and then getting the 7am train to Dublin which arrives to Hueston at 8:10. I could leave my bike there overnight and cycle about 10mins into work to be in before 9am. Getting the 5:30 train home would have me home around 7:30pm mark.

This is something which we never wanted to do but needs must so I'd love to hear opinions from other commuters.
a: Do train times tend to be accurate (allowing a small margin for lateness)
b: is the commuting hard on you physically and mentally?
Click to expand...

Hi Newbie,

I live not far from Bagenalstown. The drive from Thomastown in itself is quite a drive every day, good enough road but before you even get on the train this is a serious commute everyday. Would you now buy nearer Carlow or even Bagenalstown - there are some nice houses that are not as expensive as dublin - not sure if you are looking to buy rural or town but you could pick up a nice house in the country on 3/4 acre not far from a town. The other option would be if you purchased not far from the motorway, paulstown which is co. Kilkenny or south of carlow, Leighlinbridge and you could commute up to Dublin by car takes depending on where you go and traffic but from our house which is not far from motorway to newlands 1 hour 15 mins depending on traffic of course. But that drive from Thomastown everyday before you get to Bagenalstown is a serious drive and would be a good 45 minute drive. I don't commute but am familiar with the area and I know you want to be near family. I would imagine that you would be exhausted mentally and physically with this journey. I do now people commuting from Bagenalstown and Carlow to Dublin and this would not be as bad in my opinion.
 
I have 3 children and my commute to work is about 1 hour. I find it very tiring especially if I have been up during the night with the kids. 1 hour is long enough. The hard part is that no matter how early or late I leave for work I am an hour away. You don't mention if you have children but it can be worrying if you get a call to say that they are ill even if your partner is home. or if (as happened to me when my kids were very small) dh had a vomiting bug and I had to get home to them. Commutes are physically and mentally very tiring.
 
Why can't you get the 06:24 from Thomastown to Heuston? This will get you to Heuston for 08:11 and even passes through Bagenalstown!
 
Do you have the option of working remotely for some of the days? I do a similar commute one day a week and would find it exhausting if I had to do this every day.
 
I used to do a commute of about 35km each way and then train the rest of the way, which is similar to your trip from Thomastown to bagnalstown.
While I didnt mind the commute so much it was shocking when I worked out the cost of it.

It will cost you €15 per day just in fuel (at todays prices, what about when it goes up), without counting wear and tear on your car.

Thats €300 per month or €3000 per year.
Then theres your yearly train ticket. Im guessing not less that €2000 with taxsaver if you are a high rate tax payer, €3000 if you are a 20% tax payer.

So €5000 per year on your commute without even thinking about car wear and tear.

You have to earn around €10000 to pay for that commute if you are a 41% tax payer.

And do you have to pay for parking in Bagnalstown. If not what will you do when pay parking arrives there as it is everywhere else.
 
Hi Newbie! I have experience of the commute from Carlow to Dublin over many years. I would agree with other posters, living in Thomastown and driving to Bagnelstown is needlessly stressful (and as someone has pointed out, the 6:56 train from Bagnelstown is the 6:24 from Thomastown and 6:39 from Kilkenny so there is little added value in driving to Bagnelstown unless it saved you more than the ticket cost. I think you would be better off considering living in or near Carlow or Bagnelstown.
In terms of timeliness, the morning trains are generally good though of late hampered by the weather we have had some rather later than usual returns! You can carry a bike on the train and more than one person does so from Carlow and Athy. Parking a bike at Heuston station means a hike backwards to the carpark, you would have to factor in at least ten minutes for that alone. Would walking or Luas or bus be an option? You will definitely get a seat in the morning on the train, I am not sure about the 5:30 return as I have not travelled it since they started reconfiguring trains but generally in evening trains to Waterford you will get a seat and if you are ever standing, you will definitely get a seat at Newbridge.
Without a doubt go for the Taxsaver, a monthly ticket from Bagnelstown to Heuston is €340 face value, making it €234 if you pay 21%, €163 if you are on the higher tax rate. An annual ticket is usually the same price as 10 months, so an annual taxsaver ticket from Bagnelstown to Heuston would be €2340 or €1630 depending on your tax rate. Info on ticket prices here ([broken link removed]). Info on Taxsaver here (http://www.taxsaver.ie).
Oh and parking at Bagnelstown is currently free but that is likely to change so you would need to factor in that cost.
 
Newbie! said:
It would mean a 35 minute drive to Bagenalstown and then getting the 7am train to Dublin which arrives to Hueston at 8:10. I could leave my bike there overnight and cycle about 10mins into work to be in before 9am. Getting the 5:30 train home would have me home around 7:30pm mark.

b: is the commuting hard on you physically and mentally?
Click to expand...

Others have answered about the particular route. I think you are totally mad to contemplate this. Any advantage in moving to lovely Thomastown would be totally outweighed by the toll this will take on your, your health and your relationships. That looks like a 6 am to 7.30 pm work day to me. And a hell of a commute to boot. You would be basically fit for bed Mon to Fri, and a total zombie at the weekends.

I moved house because of the stress of commuting and it was nothing at all like the above. And it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I have a sibling who tried to do what you did, and ultimately failed. The only reason another sibling is able to do what you are planning is that they stay in Dublin Mon to Thur, sometimes going up on Mon morning and finishing work on Friday lunchtime, and working late the other days. Staying in a kind of digs, without food, so no bills etc other than a rent and hates the fact of having to do it, but will do the right thing by family, and is upset by missing out on family life during the week. Though that too can have it's advantages.:)
 
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