Galway – Limerick by Rail.

IÉ need to start running a direct Galway-Limerick-Cork service to get people to use the line. Double trackinga and replacing someof the more dangerous sections of track would also be nice.

The whole thing is a waste of time and resources. Once the N18 is done, the current hourly (half hourly at peak times) bus service will do the trip (centre to centre) in not much over over an hour. These sort of rail routes look promising on maps but without population density they will never be viable. The other “orbital” railway – Limerick, Limerick Junction, Waterford, Rosslare carries about 15 or 20 people (mostly with free travel passes) per train and is unlikely to survive. The trains on these routes will always be slower, more expensive, more uncomfortable (commuter railcars running on crappy track following inefficient alignments) than a coach.

Terrible planning has meant that very few places outside of Dublin are suitable for rail. Rail investment in Ireland needs to be applied to where it will deliver utility – i.e. Dublin and Cork commuting routes and a few Intercity routes (Dublin, Cork, Belfast, maybe Limerick and Galway at a stretch – although Dublin/Galway is being murdered by faster cheaper coaches). Everything else just swallows resources while delivering zero utility.

The only reason this line is being re-opened is to placate various interest groups in the wesht who have been complaining of victimisation since the dawn of time! The fact that they want the line extended to Sligo “as soon as possible” tells you just how detached from reality these people are! 😮

Rail transport in this country is in serious trouble and the completion of the inter urban motorways by the end of the year will put this into even sharper focus! Our dispersed population and inability to concentrate population growth in the major regional cities have made it virtually impossible to provide a high quality, sustainable rail network! In this case, spending over €100 million to link two cities of 100,000 and 70,000 is utter madness!

The next stretch of the M18 from Ennis to Gort will open later this year and when the remaining section from Gort to the M6 is completed, the car will absolutely murder the train! The train journey is scheduled to take between two and two & a half hours, including that ridiculous turnaround at Athenry. I mean realistically, how many people are going to settle for that kind of a service? :rolleyes:

What’s mad about reopening a line between galway and limerick?? About as mad as spending how many hundred million linking tallaght to city centre! There still is alot of people dependant on buses you know. Ah wait edit, i didn’t see 2.5 hours.

@Bago wrote:

What’s mad about reopening a line between galway and limerick?? About as mad as spending how many hundred million linking tallaght to city centre! There still is alot of people dependant on buses you know. Ah wait edit, i didn’t see 2.5 hours.

The Luas did cost a lot more than it should have but in fairness, it’s value to the city far outweighs the initial construction costs! Dublin still has one of the worst public transport infrastructures of any capital city in the developed world! Although could you imagine how much worse off it would be without the luas lines?

The Limerick – Galway service will probably carry less passengers in a year than the Luas does in a day! It’s a pretty shocking waste of money really, at a time when the country is basically broke!

We’re fairly good at getting our priorities wrong in this country. We need to get cracking on important projects like the interconnector and metro north. Instead of wasting valuable resources on unviable nonsense like the WRC just because a bunch of lunatics in the west shouted loud enough! :rolleyes:

http://www.irishtimes.com/letters/index.html#1224267342825
Vastly much more spent on the galway-limerick road then rail, hence the 1.5 hr road time. Not saying it’s money wasted but if the rail got a fraction of that investment….

There are just so many inaccuracies in that letter. Essentially it’s just a thinly veiled anti-car, anti-roads rant!

His argument seems to be that if we had spent a couple of hundred million on this rail line instead of road improvements then everyone would magically abandon their cars and use the train instead. While in the process, negating the need for improvements to the N18!

Now this guy has clearly never driven from Ennis to Galway. If he had experienced the delight of coming around one of the numerous tight bends to find a large truck on the wrong side of the road. Then he wouldn’t have come out with such rubbish! The current N18 is a narrow, twisty, bumpy goat track masquerading as a National Primary Route. It can’t be replaced quick enough!

Like it or not, road transport is the dominant mode of transport in this country. Primarily because of our modest population density. The fact is that the completion of the M18 and the subsequent improvements to the N17 up to Sligo will be of far more benefit to the west of Ireland than this silly notion of a western rail corridor that has no basis in reality!

Very true about the N18 but still – if we are to be serious about the proper and sustainable planning of the country, we need to think about infrastructure led development. Not always playing catch up.

Totally agree about the ridiculous journey time and ticket prices are outrageous along with an outrageous subsidy but this is at least a step in the right direction and possibly opens the route for improvement in the future and its use as a driver of sustainable densities and planning in the towns affected.

I’m all for sustainable planning & development, it’s just that I don’t have any faith in this country to ever deliver on those principles!

County Councils will continue to blight the countryside with one-off houses. Further eroding any chance we might have of developing a sustainable society! This wont change either because no government will have the courage to curtail the practice as they know “rural Ireland” would be up in arms!

An express link between Limerick and Galway with intermediate stops at Ennis and Oranmore might be just about viable. But this nonsense of building stations at hamlets like Sixmilebridge, Ardrahan, Craughwell etc where about 3 people will get the train each day, just underlines what a joke this whole project is! I hear now that there is a push on to get a station built at Crusheen (Pop. c.1,000) 🙁

If this really was about providing a sustainable service that people might actually use. Then a new line should have been built from north of Gort, serving a new station at Oranmore and feeding into the Dublin line just outside Galway city. Instead we have this daft arrangement where the train will follow a bumpy, bendy, level crossing ridden alignment to Athenry. Where the driver will then walk to the other end of the train to continue the journey to Galway! 😮

Tuborg makes some valid points but demeans his own argument by resorting to insults.
The provision of a rail service has nothing to “a bunch of lunatics in the wesht shouting loud enough”.
Its a pity some people cannot express an opinion without trying to stir the shit while they’re at it.
As it is. The Galway – Limerick rail service is a waste of time and money. A two and a half hour journey time will never compete with the N18.
Had the initial investment in the rail service been allocated to make this possible, I’m sure it could have been successful in time.

Anyone actually been on it yet? Is any part of the journey picturesque? Do you get bounced around like a drunken sailor like one does on the Lim Junction to Lim city commuter locomotive?

Wow, some people are easily offended! In fairness though, there are some things that just have to be said! 🙂

West on track and others have been given almost a free rein to spout their propaganda over the last couple of years. They wont be happy until the line is extended to Donegal!

Unfortunately for them, you cant just take a punt on something and spend a couple of hundred million in the blind hope that it might be successful. It needs to be backed up by facts and figures and for the western rail corridor, the figures just dont add up!

The proposed second phase of the project passes through the likes of Milltown, Ballindine, Claremorris, Kiltimagh, Swinford etc. There is simply no way that the critical mass exists to make the project economically viable. Despite what the lobby groups would have you believe!

Tuborg! Stop exclaiming lad! You’ll do yourself a mischief!

Interesting that no one in this discussion has yet pointed out the rising cost of fuel needed to power all these cars that are going to use the N soon to be M18 on past Galway City. Petrol is now zooming up in price again. Quite frankly, the whole issue of infrastructural planning in the west of Ireland is being treated as a joke. Sure, the DIT/ Futures Academy/ Irish Academy of Engineering lobby would have the Irish population west of the Shannon cast off into the Atlantic. Those responsible for Spatial planning in government would want to wake up and do something before its too late (perhaps NAMA has already made it too late). Galway city is drowning in cars being used by those who choose to commute 40 to 50 miles to work in town. Many from their “once off house in the country”. A resolution to reverse this imbalance is still many years off. And all we are being offered by certain developer supporting politicians to resolve this problem is a by-pass that will do nothing to help, only increase car usage into and around around Galway.

I certainly support the devlopment of a Western Corridor to offset the imbalance that has been driven in this country over the past twenty years. But it is not going to plan. Nobody is thinking it through. It is a mess. West-on Track are nice people. But there is a bigger picture here surely?

Sorry. I meant Atlantic Corridor!

New Galway – Limerick Train Service Perfectly Compliments UL / NUI Galway Alliance

Over 20 members of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Limerick today used the convenience of the new Limerick / Galway rail line to meet with their NUI Galway counterparts to discuss the potential for collaboration between the two institutes in the areas of research, teaching and learning and shared services.

The new Alliance allows for the facilitation of student exchange between the universities which will be on the agenda for today’s discussion between the UL representatives and members of the College of Engineering and Informatics at NUI Galway whom they will meet in Galway today.

This may be valid for the NUI Galway as it is very central and within walking distance of the railway station. Whereas UL is quite a distance from Limerick’s railway station and unfortunately the city’s bus service does not operate at the railway station, thus making Limerick’s public transport a farce for its poor connectability! 😮 A railway station stop at the Parkway would make sense too.

@tommyt wrote:

Anyone actually been on it yet? Is any part of the journey picturesque?

Yes.
There are some nice views of the leafy suburbs of Limerick as you approach the city.

@Global Citizen wrote:

Its a pity some people cannot express an opinion without trying to stir the shit while they’re at it.

@Global Citizen wrote:

Yes.
There are some nice views of the leafy suburbs of Limerick as you approach the city.

It’s a pity some people look down their noses on Moyross, any opportunity they get. 🙁

Fair point.
Its a pity the re-generation budget for the area is being slashed.
But it is the first impression of Limerick passengers get as they
arrive in the city on this rail service.

To balance things up, one of the more positive views from the train.
Just a drop kick away from Moyross as it crosses the Shannon.

That is a great photo; no doubt they could make more use of the river at that location

Let’s build on new train line (Limerick Post)

Letter to the Editor

Sir: THE campaign to re-open the Galway-Limerick train line and the wider development of the Western Rail Corridor, has been a long time coming.

Now that Phase One of the line is open, however, it is important that we park the discussion about the economic viability of the line and begin to drive passengers, freight, and users to it to ensure that it becomes a vital piece of transport infrastructure for the west of the country.

It is pointless to invest so much money, time, and effort into the redevelopment of the line if we are to turn round and make short term decisions about its future based on how many people use it from the off.

We should focus on the long term goal of moving toward sustainable modes of transport and shift away from our over reliance on the private car.

That is why I am a little concerned at comments from the Department of Transport that rail lines would be closed and services suspended if there is insufficient user demand. To me, that sounds like starting-off from the wrong point.

We must do all in our power to ensure that the same fate does not befall the Western Rail Corridor, as the Waterford-Rosslare line that will shortly close due to insufficient demand.
For that reason, the clear message from the top down must be to make the best of these new lines as viable public transport options. If the will to do that is there, then passenger growth should look after itself.

The last thing we need are any more ghost train lines on our network; rather we require a positive and wholehearted commitment to making rail traffic work.

Paul Mallee, president,
Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport
Fitzwilliam Place
Dublin 2

I had a look at the rail / bus time journey and their adult day return fare between Galway and Limerick.

• Iarnród Éireann: 2 hours 30 minutes ~ €20
• Bus Éireann: 2 hours 15 minutes ~ €20
• City Link: 1 hour 30 minutes ~ €20

Paul, Iarnród Éireann has got to clip an hour off their journey time to be competitive!

Galway rail route beats expectations (Irish Times)

GORDON DEEGAN

PASSENGER TRAFFIC on the first phase of the Western Rail Corridor has exceeded expectations, Iarnród Éireann said yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the company said 16,000 journeys were made in the first month of the new Limerick-Galway service, which has been restored at a cost of €106.5 million.
The service was reintroduced after 34 years on March 29th.

“The first month’s operations have exceeded expectations, with significant demand experienced from day one,” the spokeswoman said.

Colman Ó Raghallaigh of West on Track said the performance on the new rail line “has confounded the critics”.

“We believe that, given the success of phase one, there is now no further excuse for prevarication as far as continuing with the next phases to Tuam and Claremorris.”

The Iarnród Éireann spokeswoman said: “The 16,000 passenger journeys recorded are on top of the existing 14,400 monthly journeys on the Limerick-Ennis service, meaning the through route has seen over 30,000 passenger journeys in its first month.

“This is a strong and encouraging start for this new service. While the initial interest was a great start, we are now seeing daily demand being sustained.

“There is little doubt that, as summer approaches, new demand – in the form of domestic and overseas tourists – will also see new rail customers taking to the line.”

The reopened line delivers a direct Galway to Limerick service and serves Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway and new stations at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell.

The passenger numbers comes in spite of an Iarnród Éireann business case anticipating losses of €2.4 million per annum in the new service, while a Government-commissioned study has stated that the line’s “cost-benefit analysis would suggest that the scheme is not good value for money and should not have gone ahead”.

Before the line was opened, Iarnród Éireann said the number of passengers anticipated in the business case would be exceeded.

Iarnród Éireann said: “It is an important piece of infrastructure, connecting two gateway and one hub under the National Spatial Strategy. The line will require subvention, but the investment was made on that basis.”

Mr Ó Raghallaigh said: “Clearly we are pleased but not surprised at the excellent performance of the railway to date. Anyone who knew anything about the movement of people in the west of Ireland could easily have predicted this.

“Indeed, the railway is so successful that there is a clear need for an additional evening service out of Galway after six o’clock. And we believe that Iarnród Éireann is examining the possibilities regarding the provision of such an extra ‘commuter’ service.”

“There is little doubt that, as summer approaches, new demand – in the form of domestic and overseas tourists – will also see new rail customers taking to the line.”

Could be an ideal way to meet the native folk! 🙂

See also “Galway to Limerick, the slow way” where Kathy Sheridan writes about her brief encounters.

Iarnród Éireann said: “It is an important piece of infrastructure, connecting two gateway and one hub under the National Spatial Strategy. The line will require subvention, but the investment was made on that basis.”

More like connecting one full gateway (Galway) to a half gateway (Limerick / Shannon) since Shannon Airport / Industrial Zone / Town is not connected to it.

See “Shannon Rail Link” post.

It has to be worth asking the question; how does a brand new rail line only deliver journey times of 2 hours 30 minutes for what is 65 miles by road?

This piece of infrastructure could be very valuable with an ongoing link to Cork which already exists but there will be very limited demand until such time as this service hits journey times that are more comparable to normal intercity journeys.

perhaps now, IÉ will have later services, double track, improve journey times and extend to Cork.

At the end of the day, rail transport has no future in this country as long as IE are calling the shots.

This pathetic excuse for a service provider needs to be abolished before it’s too late.

This article provides a pretty decent insight into the culture of waste and ineptitude that exists within Irish Rail.

Whilst there have been issues at IE; you cannot fault IE for being unwilling to refurbish a fleet of carriages (held up as being totally current) that will be phased out in the UK shortly (govt subsidy to FGW permitting) or for wanting to close the Rosslare to Waterford line which only had a relevance in the pre-Ryanair era to serve as part of the boat train connection. I knew Mark quite well a few years ago; nice guy, very technically brilliant but needs to forget about Mark 3 coaches and a speed test accross the Curragh in 1983; I agree with IE on locomotive free trains.

There are huge benefits in a driver being able to walk from one end of a platform to the other and simply turn around. What IE do need to credibly address is how does it take 2 and a half hours to get a train to travel on a comprehensively refitted route that equates to roughly an hours drive.

The reality is that Iarnród Éireann is an inherently incompetent, self-serving quango that has run this country’s rail service into the ground. Wasting countless millions of taxpayers money in the process.

Their latest debacle is the Kildare route project. Where despite nearly €500 million being spent to increase capacity, plans to run extra commuter services on the line have been shelved. :confused:

Just today (although it had been expected for some time) they announce that the DART Underground project will be delivered three years later than anticipated. IE have repeatedly shown that they are incapable of running an efficient rail service and they really should not be entrusted with delivering such a vital piece of infrastructure as the underground DART link.

You really shouldn’t be surprised by the speeds and journey times on the WRC either. IE just don’t understand how to run viable services. Despite spending hundreds of millions on new tracks, new trains & re-signalling projects, inter city journeys are slower now than they were 10 or 20 years ago. I’m sorry but that is just indefensible.

This year will see the completion of the last sections of the interurban motorway network. Once this happens, it will really become apparent just how rubbish Irish Rail’s services are. The fact of the matter is that without proper line upgrades, and that means, re-building and realignments to eliminate restricted sections. Rail transport will simply not be able to compete with the new roads.

To ensure the future of Ireland’s rail service. I firmly believe that IE needs to be disbanded and a new body set up to take over the management of services and oversee a revamp of the network. Otherwise, inter city rail transport in particular is going to die a slow and painful death!

One of our lecturers at college was a particularly sharp sort; he recalled a conversation with a colleague when in practice who when asked about the length of a journey, claimed to have driven to Cork (from Dublin) in 2 hours to attend a meeting.

The lecturer asked a slightly different question; door to door what was the journey time which resulted in a tirade about getting to the Red Cow and from the Tivoli junction the combination of which padded the journey out to 3.5 hours. Now many practitioners would bill the full 3.5 hours but luckily for the client this guys ego concerning his driving prowess got in the way.

Comparing the Dublin Cork Route of roughly 160 mileswhich lists journey times in a range of 2 hours 45 to 2 hours 58 minutes to the London Manchester Route also roughly 160 miles on which billions have been invested which comes in between 2 hours 4 minutes and 2 hours 14 minutes and it is not that slow in terms of the cost of the upgrade and the time saving delivered. On a line that has been upgraded but not expensively London to Sheffield where again the distance is c160 miles the travel times vary between 2 hours 27 mins and 2 hours 57 mins. For Dublin Limerick it appears to take 2 hours 10 mins or 2 hours 20 mins which given that the route is far from direct is a reasonable time.

What rail offers is the ability to cut out the suburban traffic, work whilst travelling and local connections permitting not worry about where to put your car. Motorways will always be quicker from the Red Cow to Tivoli but it ensuring that rail has the local connections from the railheads such as Heuston or Kent or Colbert that make it the only sustainable mode; Rail in Ireland will never be complete until the interconnector is built or for that matter a Luas for Cork.

This line however is a dispointment as the journey times are very slow.

@Tuborg wrote:

To ensure the future of Ireland’s rail service. I firmly believe that IE needs to be disbanded and a new body set up to take over the management of services and oversee a revamp of the network. Otherwise, inter city rail transport in particular is going to die a slow and painful death!

I agree, but who’s gonna whisper it gently to Siptu ?

@Global Citizen wrote:

I agree, but who’s gonna whisper it gently to Siptu ?

Yet another reason why they need to be gotten rid of.

@PVC King wrote:

Comparing the Dublin Cork Route of roughly 160 mileswhich lists journey times in a range of 2 hours 45 to 2 hours 58 minutes to the London Manchester Route also roughly 160 miles on which billions have been invested which comes in between 2 hours 4 minutes and 2 hours 14 minutes and it is not that slow in terms of the cost of the upgrade and the time saving delivered. On a line that has been upgraded but not expensively London to Sheffield where again the distance is c160 miles the travel times vary between 2 hours 27 mins and 2 hours 57 mins. For Dublin Limerick it appears to take 2 hours 10 mins or 2 hours 20 mins which given that the route is far from direct is a reasonable time.

What rail offers is the ability to cut out the suburban traffic, work whilst travelling and local connections permitting not worry about where to put your car. Motorways will always be quicker from the Red Cow to Tivoli but it ensuring that rail has the local connections from the railheads such as Heuston or Kent or Colbert that make it the only sustainable mode; Rail in Ireland will never be complete until the interconnector is built or for that matter a Luas for Cork.

This line however is a dispointment as the journey times are very slow.

In fairness though, the UK couldn’t really be considered an example of a top class rail service so I wouldn’t be too bothered making a comparison with them.

The train will always be the easier, more relaxing option but it’s attractiveness is going to diminish if the service dosen’t improve. IE missed the boat big time with it’s half arsed renewal programme over the last decade or so. Instead of a comprehensive overhaul that would have allowed genuine improvements in speed. They just went ahead and laid new tracks on the same twisty alignments and dodgy foundations. As a result there are still diabolical speed restrictions on the Dublin-Cork/Limerick lines.

The new motorways along with the rebuilding of the N7 & N4 interchanges and the improvements to the M50 mainline itself means that travelling by road is much less torturous than it used to be.

I think it’s inevitable that we will see an increase in the numbers abandoning the train and opting for the car/bus. The train has got a serious fight on its hands now and it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out.

Another major issue that Iarnród Éireann / OPW need to tackle now is the regular occurrence of a Turlough Lake which has closed the railway line between Ennis and Limerick at least twice in recent years, for periods of weeks if not months!

When this happens they organize bus transfers for their commuters between Ennis and Limerick. If this becomes the norm, then they will lose customers in the long term to the more reliable bus service!

See “Ireland’s oldest infrastructural problem” and “December 2009 flooding” posts.

Image below from cal11211

@PVC King wrote:

Comparing the Dublin Cork Route of roughly 160 mileswhich lists journey times in a range of 2 hours 45 to 2 hours 58 minutes to the London Manchester Route also roughly 160 miles on which billions have been invested which comes in between 2 hours 4 minutes and 2 hours 14 minutes and it is not that slow in terms of the cost of the upgrade and the time saving delivered. On a line that has been upgraded but not expensively London to Sheffield where again the distance is c160 miles the travel times vary between 2 hours 27 mins and 2 hours 57 mins. For Dublin Limerick it appears to take 2 hours 10 mins or 2 hours 20 mins which given that the route is far from direct is a reasonable time.

What rail offers is the ability to cut out the suburban traffic, work whilst travelling and local connections permitting not worry about where to put your car. Motorways will always be quicker from the Red Cow to Tivoli but it ensuring that rail has the local connections from the railheads such as Heuston or Kent or Colbert that make it the only sustainable mode; Rail in Ireland will never be complete until the interconnector is built or for that matter a Luas for Cork.

The AVE train will get you from Madrid to Barcelona (313 miles) in as little as 2 hours 43 minutes, so I think I must agree with Tuborg that Britain isn’t where we should be looking for a model of excellence. It does cost over a hundred euro for a single though.

Rail is great if you’re going from Dublin City (centre) to Cork City (centre) – it’s probably faster than flying, in practice (no check in, no security, hourly departures, etc). The problem is that due to the Irish settlement patterns, many of the Dublin to Cork journeys are of the Red Cow to Tivoli type, and the Dublin to Cork train journey would need to be twice as fast as it is, to be competitive for people starting and finishing in the suburbs, or indeed the countryside. For anyone north of the Dunkettle roundabout in Cork, I think it works out quicker to drive to Dublin than to get the train.

edit: obviously not if you live witin minutes of the train station in Mallow, I think then the train would have the edge.

I totally agree with you on a model of excellence; you can add ICE, TGV and Eurostar to the impressive systems created over the past 40 years. The UK has plans to extend Eurostar spec routing to Birmingham and Manchester albeit that such projects are 20 years from completion with route selection not totally worked out.

The point that can’t be overlooked is population scale between hubs; Catalans would regard Barcelona as a capital city and important European City whilst Madrid is the Capital City and National Air-Hub. When the Dublin-Cork line was rebuilt in the early 1980’s it was done so to a spec that enviaged 100mph trains and a decision was made on the section of route between Mallow and Cork to be left as it was i.e. not to remove bends that restrict speed significantly.

I further agree with your analysis of settlement patterns involving edge cities and would point to work by the Urban economists of DIT in 2000 who referred to the M50 as Dublin’s new main street; such was the shift in employment from the City Centre (as a percentage) to suburban retail and office parks.

If a choice has to be made between investing billions in creating an AVE spec train line or creating links from the edge cities to the main stations via commuter rail and or Luas then I certainly favour the latter. Although some funding to remove any improvements lost since the 1980’s refurb would be most welcome.

I would be interested to hear your views on the effectiveness of the Midleton Rail line with particular reference to the park and ride provision. My key concern with Cork has always been the lack of provision on the South of the City which has persisted now for close to 50 years.

@PVC King wrote:

The point that can’t be overlooked is population scale between hubs; Catalans would regard Barcelona as a capital city and important European City whilst Madrid is the Capital City and National Air-Hub.

A lot like Cork and Dublin then. 🙂

@PVC King wrote:

When the Dublin-Cork line was rebuilt in the early 1980’s it was done so to a spec that enviaged 100mph trains and a decision was made on the section of route between Mallow and Cork to be left as it was i.e. not to remove bends that restrict speed significantly.

The trains never get close to 100 mph though, do they? It takes 2h20m Heuston to Mallow, about 150 miles, and it only stops 3 times.

@PVC King wrote:

I further agree with your analysis of settlement patterns involving edge cities and would point to work by the Urban economists of DIT in 2000 who referred to the M50 as Dublin’s new main street; such was the shift in employment from the City Centre (as a percentage) to suburban retail and office parks.

If a choice has to be made between investing billions in creating an AVE spec train line or creating links from the edge cities to the main stations via commuter rail and or Luas then I certainly favour the latter. Although some funding to remove any improvements lost since the 1980’s refurb would be most welcome.

The thing is, that I see Cork (they’ll kill me for saying this) as essentially a rural county. Notwithstanding the status given to Mallow in the NSS, we’ve had housing estates built in every small town and village, not to mention the one-off houses in-between. There’s as much chance of getting commuter rail or Luas to someplace like Mitchelstown or Bantry as there is of bringing the Dart to Dingle. Commuter rail would benefit the close suburbs, faster intercity rail times would benefit everyone who takes the train, and encourage those who don’t to do so. (Assuming they’re all heading to Dublin, that is). 😉 Any increased speed wouldn’t make much difference on the Mallow to Cork stretch.

@PVC King wrote:

I would be interested to hear your views on the effectiveness of the Midleton Rail line with particular reference to the park and ride provision. My key concern with Cork has always been the lack of provision on the South of the City which has persisted now for close to 50 years.

I’m not familiar with this at all, I’m afraid – they were just finishing it the last time I lived in Cork.

To get somewhat back on topic, wouldn’t you think the Galway Limerick rail line would increase connectivity between Galway and Cork, seeing as you can already get the train from Cork to Limerick? Wouldn’t that seem like a sensible goal? Well, you have to change trains twice, at Limerick Junction and Limerick, with a wait of about 20 mins each time, with a total journey time of up to 4h30. So, just like going via Portlaoise then.

@PVC King wrote:

It has to be worth asking the question; how does a brand new rail line only deliver journey times of 2 hours 30 minutes for what is 65 miles by road?

Eliminating some of the 143 level crossings could allow higher speeds?

I’d imagine a share of the level crossings could be joining farmland divided by the railway line?

If so, then not a stress free situation for a dairy farmer having to ring Iarnród Éireann before moving stock either side of the line.

Iarnród Éireann to fund flood study (Irish Times)

PAT FLYNN

IARNRÓD ÉIREANN has commissioned a study into how best to address serious flooding which has closed the Ennis to Limerick railway twice in the past two years for a total of 15 weeks.

The Office of Public Works has declined to undertake work in the area of Ballycar, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, and says it will not commission a study into the problem as it is only the railway line that has been affected and its resources are committed to other projects.

It is known that the flooding in the area around the line at Ballycar is resulting from a debris blockage at the point where water from a nearby lake passes underground into a local river. In times of heavy rain this can result in the excess water being unable to pass through the channel, causing a wide area to flood.

Rail services between Ennis and Limerick were suspended for seven weeks in February 2008 and for a further eight weeks in late 2009 after the railway line became submerged in flood waters. The track has been raised twice since 1995 and stands over two metres above ground level.

Iarnród Éireann has previously said that “as the railway line is not the cause of the flooding, and it affected a much wider area, the OPW will need to develop a flood relief scheme”.

However, the OPW has responded that “because the railway line is the only significant beneficiary, we will not be managing or commissioning a study or any proposed works for the area”.

It’s great to see how “pro-active” our semi-state bodies work together to solve problems. :rolleyes:

@Tuborg wrote:

At the end of the day, rail transport has no future in this country as long as IE are calling the shots.

This pathetic excuse for a service provider needs to be abolished before it’s too late.

This article provides a pretty decent insight into the culture of waste and ineptitude that exists within Irish Rail.

Thanks for posting that Tuborg. As a rail enthusiast myself I could add a few more home truths and debunk some of the myths that Iarnrod Eireann are pushing! But that is for another forum:)

@CologneMike wrote:

Originally Posted by PVC King

It has to be worth asking the question; how does a brand new rail line only deliver journey times of 2 hours 30 minutes for what is 65 miles by road?

Eliminating some of the 143 level crossings could allow higher speeds?

I’d imagine a share of the level crossings could be joining farmland divided by the railway line?

If so, then not a stress free situation for a dairy farmer having to ring Iarnród Éireann before moving stock either side of the line.

Man dies in Clare train incident (Irish Times)

Mon, Jun 28, 2010

A 62-year-old man has died after being hit by a train near Newmarket-on-Fergus in Co Clare last night.

The incident happened on the Ennis to Colbert line shortly after 10pm. It is believed the man was moving livestock beside the railway lines.

A driver and one passenger were on the train at the time. The driver alerted emergency services but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Iarnrod Eireann said they were conducting an investigation into the incident.

A tragic accident and fortunately this near empty train stayed on track. One wonders what procedures are in place between Iarnrod Eireann and farmers? Like using a hot-line telephone number when cattle are moved or stray over the railway lines.

Off topic but perhaps still relevant.

A visitor from Canada who used the new Cork – Midelton rail link last week mentioned to me, unprovoked, that he was very amazed to see the very low numbers using this service in the morning and evening peaks.

Risks at dangerous level crossing were not identified (Irish Examiner)

By Conall Ó Fátharta

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

IARNRÓD Éireann failed to effectively identify and manage the ongoing risks at a level crossing where a farmer was struck by a train and killed last year.

The Railway Accident Investigation Unit (RAIU) made the assessment after investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a farmer who was killed after being struck by the 9.45pm train from Ennis to Limerick near Sixmilebridge in Clare on June 27 last year.

As the train driver approached a manually controlled level crossing, he spotted the farmer 162 metres ahead of the train pushing a cow through the gates of the crossing.

Although the train driver applied the brake and sounded the horn twice, the farmer continued to push the cow and was struck by the train.

The train stopped approximately 200 metres beyond the level crossing and the driver called emergency services. The farmer was pronounced dead at the scene.

The RAIU identified a number of contributory and underlying factors which caused the accident including that vegetation at the level crossing may have affected the farmer’s ability to see the train.

The report was also critical of the distance required to cross the level crossing as being too great.

“It was not possible to determine at what point the farmer became aware of the presence of the train or why the farmer continued the movement across the railway line as the train approached. However, it was possible to determine that the distance across XE039 [the title of the crossing] is greater than the distance allowed by IÉ due to the skewed layout of the level crossing,” said the report.

It also found that Iarnród Éireann’s “risk management system in place was not found to be adequately managing the risks” at the level crossing.

The report pointed out that a number of improvements have taken place at the crossing in response to the accident including the erection of whistleboards, improved signage, work to replace some 250 metres of fencing and the erection of convex mirrors at the site.

The RAIU recommended that Iarnród Éireann should produce risk assessments for all manually operated level crossings to identify hazards at particular level crossings.