Could the train once again be the King of the Dublin/Cork route?

Con Logue wrote: »

Good man. How's the exposé of the IRRS as a covert lobby group going?

I never mentioned covert or expose in anything I said. I stand over what I have posted. I was once a member of the IRRS and it was a great experience, a great organisation. Spent many a night in the library, many a day on a special and built up a large collection of Journals. Left on good terms due to loss of interest. However I still maintain my view of how the organisation has developed and you would have to be blind not to realise why some people have taken a dislike to it.

bk wrote: »

Intercity coaches and trucks will likely go natural gas first and then hydrogen or other efuels in the long term. Intercity trains in Ireland will likely end up going the same route.

BNSF are making shapes to go with gas on locomotives. Am surprised given the energy density issues with methane and the cost of fueling facilities but Warren Buffett presumably knows what he's at. Certainly given the likelihood of Tier 4 and equivalent Euro standards it might be more feasible to replace existing diesel locos that way than increasingly expensive and difficult to maintain chemical and catalytic solutions for diesel.

In an Irish context though continued access to gas whose price is unlikely to fluctuate wildly every time Gazprom/Putin throws a hissy fit is critical - that might mean shale fracking and serious and in some respects well founded concerns from the enviro lobby - while gas is a cleaner fuel overall, imported fuel is often over the worst of the environmental impact of mining it, such as Alberta oil sands, whereas shale gas *may* be a dirtier fuel *overall* for Ireland and it won't be enough to say "local jobs" like in the peat days.