Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

Our man in Havana wrote: »

An 071 would make short work of that fence.

black47 wrote: »

See updated homepage from WOT website. They must be doing some strong lobbying of IE.
Comment about a future direct Cork, Limerick to Galway train. Would that have any prospects I wonder?

Welcome to West=On=Track

West on Track welcomes series of new developments on Western Rail Corridor

Press Release Monday Sept 3rd 2012


The West on Track community campaign has welcomed the announcement by Iarnród Éireann today of a range of new developments on the Galway-Limerick section of the Western Rail Corridor, as well as the outstanding success of this year's summer services which are up 50% over the rest of the year. The announcements include a range of special student fares, free car parking at a number of stations, the availability of wi-fi on all services and the continuing introduction of Inter City Railcars on the route.
Free car parking at Craughwell, Ardrahan and Gort

As part of a range of measures being taken to promote the service to capitalize on the additional summer demand through the rest of the year Iarnród Éireann has announced that car parking at Craughwell, Ardrahan and Gort Stations is to be free from Monday 10th September until the end of the year as part of a promotion for Western Rail Corridor customers.
The company has said that the traditional seasonal boost to passenger numbers on the line from the summer tourist months has once again been demonstrated, with numbers up by 50% during the summer months over the rest of the year.
Student Fares

Students can also avail of monthly commuter tickets along the line. This enables students from locations along the route to commute daily to the major third level institutions in Galway and Limerick, saving the cost of renting. For example, unlimited travel for a month between Ennis and Galway is €196.50 equivalent to a per journey cost of just over €4.50 for a student commuting daily Monday to Friday. Adult commuter tickets are also available, with savings of up to 52% available through the Taxsaver scheme through commuter's employers - full information is available at www.taxsaver.ie
Intercity Rail Cars & wi-fi

Key services on the route - the 06.20 Galway-Limerick, 18.05 Limerick-Galway, 18.30 Galway-Ennis and 20.15 Ennis-Galway - are now operated by Iarnród Éireann's newest Intercity railcar fleet, which also operates Galway/Dublin and Limerick/Dublin services. In addition, these trains are equipped with free wi-fi, enabling customers to use laptops or mobile devices for work or entertainment while travelling. The regional fleet operating the remainder of Western Rail Corridor services will also be equipped with free wi-fi during September, meaning all WRC services will have wi-fi.
A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said "we are working continuously to improve the quality and value of travelling by rail, and this range of improvements to Western Rail Corridor services is in response to customer feedback and demand. We hope to welcome new customers to the service, and will be promoting these changes across the route." A spokesman for West on Track welcomed the announcements by Iarnród Éireann and the positive engagement by Iarnród Éireann with the community groups along the line.
"Iarnród Éireann is now working closely with the community and further positive developments are in the pipeline. We are confident that the construction of an important new station at Oranmore as part of Phase 1 of the ongoing Western Rail Corridor project will lead to further strong growth across the route in the near future with increasing numbers of customers availing of both commuter and inter-city services," said the spokesman.

Consultants' Recommendations regarding development of the Western Rail Corridor

AECOM/Goodbody Strategic Rail Investments Needs Review

The AECOM/Goodbody Strategic Rail Investments Needs Review was presented at Rail Vision 2030, a seminar on the future of rail transport in Ireland in Dublin on Wednesday 22nd February 2012, which was attended by representatives of West on Track. This major report into the future strategy for the national rail network recommended that improvements in speeds and capacity on Intercity lines, including the Limerick-Galway route, be prioritized.
The AECOM/Goodbody report confirms that there has been strong growth on the Athenry-Galway section since the Limerick-Galway services were introduced 2 years ago. The Ennis-Limerick section remains strong and there will be further growth once Oranmore opens next year. People will then be in a better position to look at how well Phase 1 of the WRC is performing in its totality.
The report makes the following observations re Phase 1 of the railway:
"The Western Rail corridor opened to business during 2010, and provides direct InterCity connections between Galway and Limerick. Nevertheless, whilst commuting demand from its catchment into Galway and Limerick is strong, the level of intercity travel is very low, and central sections of the line remain lightly trafficked"
The consultants then give their view as to why this is the case:
"It does not offer consistency within the InterCity network, having no capability for seat reservations, promotional tickets and catering."

They go on to make the following proposals:

• 11.1 Upgrade all services to inter-city branding with seat reservations, advance purchases and catering.
• 11.2 Increase frequency to 8 trains per day.
• 12.1 Introduce 5 direct services per day from Cork – Limerick – Galway as an extension of the Western Rail Corridor.

Comments by AECOM:

"The key proposal for this route is therefore to introduce consistency with other InterCity services. The increase in service frequency is proposed as a measure to stimulate more intercity demand."
The above comments by consultants engaged by IÉ themselves and launched in the presence of Minister Varadkar, mirror exactly the views of West on Track on Phase 1 of the railway.
Significantly, the consultants added that consideration should now be given to reopening the railway from Tuam to Athenry/Galway as a commuter route.

corktina wrote: »

how much longer will those guys be in power though?

pigtown wrote: »

It may not seem likely but halts at UL and LIT would make a lot of sense, and if the government were serious about providing public transport to people outside of Dublin and Cork there would at least be a feasibility study on this.



AS far as I can recall, the NRP actually welcomed the new schedule. God only knows why but there you go.

westtip wrote: »

And find our a fleet of buses would be a fraction of the cost, provide a more flexible service and be used. What is it about building railways through isolated parts of rural west of ireland that really gets people on the campaign trail?

.

MayoForSam wrote: »

We should not be confusing the issue by assuming that folks are either for or against the entire WRC.

The second post on this thread from 3 years ago still holds:



There may very well be a good argument to be made by local advocates, more familiar with the area, supporting additional stops at Longpavement and Parkway in Limerick. This holds for all urban areas in the country where the commuting population may justify a rail service.

No one is saying a Greenway should be built immediately adjacent to the revamped Galway-Ennis line (perhaps in future if circumstances were to change). H&S aspects would of course need to be considered if this was to happen.

Those of us living near the northern section realise the futility (based on demographics, proposed M17, etc.) of trains ever running again on the track in Galway, Mayo and Sligo. A Greenway should be built ASAP north of Galway (and certainly Tuam) to promote tourism in the west. However, WOT seem determined not to even discuss this possibility and the government / local politicians are reluctant to propose anything too radical (nothing new there).