Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

westtip

rainbowdash wrote: »

Not really, its certainly unlikely, but if ever oil prices went up enough and central government strategies changed, then there may be demand for more rail services, both passenger and freight.

And if that scenario came to pass then Claremorris - Athenry connects Waterford, Cork and Limerick nicely with Westport, Castlebar and Ballina.

As I said its unlikely, and certainly not in the next 10 years, but long term I would retain the infrastructure. We don't want a repeat of having to claim back sections of track as has happened elsewhere.

indeed rainbow and this has always been the "sustrans" argument advocated by SMG, yes leave the route in ownership of the rail company- but protect it and use it, None of us are accurate futurologists but protect the ownership of the valuable strip of land as a continuous unbroken piece of land, that is why the greenway is so important, it is not anti rail it is pro-protection of what belongs to us. Da people.

TINA1984

rainbowdash wrote: »

Not really, its certainly unlikely, but if ever oil prices went up enough and central government strategies changed, then there may be demand for more rail services, both passenger and freight.

And if that scenario came to pass then Claremorris - Athenry connects Waterford, Cork and Limerick nicely with Westport, Castlebar and Ballina.

As I said its unlikely, and certainly not in the next 10 years, but long term I would retain the infrastructure. We don't want a repeat of having to claim back sections of track as has happened elsewhere.

Aren't the places you mention already connected via rail to the north west towns?

Grandeeod

Whatever about Claremorris - Athenry, what's the grip on Claremorris - Colooney? The latter is an absolute right off and will never have any role whatsoever to play in any type of 21st century transport network. So if we strip back all the antagonism over the WRC route and get real, all we are left with are a few CCs and WOT who are insisting on a railway between Claremorris and Colooney.

Everytime I contribute here, I feel we are going around in circles. I've only recently watched that 21st century railway rubbish and I see that Colman O' R is still rabbiting on about reopening the WRC to Colooney, so I can only assume that this is still WOT policy. We've already seen that the rebuild of the Ennis-Athenry section (as predicted) delivered low speeds because as officially recognised in an NTA report, that's all it was capable of. Do I need to remind readers that the further north it goes, the slower it gets. I will agree with a retention of the alignment to Claremorris, if it makes them happy, but by christ, retaining the alignment to Colooney is bonkers!

Can Irish Rail, the Dept, and maybe a raft of railway engineers head over to WOT HQ and sit them down over a cup of tea and slowly explain to them that we are in the 21st century and the alignment from Claremorris to Colooney is as relevant as a fart in the wind. Bring them through it bit by bit and then extend this fact to the CCs who are also on the railway bandwagon. There is absolutely no need for Claremorris - Colooney to be a political handball. The facts are clear. Anybody who thinks this stretch of railway has any relevance needs to be certified. It's embarrassing at this stage that some dude can go on TV and openly state that the WRC should reopen as far as Colooney. Honestly, I pissed myself laughing at him.

westtip

Grandeeod wrote: »

Whatever about Claremorris - Athenry, what's the grip on Claremorris - Colooney? .......

all we are left with are a few CCs and WOT who are insisting on a railway between Claremorris and Colooney.

It's embarrassing at this stage that some dude can go on TV and openly state that the WRC should reopen as far as Colooney. Honestly, I pissed myself laughing at him.

GD, for WOT its all about not giving an inch of "our railway" as they see it. In fact since I started writing on this subject my focus has been Claremorris - Collooney as a greenway - and WOT have focussed on stopping any greenway progessing on this route instead of focussing on Athenry - Tuam (the only hope they have). Now I think the whole dam route should be greenway starting with claremorris collooney, if we get that I will leave the campaigning for the rest of the line as greenway to others. Re arguing for train lines to Collooney and having a good laugh - its the best publicity the greenway can get!

rainbowdash

Grandeeod wrote: »

Whatever about Claremorris - Athenry, what's the grip on Claremorris - Colooney? The latter is an absolute right off and will never have any role whatsoever to play in any type of 21st century transport network. So if we strip back all the antagonism over the WRC route and get real, all we are left with are a few CCs and WOT who are insisting on a railway between Claremorris and Colooney.

Everytime I contribute here, I feel we are going around in circles. I've only recently watched that 21st century railway rubbish and I see that Colman O' R is still rabbiting on about reopening the WRC to Colooney, so I can only assume that this is still WOT policy. We've already seen that the rebuild of the Ennis-Athenry section (as predicted) delivered low speeds because as officially recognised in an NTA report, that's all it was capable of. Do I need to remind readers that the further north it goes, the slower it gets. I will agree with a retention of the alignment to Claremorris, if it makes them happy, but by christ, retaining the alignment to Colooney is bonkers!

Can Irish Rail, the Dept, and maybe a raft of railway engineers head over to WOT HQ and sit them down over a cup of tea and slowly explain to them that we are in the 21st century and the alignment from Claremorris to Colooney is as relevant as a fart in the wind. Bring them through it bit by bit and then extend this fact to the CCs who are also on the railway bandwagon. There is absolutely no need for Claremorris - Colooney to be a political handball. The facts are clear. Anybody who thinks this stretch of railway has any relevance needs to be certified. It's embarrassing at this stage that some dude can go on TV and openly state that the WRC should reopen as far as Colooney. Honestly, I pissed myself laughing at him.

Indeed, having driven alongside on several occassions it really is a no hope.

A new fairly straight line track Colooney - Claremorris is what would be needed, if ever there was a business case for it.

westtip

Great turnout in Curry county Sligo today for the Ear to the Ground production crew that were filming a documentary that will be aired sometime in the Autumn about the proposed Sligo Mayo Greenway. Filmed on the greenway route as it passes through Charlestown and on location at the Yeats County Inn the crew filmed about 30 cyclists on a holiday from Belgium and Germany who would all like to see more Greenways in Ireland, Cllr Joe Mellett of Mayo Coco gave a great interview about the Greenway project, several locals turned up and gave vox pox interviews in support, The SMG campaign were also represented, Two local businessmen Don Dirrane of the Yeats county inn and Jarlath Gantly of Buzzbikes in Collooney were interviewed about the business and economic benefits. Great support and really positive news about the greenway project that seems destined to happen on this part of the Western Rail Corridor.

Grandeeod

westtip wrote: »

Re arguing for train lines to Collooney and having a good laugh - its the best publicity the greenway can get!

I'm still stunned. The person in front of me on the TV said with a straight face that it should reopen to Collooney! This person is a teacher, an educationalist so to speak and to come out with such bunk is an insult to the people watching. Claremorris - Collooney should not ever ever ever reopen. What is wrong with politicians and semi states in this dump of a country, that they cannot call a spade a spade. As for the media......

Grandeeod

westtip wrote: »

Great turnout in Curry county Sligo today for the Ear to the Ground production crew that were filming a documentary that will be aired sometime in the Autumn about the proposed Sligo Mayo Greenway. Filmed on the greenway route as it passes through Charlestown and on location at the Yeats County Inn the crew filmed about 30 cyclists on a holiday from Belgium and Germany who would all like to see more Greenways in Ireland, Cllr Joe Mellett of Mayo Coco gave a great interview about the Greenway project, several locals turned up and gave vox pox interviews in support, The SMG campaign were also represented, Two local businessmen Don Dirrane of the Yeats county inn and Jarlath Gantly of Buzzbikes in Collooney were interviewed about the business and economic benefits. Great support and really positive news about the greenway project that seems destined to happen on this part of the Western Rail Corridor.

Well done! Don't let the naysayers stop you. The WRC issue is full of shills waiting to strike out at anyone that speaks negatively about the railway. The funniest bit are posts from people that appear not to support the WRC but condemn the Greenway idea at the same time!

Grandeeod

rainbowdash wrote: »

Indeed, having driven alongside on several occassions it really is a no hope.

A new fairly straight line track Colooney - Claremorris is what would be needed, if ever there was a business case for it.

Yes it is a complete no hope. Regarding a "new fairly straight line track", the entire WRC would have needed that, to be in any way effective. And it will be a long long long time before any semblance of a business case could be provided for it. If ever.

westtip

Grandeeod wrote: »

I'm still stunned. The person in front of me on the TV said with a straight face that it should reopen to Collooney! This person is a teacher, an educationalist so to speak and to come out with such bunk is an insult to the people watching. Claremorris - Collooney should not ever ever ever reopen. What is wrong with politicians and semi states in this dump of a country, that they cannot call a spade a spade. As for the media......

Don't worry GD their influence is on the wain - this programme was sometime ago -running it again plays right into the hands of the greenway campaign, politicians, local and national politicians are now actually calling a spade a spade and they won't put up with this bunkum from the person you mention above who no longer speaks for the community.:

Swinford vision for the future produced by Mayo county council is about to be distributed to the public; 1300 people took part in this survey and said they want a greenway on the old railway, 300 people made written submissions to Mayo coco asking for a greenway - the railway story from Claremorris to Collooney is over. Tis history GD history.

Tuam Greenway Project

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/spent-bogs-and-disused-railways-have-huge-ecotourism-potential-29453761.html

westtip

Tuam Greenway Project wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/spent-bogs-and-disused-railways-have-huge-ecotourism-potential-29453761.html

thanks for posting this up TGP more grist to the mill, facing reality and trying to catch up with the UK and rest of Europe where this opportunity was seized years ago.
This bit from the article says it all, hopefully it was read by our county councillors in sligo mayo and Galway.

Eco-tourism, which attracts walkers and cyclists, has become a major niche market in Ireland. A key ingredient are green routes that are way off the main roads – and that is where Irish Rail comes in.

The Department of Transport, South Kerry Partnership and Kerry County Council have commissioned a feasibility study into creating a 26km cycleway between Glenbeigh and Renard using the old abandoned railway line.

The project is a win-win for everyone, with a disused line being converted into a profitable rambler and cycle way.

Typically, it costs roughly €25,000 a mile to convert a route into a green rambler way with full payback within six years. A study by Trinity College into the 42km-long Great Western Greenway, which runs from Westport to Achill, showed it was found to generate €1.1m for the local economy every year.

If the paths were rolled out across all the old disused railway routes, it would unlock the entire country, enabling ramblers and cyclists to travel from, say, Dublin city to remotest Achill Island without ever meeting a car.

serfboard

From RTE:

RTE wrote:

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has opened a new train station in Oranmore, Co Galway.

The new station will help people commuting from Galway to Dublin.

The previous station in Oranmore was opened in the 1850s, but it closed in 1963.

Mr Varadkar said: "It will be a huge benefit to commuters on the Galway line, who can reach the city centre in just 10 minutes.

"Fifty years ago last month regular scheduled passenger services ceased calling at Oranmore. Now the train calls at Oranmore once again."

Heard Barry Kenny on Morning Ireland this morning talking about this and the Galway-Limerick line.

He said that commuting numbers to Athenry are up 17% and that this will help bring more commuters onto the line. In fairness to him, he didn't try to disguise that Galway-Limerick is doing badly (how could he, I suppose), but did say that car parking charges have been removed at Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell. He talked mostly about commuters on the line, leading me to conclude that that's where their effort will be and not on Inter-"city".

westtip

Great coverage of the greenway project on Tommy marren show on Midwest Radio today and followed up with a news report on their lunchtime news saying the Western Rail corridor won't be considered between Claremorris and collooney for 30 years. Not a national story but will be well covered in mayo and heard by many councillors and hopefully the message is sinking in with all the media coverage the greenway project on the WRC is getting.

Lucena

corktina wrote: »

Oil Smoil...you never heard of electric cars?

How are we going to fuel the electric cars?

westtip

Lucena wrote: »

How are we going to fuel the electric cars?

We will plug them into our charger every night and use nuclear generated power purchased from the UK grid and pretend we are nuclear free - apparently we also have ability to produce electricity using wind and tidal power:D JIC you have not noticed all those windmills around the country.

Midwest coverage in the tommy marren show here http://www.midwestradio.ie/index.php/podcasts

it was broadcast about 9.45 am

Also not sure if this story got posted on the thread about Varadkar pulling the plug on the cost of the Crusheen Stoppover/halt

http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2013/0708/world/varadkar-derails-2m-stop-for-village-of-864-236171.html

corktina

Lucena wrote: »

How are we going to fuel the electric cars?

400 miles of cable, a three pin plug and a windmill...obviously.

purplepanda

westtip wrote: »

Also not sure if this story got posted on the thread about Varadkar pulling the plug on the cost of the Crusheen Stoppover/halt

http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2013/0708/world/varadkar-derails-2m-stop-for-village-of-864-236171.html

"The numbers work out at just under 520 passengers per week, 75 per day, or seven passengers per service between Ennis and Athenry."

WTF?? :eek: It just gets more & more crazy, & they want to open another station to waste even more cash which could have been used elsewhere!!! :mad:

eastwest

corktina wrote: »

400 miles of cable, a three pin plug and a windmill...obviously.

With the western rail corridor extension (lead) I'd say.

foggy_lad

purplepanda wrote: »

"The numbers work out at just under 520 passengers per week, 75 per day, or seven passengers per service between Ennis and Athenry."

WTF?? :eek: It just gets more & more crazy, & they want to open another station to waste even more cash which could have been used elsewhere!!! :mad:

It used to be 8 passengers per service, the new times must not have suited everybody.

starlit

Have they not opened up a new train station in oranmore?

corktina

they have, Oranmore is not on the Western Rail Corridor though. Now they may try to manipulate the figures by having the Galway to Limerick only trains stop there ( I haven't seen a timetable yet) but the new station will not change the fact that the "new" section re-opened carries just 7 passengers per train on average (this must mean that some trains are in fact running empty)

westtip

corktina wrote: »

they have, Oranmore is not on the Western Rail Corridor though. Now they may try to manipulate the figures by having the Galway to Limerick only trains stop there ( I haven't seen a timetable yet) but the new station will not change the fact that the "new" section re-opened carries just 7 passengers per train on average (this must mean that some trains are in fact running empty)

Indeed - what the oranmore station does show that - the money spent on the WRC phase 1 could have been spent on double tracking/loop passes on the Athlone - Galway section to allow Express Dublin Galway trains -to go unhindered into Galway from Athlone (maybe one stop at either Ballinasloe or Athenry) and have a stopping service between Athlone -Galway going back and forth for local stops.The Varadkar press release said:

The Station will be served by a mixture of Galway/Dublin & Galway/Athenry/Limerick services, with 23 services calling at the station daily (Mon-Fri), 22 on Saturdays, and 15 on Sundays. The journey time from Oranmore to Galway is just 7 minutes, and customers can travel to Limerick, Dublin and a range of intermediate stations also

Which means of course both Dublin-Galway and Limerick-Galway are going to get 2/3 minutes slower and the Dublin Galway intercity services from Ballinasloe inwards double up as commuter/local services stopping four times: Ballinasloe, Attymon, or Woodlawn, Athenry, Oranmore after Athlone.

IE cannot compete with buses that are now cheaper and quicker than the train that simply go: Eyre Square - non stop on M6/4 Dublin city centre. The funny thing is - I can see the scenario when people with access to Oranmore station - may shuttle in on the good local train service they are going to have, and jump on the bus to Dublin once they are in the city centre, it may actually be a quicker (and cheaper) total journey time. The real irony of this - they will all be counted by some folks as WRC passengers! The thing is though will they be WRC passengers if they get on a train into Galway that has come from Dublin, or are they only WRC passengers when the get on trains originating from Limerick/Ennis.

eastwest

westtip wrote: »

Indeed - what the oranmore station does show that - the money spent on the WRC phase 1 could have been spent on double tracking/loop passes on the Athlone - Galway section to allow Express Dublin Galway trains -to go unhindered into Galway from Athlone (maybe one stop at either Ballinasloe or Athenry) and have a stopping service between Athlone -Galway going back and forth for local stops.The Varadkar press release said:

Which means of course both Dublin-Galway and Limerick-Galway are going to get 2/3 minutes slower and the Dublin Galway intercity services from Ballinasloe inwards double up as commuter/local services stopping four times: Ballinasloe, Attymon, or Woodlawn, Athenry, Oranmore after Athlone.

IE cannot compete with buses that are now cheaper and quicker than the train that simply go: Eyre Square - non stop on M6/4 Dublin city centre. The funny thing is - I can see the scenario when people with access to Oranmore station - may shuttle in on the good local train service they are going to have, and jump on the bus to Dublin once they are in the city centre, it may actually be a quicker (and cheaper) total journey time. The real irony of this - they will all be counted by some folks as WRC passengers!

It doesn't really matter how they count them. Alan Kelly's interview on RTE a week or so back clearly spelled out that all decisions on public transport spending from now on will be based on real performance measurement. That more or less means that this line is screwed.
When you add that to the news broken on Midwest radio and other
media this week, it is clear that the WRC project is dead in the water.
They really need to look at putting a cycle trail alongside the Athenry Ennis line, and extending the trail to Collooney. At least then people will be using the route, and cyclists might bring a bit of business to the Ennis Athenry line for return journeys.

starlit

corktina wrote: »

they have, Oranmore is not on the Western Rail Corridor though. Now they may try to manipulate the figures by having the Galway to Limerick only trains stop there ( I haven't seen a timetable yet) but the new station will not change the fact that the "new" section re-opened carries just 7 passengers per train on average (this must mean that some trains are in fact running empty)

Oh is it not? Will they connect to Dublin trains?

They haven't many Galway limerick train connections it mainly buses to get to Galway city from limerick.

westtip

Yet more coverage about the greenway route on the Western Rail Corridor this one is from the Tuam Herald today. Great article which asks Galway coco a few searching questions:

dowlingm

eastwest wrote: »

Alan Kelly's interview on RTE a week or so back clearly spelled out that all decisions on public transport spending from now on will be based on real performance measurement.

Like when the train from Limerick to Nenagh in the evenings turns for home at Birdhill because it runs out of passengers, Minister?

westtip

Barry Kenny of Irish Rail says Greenways protect Rail alignments on old railways: The Right Hook August 1st Newstalk

Barry Kenny of Irish Rail interviewed on The Right Hook on newstalk yesterday evening. When asked about using the old rail lines as Greenways he said "It actually protects the alignment in case we ever want to use them as railways again"

Podcast here go to about 23 minutes into the show: http://www.newstalk.ie/player/listen_back/9/3021/01st_August_2013_-_The_Right_Hook_Part_3

• Also note how he talks about the Limerick case study and how it is being used to extend the greenway in Limerick/North Kerry to increase tourism – they seem to know about Tourism in Kerry
• Note how positive Barry Kenny is about this idea to protect the alignment and how Irish Rail are willing to work with local councils.


Thanks for listening if you tune into the podcast

dowlingm

"you're amazing" - George firmly under the Comical spell.

Judgement Day

westtip - you've hit a new low quoting that spin doctor to back up your arguments. Barry Kenny's 'amazing' knowledge of the Irish railway system....the mind boggles. CIE/IE would happily see the entire rail system converted to greenways.