Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

Muckyboots

www.connachttribune.ie/western-rail-revitalization-dependent-airport-access-plan-800

Sam Russell

Muckyboots wrote: »

http://connachttribune.ie/western-rail-revitalization-dependent-airport-access-plan-800/

He then is suggesting the extension of the Western Rail Corridor into Knock Airport – it would involve the provision of a 5km link off the existing track – while also constructing a rail line into Shannon Airport at the other end.

Why would IR build a 5 km rail connection from a disused rail line to a small regional airport with 650,000 passengers in its best year, when they cannot build a 7.5km link from a busy rail line to a major international airport that handles in excess of 30 million passengers?

Read the article as it is nuts. Delusion jumps off the page.

Isambard

an airport link needs a very high frequency shuttle service, which is pretty useless if there isn't a high number of flights arriving. Just where do these people see this rail link going to?

Muckyboots

Isambard wrote: »

an airport link needs a very high frequency shuttle service, which is pretty useless if there isn't a high number of flights arriving. Just where do these people see this rail link going to?

It's a Claremorris thing.

Sam Russell

Isambard wrote: »

an airport link needs a very high frequency shuttle service, which is pretty useless if there isn't a high number of flights arriving. Just where do these people see this rail link going to?

Two trains a day would carry all the passengers that would want to go to wherever that is they intend them to go - Tuam? - one train in the morning and one in the evening.

In the summer Knock will have 67 scheduled departures per WEEK or less than 10 a day. If coaches/buses can cope in Dublin, then minibuses will cope in Knock.

Is this a Tuam/Castlebar joke?

Del.Monte

http://connachttribune.ie/western-rail-revitalization-dependent-airport-access-plan-800/

Roll on Phase.2. of the WRC.

Muckyboots

Del.Monte wrote: »

http://connachttribune.ie/western-rail-revitalization-dependent-airport-access-plan-800/

Roll on Phase.2. of the WRC.

Ah, Del Monte - you are missing the point. This is much much bigger than that. It's a call for a commitment from Government to spend hundreds of millions to join up two struggling, and heavily subsidised, regional airports with a rail link in a bid to make them more viable. The bar has been raised substantially

JCX BXC

There's no actual common sense behind the argument either, it would just pit them against eachother more than anything.

Also FYI, Shannon has turned a profit every year since 2013.

bagels

Sam Russell wrote: »

Two trains a day would carry all the passengers that would want to go to wherever that is they intend them to go - Tuam? - one train in the morning and one in the evening.

In the summer Knock will have 67 scheduled departures per WEEK or less than 10 a day. If coaches/buses can cope in Dublin, then minibuses will cope in Knock.

Is this a Tuam/Castlebar joke?

Its not a Tuam joke. I can assure you the people of Tuam and its hinterland want a Greenway, not a railway.
Tuam is exceedingly well served by bus services so has no need at all for a rail service. Most buses travelling north from Galway service Tuam and vice versa so Castlebar, Ballina, Sligo, Letterkenny, Derry, etc are easily accessible by bus from Tuam.
In the other direction Galway, Shannon, Limerick, Cork and other destinations in Munster and south Leinster are conveniently accessible except for perhaps changing buses in Galway or Limerick.
Most people don't realise that Bus Eireann provide a great service to both Shannon and Knock Airports. Most if not all of their fleet travelling in both directions divert to service the airports regularly so what need is there for rail links? None whatsoever!
In addition to Tuam being well served by Bus Eireann, we also have a great local provider (Burkes) that runs return services to/from Galway several times daily. They have early morning services to the industrial estates in the city and they also service NUIG and GMIT, as well as the city centre. They even provide a 9pm service to Tuam to facilitate workers and evening-course students.
The private coach services from further north also stop in Tuam in both directions at weekends so we're actually spoiled for choice. Very few towns in the country are so well served.
So hurry up with our Greenway, it'll make Tuam an even more attractive place to live.

westtip

Sam Russell wrote: »

Why would IR build a 5 km rail connection from a disused rail line to a small regional airport with 650,000 passengers in its best year, when they cannot build a 7.5km link from a busy rail line to a major international airport that handles in excess of 30 million passengers?

Read the article as it is nuts. Delusion jumps off the page.

You don't understand it's a cult movement, there is no need to explain. That is what they believe and none of us will change their views on this forum or any other, the crying shame is the politicians who do not take the bull by the horns and say enough is enough. Some do, and there have been lonely voices, like Shaun cunniffe and Karey McHugh on the council side in Galway, and they are thankfully one by one bringing other Galway cllrs on board, in Sligo the majority of councillors now support a greenway and the sitting FG TD Tony Mcloughlin has fully committed to the Sligo greenway section of the Western Rail Trail. But there continues to be to much pandering to a group whose ideas are so far fetched they need to be told. Sorry but it simply isn't going to happen. There are far greater national and indeed regional priorities than the Western Rail Corridor. No government is going to even consider their ideas anymore, do they realise to fund their mad cap scheme such ideas would have to be already embedded in European TEN-T Transport policy, approved by successive governments, which totally excluded the Western Rail corridor for any EU structural funds. The fact these ideas are still vocal and given credence in the public domain gives most politicians the opportunity to do what they do best......Sweet Fanny Adam.

Nothing is going to happen, Railway we know won't, Greenway won't because the railway lobby is being used as an excuse to stop it, ah sure we can't put the greenway there because you never know the railway might just happen ....it won't but using this excuse stops the greenway from happening. The whole thing is a shambles.

Sam Russell

westtip wrote: »

Nothing is going to happen, Railway we know won't, Greenway won't because the railway lobby is being used as an excuse to stop it, ah sure we can't put the greenway there because you never know the railway might just happen ....it won't but using this excuse stops the greenway from happening. The whole thing is a shambles.

If the Greenway is put in, it can be reversed, just as in the Mullingar to Athlone section, the rails remain in place. Why not put the Greenway in place to protect the alignment for future use should the unexpected happen and massive oil deposits are found in Tuam.

I do not get the opposition to the Greenway as the Ennis to Athlone section is teetering on closure due to poor demand from paying passengers.

Muckyboots

JCX BXC wrote: »

There's no actual common sense behind the argument either, it would just pit them against eachother more than anything.

Also FYI, Shannon has turned a profit every year since 2013.

http://www.newstalk.com/EU-approves-fouryear-funding-framework-for-Irelands-regional-airports

Some good news for the country’s regional airports as the European Commission has approved plans by the State to provide grants totalling €42.5m for the four airports over the next four years.
The Commission’s decision, taken after more than a year of negotiations, will enable the Department of Transport to provide cash for both running costs and investment at Donegal, Kerry, Knock and Waterford, up to 2019.
The issue of State support for regional airports is a highly political one.
Ireland Airport West as 'Knock' is now known, has been looking for State investment of up to €75m alone to fund infrastructure investment and to compete with what it sees as comparable investment at Shannon Airport, which is fully owned by the State.

Two of the country’s former regional airports, at Galway and Sligo, have closed in recent years.

Del.Monte

Del.Monte wrote: »

http://connachttribune.ie/western-rail-revitalization-dependent-airport-access-plan-800/

Roll on Phase.2. of the WRC.

Providing student accommodation in Tuam and suggesting the students could commute to GMIT and NUIG by train is one of the daftest suggestions I have heard in a while.

Burkes have been providing direct busses to each from Tuam for years. It hasn't spurred student accommodation as far as I know.

Sam Russell

Deleted User wrote: »

Providing student accommodation in Tuam and suggesting the students could commute to GMIT and NUIG by train is one of the daftest suggestions I have heard in a while.

Burkes have been providing direct busses to each from Tuam for years. It hasn't spurred student accommodation as far as I know.

Surely with the opening of the M17, buses/coaches will be better able to provide transport into Galway from Tuam so why would anyone even look at a train from Tuam into Athenry and look for connection into Galway? The bus/coach would be in Galway before the train had reached Athenry.

Del.Monte

Sam Russell wrote: »

Surely with the opening of the M17, buses/coaches will be better able to provide transport into Galway from Tuam so why would anyone even look at a train from Tuam into Athenry and look for connection into Galway? The bus/coach would be in Galway before the train had reached Athenry.

Why the obsession with traffic to and from Tuam? Athenry/Claremorris is part of a link that CIE ran into the ground and should never have closed. What about through traffic to and from Westport and Ballina travelling to and from Galway, Limerick etc.

Sam Russell

Sam Russell wrote: »

Surely with the opening of the M17, buses/coaches will be better able to provide transport into Galway from Tuam so why would anyone even look at a train from Tuam into Athenry and look for connection into Galway? The bus/coach would be in Galway before the train had reached Athenry.

The busses would collect many along the route - I doubt the direct commuter type busses would go via the motorway - they already have bus lanes on either side of Claregalway to skip most of the queues.
They also drop outside the college rather than 1 to 3 kilometers away.

Del.Monte wrote: »

Why the obsession with traffic to and from Tuam? Athenry/Claremorris is part of a link that CIE ran into the ground and should never have closed. What about through traffic to and from Westport and Ballina travelling to and from Galway, Limerick etc.

The only time I have ever heard anyone complain about the lack of a train between Westport and Galway was a person who joined the Dublin to Galway train in Athlone after a day trip to Westport to climb Croagh Patrick.
What about these people you are talking about.
How many of them are there?
How often do the travel?
How much are they willing to pay for that?

The focus on Tuam is because the only vaguely realistic argument for reopening this railway is to serve commuters into Galway.

eastwest

Sam Russell wrote: »

Why would IR build a 5 km rail connection from a disused rail line to a small regional airport with 650,000 passengers in its best year, when they cannot build a 7.5km link from a busy rail line to a major international airport that handles in excess of 30 million passengers?

Read the article as it is nuts. Delusion jumps off the page.

It's not just a diversion to a small regional airport, it's a diversion up a hill to a small regional airport.
It's easy for fantasists with a map to come up with fanciful ideas like this, but do they ever look at the situation on the ground? What are they proposing, a funicular?
Just when you think you've heard all the daft ideas, along comes another one.

eastwest

Muckyboots wrote: »

Ah, Del Monte - you are missing the point. This is much much bigger than that. It's a call for a commitment from Government to spend hundreds of millions to join up two struggling, and heavily subsidised, regional airports with a rail link in a bid to make them more viable. The bar has been raised substantially

What logic is there in joining two regional airports with a rail link? To what end, exactly?
Knock airport is well served with busses and with families collecting and dropping off passengers; I don't hear any clamour for a railway from all the people I know that use the airport. This is absolute fantasy stuff.

Banjoxed

eastwest wrote: »

proposing...a funicular

Well fair play, that's the first time I've heard of anyone referring to a funicular in the Irish context.

Don't worry eastwest, we won't tell everyone that you raised the subject of a funicular railway for the west of Ireland :pac::D

eastwest

Banjoxed wrote: »

Well fair play, that's the first time I've heard of anyone referring to a funicular in the Irish context.

Don't worry eastwest, we won't tell everyone that you raised the subject of a funicular railway for the west of Ireland :pac::D

Well, it makes as much sense as a railway between Knock airport and Shannon, in fairness!

Or maybe they have something else in mind to get the train to the top of the foggy, boggy hillside? Maybe a tunnel into the hill, and a deep lift, like the one in that big building in Dubai. It could even be a tourist attraction!

westtip

eastwest wrote: »

Well, it makes as much sense as a railway between Knock airport and Shannon, in fairness!

Or maybe they have something else in mind to get the train to the top of the foggy, boggy hillside? Maybe a tunnel into the hill, and a deep lift, like the one in that big building in Dubai. It could even be a tourist attraction!

Or even a velo rail up to the airport from Charlestown sure it would be great fun.

westtip

Deleted User wrote: »

Providing student accommodation in Tuam and suggesting the students could commute to GMIT and NUIG by train is one of the daftest suggestions I have heard in a while.

Burkes have been providing direct busses to each from Tuam for years. It hasn't spurred student accommodation as far as I know.

This is how these people think, sure can't you see it. Youngster aged 18 just finished leaving cert and got the points for a course at NUIG, getting down to the nitty gritty with hi/her parents, sure its great Mammy and Daddy, I will be able to live in Tuam and commute in on the new train everyday, it will be much more fun living in Tuam and commuting in every day than living in a vibrant student city like Galway (sorry no disrespect to my Tuam friends).... and the winner of the oscar is Lala land..... oh and I can get the last train home 6.30 so I won't be misbehaving as a student at all at all. That's great all sorted......

eastwest

westtip wrote: »

eastwest wrote: »

Well, it makes as much sense as a railway between Knock airport and Shannon, in fairness!

Or maybe they have something else in mind to get the train to the top of the foggy, boggy hillside? Maybe a tunnel into the hill, and a deep lift, like the one in that big building in Dubai. It could even be a tourist attraction!

Or even a velo rail up to the airport from Charlestown sure it would be great fun.

It would certainly be great fun on the way down. Stopping might be a bit of a problem though.

Del.Monte

westtip wrote: »

This is how these people think, sure can't you see it. Youngster aged 18 just finished leaving cert and got the points for a course at NUIG, getting down to the nitty gritty with hi/her parents, sure its great Mammy and Daddy, I will be able to live in Tuam and commute in on the new train everyday, it will be much more fun living in Tuam and commuting in every day than living in a vibrant student city like Galway (sorry no disrespect to my Tuam friends).... and the winner of the oscar is Lala land..... oh and I can get the last train home 6.30 so I won't be misbehaving as a student at all at all. That's great all sorted......

You should be a stand-up comic, but harping on about a reopened line exclusively to Tuam is a red herring. Tuam is just a stop on the through route.

Muckyboots

Del.Monte wrote: »

. Tuam is just a stop on the through route.

From Claremorris ?... or Tubbercurry- or maybe Balindine?

westtip

Good news and bad news from Galway county council this week, Cllr Shaun Cunniffe posted this on his Facebook page yesterday:

Sorry to report that a motion I propoed today at Galway County Councils Monthly meetiing to have a Feasibility Study carried out on the Athenry-Tuam-Milltown old disused Rail Alignment to advise on suitablity of using this space as a Greenway and if it ever comes to pass a Railway ,was narrowly defeated 16 votes appproved , 16 against and 5 abstentions. The Mayor exercised his casting vote and voted No.
It is so dissappointing that this infrastructure will be left to rot further .
Under County Council Meeting Rules I can't bring this motion forward again for 6 months.
Many thanks to Cllrs Donagh Killilea for seconding the motion and great support from Cllrs Karey Mchugh and Peter Roche. and others.
I thought today would be the day but we will keep going it will be transformational for our town when the Greenway is eventually built.

Link here: https://www.facebook.com/cllr.cunniffe?fref=ts

Four years ago a Mayo county councillor famously said the Western Rail Corridor was "not up for discussion"

We now have 16 Galway cllrs on our side and five abstainers, with still 16 opposed.

The Sligo draft county plan has the Sligo Greenway on its agenda

and even in Mayo whilst the Velo-Rail project is not what the greenway campaign completely want to see, it does mark the end of any discussion of future railways.

10 years ago the only discussion that was allowed in official circles was the re-opening of the railway, many of us knew this was not going to happen.

Galway will get the Athenry-tuam-Ballindine Greenway
Sligo will get the greenway from Collooney to Charlestown
Mayo will have its quaint little velo rail - hopefully with a walking and cycling track alongside.

The tide has turned, congratulations to Shaun Cunniffe you are only one vote away in Galway from getting a majority supporting at least a feasibility study. It is now a matter of a short time before it happens.

eastwest

Del.Monte wrote: »

westtip wrote: »

This is how these people think, sure can't you see it. Youngster aged 18 just finished leaving cert and got the points for a course at NUIG, getting down to the nitty gritty with hi/her parents, sure its great Mammy and Daddy, I will be able to live in Tuam and commute in on the new train everyday, it will be much more fun living in Tuam and commuting in every day than living in a vibrant student city like Galway (sorry no disrespect to my Tuam friends).... and the winner of the oscar is Lala land..... oh and I can get the last train home 6.30 so I won't be misbehaving as a student at all at all. That's great all sorted......

You should be a stand-up comic, but harping on about a reopened line exclusively to Tuam is a red herring. Tuam is just a stop on the through route.

Speaking of stand up comics......
It won't be going through Kiltimagh anyway, even if the aaa form the next government. The velorail project has a 12 year lease on the route, which of course gives them a right to extend the lease beyond that date.
Suddenly, the greenway with its permissive access agreement must be starting to look very attractive to even the craziest railway nuts.

westtip

Del.Monte wrote: »

You should be a stand-up comic,
.

How did you know have you been to one of my shows?

westtip

Muckyboots wrote: »

From Claremorris ?... or Tubbercurry- or maybe Balindine?

MuckyB be serious these people want the chuff chuff from Derry to Shannon to reunite the lost bretheren. Mind you they will have to get off the train in Kiltimagh to mount the velo-rail

cgcsb

You know what would Really improve railway services in the west of Ireland?! Reinstate the double tracked section from portarlington to Athlone. Maybe then trains might actually run on time, Galway can have an hourly service to Dublin and the train might even be a little bit faster, current journey times are a joke. Trains to Westport would benefit into the bargain.