Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

Cookie_Monster

postponed is just another world for shelved in government language

westtip

Judgement Day wrote: »

Don't think north of Athenry is happening at all - time for you to break out the bike and the ginger beer.

JD mate you know what I have said all along - its not about being anti rail its about being realistic; I just wish they had had the honesty to say this two years ago - the writing has been on the wall about this project for ages as we all know; WOT will have their day in the media again and now go into hibernation and emerge with new committments to the WRC from Enda - which he won't be able to deliver on and the whole sorry process of debate about this project will go round and round in circles. In the meantime my bike trail idea will not be pursued - and it could actually be done for very little - in real terms - and achieved quickly and it would add value to the leisure/tourism product on offer in the wesht....

However I await to see the positive spin which WOT will put on this latest news today my guess it will be along the lines of "In the national interest and taking into account current fiscal position West on Track is glad that in the long term there will be an ongoing committment to the Western Rail corridor, West on Track notes that the government accouncement relates to the line from Tuam to Claremorris and looks forward to the committment to complete phase 2 to Tuam ..... etc" The spin doctors of West on Track will continue in a positive monologue and will continue to act make believe as nothing has happened and their lifelong crusade will continue...... Wait for it folks the WOT press gang will launch something very soon which when you read it will make you all wonder WOT planet they are actually on. To giveyou some idea of the spin they put on things this is an extract from their last press release on June 24th 2010

Welcoming the Minister’s comments, a West on Track spokesman said:
“This statement from Minister Dempsey is enormously significant and indicates that there has been no wavering on the part of the Government about continuing the WRC to Tuam and Claremorris. Mr. Dempsey personally has always been a strong supporter of the project and we commend his ongoing commitment to this important development for the whole western region.”

That was just over a month ago......http://www.westontrack.com/news239.htm

Add to this the comment on 6.1 news tonight by one of RTEs commentators about- questions are already being raised about he western rail corridor as its turning out to be quicker to get the bus from limerick to Galway - and Cowen also started utterings about the Road beign upgraded and the usage on the Galway-Limerick section still having to prove itself - I reckon the jury is still well and truly out on the tuam/Athenry section as well.



BTW the government dcoument released today says this:

Projects recommended for investment are the completion of the Major Inter Urban-
Routes (MIUs), and a number of remaining national roads projects of key strategic
importance, such as aspects of the Atlantic Route Corridor and the N11. In addition
to these projects, essential maintenance and a continued high level of investment in
the regional roads network will be required.
§ The Renewed Programme for Government commits to the advancement of Metro
North and Dart Underground projects and, accordingly, the reprioritised Envelope set
out for the Department of Transport also includes the upfront exchequer funding for
these projects. Other public transport investment to be prioritised includes
investment in the rail safety

And thats it on transport road and rail projects - WRC is not actually mentioned, I don't like the comment "aspects of the Atlantic Road Corridor" - one they can body swerve on when they don't deliver on any of it. It is the stuff written by Civil Servants that allows a complete fudge when questioned on it.

read the bullsh*t for your self here (adn stand by for hours of waffle on the news tonight)

http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/publications/reports/2010/capitalreview.pdf

DWCommuter

Athenry - Tuam is gonna happen and copperfasten everything Ive ever said about this pitifull tale of so called public transport. 60 million will be wasted while the rail users in Sallins make do with a half hearted make over that doesn't include lifts. I blame the local parish priest. He's useless.:D

T Corolla

One of the reason for the WRC was promotion of balanced regional development. Where is Navan's balance, population has ballooned to 25,000 in the boom years only getting a motorway months ago and now their just reward shelved as the stroke of a pen. I only hope that the plan B (Drogheda-Navan) line can come to light and CIE can get funding to bring it up to standard for commuter cars. I know the layout of the line is very good(similar to stretches of the Dublin-Cork line) with good elevation low risk of flooding. It was too good to be true double track all the way to Navan but when the M3 was opened and was going down a treat I felt the curtain would fall on the dream infrastructure. Imagine with a little work in Drogheda, Dublin-Belfast could have been hourly with every second service via Navan.

westtip

DWCommuter wrote: »

Athenry - Tuam is gonna happen and copperfasten everything Ive ever said about this pitifull tale of so called public transport. 60 million will be wasted while the rail users in Sallins make do with a half hearted make over that doesn't include lifts. I blame the local parish priest. He's useless.:D

D I fear you may be right - and if 60 million is going to be spent in the wesht on the Athenry Tuam branch line and Navan shelved it is truly a disgrace, not to mention the fact that 60 million would cover the inner relief (enfield style relief road) around Claregalway - which hand on heart more people in tuam would want - I don't know - cowen puffing his chest out yesterday making his announcements made me want to vomit. Once again this whole WRC thing has become a complete fudge - they actually had the opportuntiy Yesterday to be honest and say look folks north of Athenry won't happen - but the N17/18 will be ring fenced as totally necessary, and Navan rail link because it has the critical mass of people will happen so lets get on with it. Instead the old carrot is left dangling, Athenry Tuam wasn't actually mentioned, (and may not actually happen D. but Tuam Claremorris was singled out as a non runner or "deferred") If Athenry Tuam does actually happen (which I actually doubt now but they didn't have the guts to say so yesterday - what does it achieve? My god the incompetence continues.

Sponge Bob

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10430:western-corridor-derailed&catid=23:news&Itemid=46

Fr Micheál Mac Gréil, who has been a leading campaigner for the restoration of the line for the past 25 years, told The Mayo News that he is confident the line to Claremorris will go ahead, despite the delay.
“Once they did not put the Athenry to Tuam line on hold I am confident that the Tuam to Claremorris phase will go ahead. I was expecting this [delay] if not desiring it but no matter who is in Government, once the line crosses Athenry it will happen. It is terribly disappointing to see Bord Snip not wanting it to go north of Athenry but once they did not put the Athenry to Tuam phase on hold it will be full steam ahead,” he said.
Phase One of the WRC between Ennis and Galway was opened last March and passenger numbers have been higher than expected. It was hoped by campaigners that its success would convince the Government to continue the line to Claremorris and Colman Ó Raghallaigh of West on Track told The Mayo News that it would be a mistake not to extend the line to Claremorris.
“To me it would be a mistake if the line was not continued to Claremorris because if you wanted to maximise the impact of the project it needs to be constructed in full. The cost of the Athenry to Claremorris line to be built costs the same as 100 metres of the underground DART in Dublin. I would be extremely surprised if they didn’t build the line to Claremorris.
“From reading between the lines it seems to me that the line to Tuam will go ahead in the short term and if that’s the case that the next phase will be deferred, we need to know for how long will it be deferred for. I believe it will be a mistake to defer it because I believe the Government will get more bang for its buck by extending the line to Claremorris,” he said.
Mr Ó Raghallaigh said the project has been attacked by economists and commentators since it was first announced but feels it will make no sense to cancel it.
“There has been plenty of opposition from commentators and journalists especially in Dublin who have poured scorn on it from day one. Colm McCarthy has been fervently opposed to it but they ignore the fact that phase one is a success and three times more people are using it than expected. If the people of Mayo are not given the opportunity to use public transport you can’t expect them to use it.”

http://www.con-telegraph.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=954:claremorristuam-rail-link-postponed&catid=44:local-news&Itemid=41

As the rumour was confirmed, Ireland North West MEP Jim Higgins slammed the decision, saying it is 'unacceptable and incomprehensible' that the project is not being given full priority by the Government.
Mr. Higgins pointed out the people of the west are now faced with a situation which will see the metro built in Dublin at a cost of around €300 million per km, while the Western Rail Corridor could be built at a cost of just €3 million per km, as no land needs to be purchased, no planning permission is needed, and no tunnelling is required.

He commented: "At a time when the west is crying out for jobs, not to go ahead with the construction of the WRC is ludicrous.
"We have the Greens talking about sustainable transport, but I wonder does this only apply if you live in an urban area on the east coast? What about those without cars in the west?"

westtip

sponge pretty much as I predicted yesterday - these guys would find a positive spin on any news and they will wait until the end of time to see their precious bloody project bought to fruition. BTW i did in fact write to Dempsey about the railways crossings issues on the N17 in ten mile stretch north of Tuam - - I got a response last week saying the department is aware of these issues. whilst DW thinks Athenry Tuam will happen, I still have my doubts and I certainly don't think we will see Tuam - Claremorris ever, and certainly not before the road is completed (by which time it is a dead rubber) or at least not till I get my free rail pass in 15 years time - by then of course I will be campaigning relentlessly for it....purely on selfish grounds!

Dempsey said Tuam will happen - once again his lips were moving at the time, ergo he was lying.

dynamick

Colm McCarthy in last week's Farmers Journal:

Colm McCarthy wrote:

The new railway line connecting Limerick to Galway cost €106m. It offers five services per day, with average journey time of about two hours, and was opened with great speechifying a couple of months back. But the existing Citylink bus service between Limerick and Galway offers six frequencies per day, and a journey time of 90 minutes! So the National Development Plan has delivered, for €106 million, a slower and less frequent public transport option than was already available from Citylink, at no cost to the taxpayer.This is not investment in infrastructure, this is waste pure and simple. The Department of Finance opposed the Western Rail project, on the grounds that it had negative economic value, but were ignored. Finance do get the odd thing right, believe it or not.

Cookie_Monster

Short but interesting piece

speechifying

corktina

he is spot except I think citylink run more than 6 services a day dont they? more like 16

foggy_lad

corktina wrote: »

he is spot except I think citylink run more than 6 services a day dont they? more like 16

only 6 services galway to limerick and on to cork & return but bus eireann also have 6 services daily

westtip

And the ninety minute bus journey could become 75 minutes when the new Gort bypass is opened, and with bus lanes into both cities. If as Colm Mccarthy states the Dept of Finance was agains the WRC then in the current climate - DW take note - and I will take on your pint challenge on this one, I don't think Tuam will now happen; in any event Tuam is subject to performance of the southern branch line, and this little caveat has been referred to several times in public, use it or lose it I think was the phrase, kor as Dempsey said when he cut the ribbon on the southern branch line:

Dempsey said on March 29th

"cannot overstate the critical importance of local support for Phase 1 of the Western Rail Corridor in promoting the development of further phases of the Corridor.
Now that the dream of reopening Phase 1 of the Western Rail Corridor has been realised, the challenge is to ensure its success. "

The bad news story will be managed by seepage of comments about the current branch line (which cannot compete with the bus), this was started the other day on RTE 6.1 with negative references to the WRC southern branch line travel times vis a vis the bus. Nothing will happen in any event until we see proper numbers of fare paying passenger from Ennis to Galway which allow full assesment of the level of local support (ie demand), this is clear from the comments made by Dempsey at the opening of the southern branch line. My prediction is the usage figures are going to be lower than expected. These figures will be used to kill off the northern branch line. In any event the improvement of the road (ie opening of Gort bypass) will lead to even less usage and slowly the strangulation of the northern branch line will be achieved, which is what the government want to do - but to continue fudging on it maintains the facade of the project being "live" which is reinforced by the likes of Dempsey who will continue to throw crumbs of hope to the zealots by saying the kind of comments he came out with earlier this week; his comments are all politicking - to keep the show on the road - and not to have the guts to be honest.

I am quite confident that the only infrastructure project which will take place on this route is the ARC and buses will provide the fast intercity/town connections, but this is going to take ten years to complete. Rail Passenger numbers (proven by low usage ont he southern branch line) in the current economic climate will simply not justify any further extension on the northern branch line, finally its poppycock to compare the cost per mile of delivering the infrascture compared to more expensive rail projects - the cost has to be amortised over at least 20 years on the cost per passenger that will be carried - so DW I know you agree with me! so order the pint up, cos a train to Tuam is not about to happen!

glineli

foggy_lad wrote: »

only 6 services galway to limerick and on to cork & return but bus eireann also have 6 services daily

Pity Citylink dont do one around midnight. They run one at 10pm and 3.30am, which is a tough call cos if i miss the 10pm one it means i have to have a few more pints!!!

The 3.30 is a great service, normally full of lads that have had a few pints going to oranmore/clarinbridge and gort. I use it on a regular basis to crusheen, 10 quid, great value

westtip

glineli wrote: »

Pity Citylink dont do one around midnight. They run one at 10pm and 3.30am, which is a tough call cos if i miss the 10pm one it means i have to have a few more pints!!!

The 3.30 is a great service, normally full of lads that have had a few pints going to oranmore/clarinbridge and gort. I use it on a regular basis to crusheen, 10 quid, great value

And I think its a disgrace you don't just go for a few pints in the early evening then support your local railway and get the early train home. the kind of behaviour you describe is WOT has this country in de mess its in....:D

glineli

westtip wrote: »

And I think its a disgrace you don't just go for a few pints in the early evening then support your local railway and get the early train home. the kind of behaviour you describe is WOT has this country in de mess its in....:D

Haha, jump off as it goes through Crusheen, of course until we get a station

westtip

couple of posts from the Gort Passenger Usage thread just to bring to attention of regulars here:

westtip wrote: »

Nice one JD but I don't want to boost the passenger numbers falsely, if I go on the line it may skew them and double the numbers on the midday social just express!

I am hearing rumours that the northern section is looking a bit shaky in budget reviews.....and we could be looknig at 2014 for Tuam and TBA for Claremorris, all based on the cutback in more important road projects that they can't be seen to be doing the rail line and not doing the N17......departmental sources tell me....put the ginger beer on ice, me thinks.

As I predicted back in May (posted 25th May), and a recent bit of recent local comments: (posted 30th July)

Banbh wrote: »

Living near Gort, I decided to try the train with the kids for a day's outing - either direction would do.
Iarnrod Eireann's website hasn't been updated as regards fares so there's no Gort listed for fares. I tried ringing 'information', stayed on hold for 10 minutes and then got a message that the office was now closed (11.15am Fri). So it's a nice car trip instead.

The word in the town is that the trains are empty.

Galway to Limerick requires three trains with transfers at Athenry and Ennis. There are no rail links to Shannon or Galway Airports.

Percy French could write a song about it.

DW do you really think Tuam will happen??? I am increasingly thinking not and last week was just flannel of the highest order that we expect from Dempsey and co. Biffo referred to the ARC three or four times on the Media - and my reading of the situation is that with media talk of the end of the line for WRC north, and Biffo sowing the seeds of thought that its ARC as the priority that it is in fact already decided that Tuam won't happen (and forget about Claremorris in any event).

westtip

glineli wrote: »

Haha, jump off as it goes through Crusheen, of course until we get a station

And a late night commuting service

glineli

westtip wrote: »

And a late night commuting service

Now theres a gap in the market. I reckon if they 2 trains a day, one at 6pmish and one at 3.30amish from galway to ennis, they would make as much if not more than they do now.

I am often surprised Citylink dont have a bus between 10pm and 3.30am, one around 12.30ish to bring home us those lightweights!!!

OurLadyofKnock

I took the evening service out of Limerick last Thursday. There were 4 people on board at Limerick. One got off in Ennis and 2 other got on. No other passengers got on or off.

The journey is slow, expensive and pointless. I am not sure about the quality of the build either. The railcars rock back and forth and slows to a near stop when crossing the bridges or on curved embankments.

I think the line will be closed in the next couple of years unless the speeds are brought up. That's the problem. You could nearly cycle between Limerick and Ennis faster. Should get interesting when the flooding starts.

I am no fan of WestonTrack. They are full of **** to be sure. But at the same time I can see that IE are doing their best to kill the line off. Which is sickening waste of taxpayers money and transport resources. It seems to me that Irish Rail are tip-toe sabotaging a brand new rail line built at the cost of millions to the taxpayer so they do not have to build anymore or use it as an excuse to cull the rural network as a whole?

westtip

OurLadyofKnock wrote: »

I took the evening service out of Limerick last Thursday. There were 4 people on board at Limerick. One got off in Ennis and 2 other got on. No other passengers got on or off.

The journey is slow, expensive and pointless. I am not sure about the quality of the build either. The railcars rock back and forth and slows to a near stop when crossing the bridges or on curved embankments.

I see it is a huge boost to tourism in the West of Ireland then...because as we all know the summer was going to see huge numbers using the service between the two "cities"

Its always worth keeping an eye on the past and I refer back to Dempsey speech on May 1st 2009 in Claremoriss:

Ianrod Éireann is planning to conduct further studies in 2009 to ascertain more reliable costings for Phases 2 and 3. I understand that they will also be looking at usage of Phase 1 after its opening, and at its effect on overall patronage of public transport in the area. The timescales for the delivery of Phases 2 and 3 are under review in the light of the capital allocation available to the Department of Transport.

Link to the full speech here: http://www.noeldempsey.ie/index.php/national-speech/speech-by-minister-noel-dempsey-at-west-on-track-bi-annual-conference

Reading it in full eighteen months later one can see the steady stream of words as to why the northern branch line wasn't going to happen. The second sentence in the quote above linked with the anecdotal evidence in some recent posts above is not to my mind very positive news....(for those that want to see the project happening). Of course unsurprisingly WOT managed to turn even this speech in the Lions Den into a positive news story.

foggy_lad

westtip wrote: »

I see it is a huge boost to tourism in the West of Ireland then...because as we all know the summer was going to see huge numbers using the service between the two "cities"

tourists drive or cycle between galway and limerick or get the cheaper and faster bus!

DWCommuter

westtip wrote: »

couple of posts from the Gort Passenger Usage thread just to bring to attention of regulars here:



As I predicted back in May (posted 25th May), and a recent bit of recent local comments: (posted 30th July)



DW do you really think Tuam will happen??? I am increasingly thinking not and last week was just flannel of the highest order that we expect from Dempsey and co. Biffo referred to the ARC three or four times on the Media - and my reading of the situation is that with media talk of the end of the line for WRC north, and Biffo sowing the seeds of thought that its ARC as the priority that it is in fact already decided that Tuam won't happen (and forget about Claremorris in any event).

Yes I believe the Atenry - Tuam section will happen in the short term. Eventhough its pointless, the project is cheap and easy to do and will again appease the west.

I hope it doesn't happen, but thats my current thinking.

OurLadyofKnock

westtip wrote: »

I see it is a huge boost to tourism in the West of Ireland then...because as we all know the summer was going to see huge numbers using the service between the two "cities"

There are no tourists in the West this year from what I can see. All the one-off houses have destroyed the scenery and this is now globally known so tourists avoid the West now except for festivals. Organisations such as Rural groups have destroyed the one natural asset they always had to fall back on in the past. Every farmer West of the Shannon became a developer and destroyed the countryside.

The northern WRC will go ahead. Matters not if 4 people use it a week. It will get built. This is Ireland, a profoundly mentally disturbed society and culture. What else do you expect to happen?

OurLadyofKnock

Do you know what the latest crusade in the West is? Stopping Dublin from getting "their" water. Due to the water shortages in Dublin there is a plan to build a watermain from the Shannon to Dublin. Well the crusade is already up and running. TDs and Councillors who demand the money from Dublin for the Northern WRC do not want to share the free Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms which fell from the sky and are currently flowing as molecules in the Shannon. It's "their" water not for Jackeens.

I was in Bangor Erris in Mayo yesterday. Must be over 100 miles form the Shannon. It rains there 300 days a year - on the roads around the town are signs which read "DUBLIN - HANDS OFF OUR WATER."

It's not even insanity really - it's beyond that. And people wonder if the Northern WRC is ever going to be built...

T Corolla

OurLadyofKnock wrote: »

There are no tourists in the West this year from what I can see. All the one-off houses have destroyed the scenery and this is now globally known so tourists avoid the West now except for festivals. Organisations such as Rural groups have destroyed the one natural asset they always had to fall back on in the past. Every farmer West of the Shannon became a developer and destroyed the countryside.

The northern WRC will go ahead. Matters not if 4 people use it a week. It will get built. This is Ireland, a profoundly mentally disturbed society and culture. What else do you expect to happen?

Exactly 100%. A nation with a large divide with the rich and poor where education and health will be cut in order to same greedy developers and banks from total destruction. A government elected by a nation that stood over incomprehensible waste and the line from Limerick to Galway is testament to this. I believed in the people of the west would use the line and keep it safe but in reality they dont. For myself I was a strong adovocate of the line but looking at the layout of it a child with crayons would have made a better effort in designing it. Limerick to Ennis patronage should have risen signafintly with the additional station opened in between. Galway-Athenry would have sufficed with a new station in Oranmore. The money spent on the line would have improved services on Dublin-Galway a service that carries more from end to end that Limerick to Galway. I have withdrawn any hope for the WRC I had since the decision to shelf the Dublin-Navan line came to light last week. I believe in public transport but not in the WRC

OurLadyofKnock

T Corolla wrote: »

I have withdrawn any hope for the WRC I had since the decision to shelf the Dublin-Navan line came to light last week. I believe in public transport but not in the WRC

I think we all thought the WRC was a good idea at one point.

But then you find your christmas pressies behind the warddrobe.

westtip

T Corolla wrote: »

-Athenry would have sufficed with a new station in Oranmore. The money spent on the line would have improved services on Dublin-Galway a service that carries more from end to end that Limerick to Galway. I have withdrawn any hope for the WRC I had since the decision to shelf the Dublin-Navan line came to light last week. I believe in public transport but not in the WRC

Indeed an upgraded dublin galway rail line with double tracking into Galway, as a minimum from Athenry into Galway; an intergrated bus/train station at the point the M6 interchanges with the new N17/18 make this interchange happen on the dublin/galway rail line a few miles east of Galway perhaps, who knows maybe even somewhere near Galway airport - and then we would have been talking real transport infrastructure development for the west. Who knows even integrated bus and rail time tables.......

westtip

OurLadyofKnock wrote: »

Do you know what the latest crusade in the West is? Stopping Dublin from getting "their" water. Due to the water shortages in Dublin there is a plan to build a watermain from the Shannon to Dublin. Well the crusade is already up and running. TDs and Councillors who demand the money from Dublin for the Northern WRC do not want to share the free Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms which fell from the sky and are currently flowing as molecules in the Shannon. It's "their" water not for Jackeens.

I was in Bangor Erris in Mayo yesterday. Must be over 100 miles form the Shannon. It rains there 300 days a year - on the roads around the town are signs which read "DUBLIN - HANDS OFF OUR WATER."

It's not even insanity really - it's beyond that. And people wonder if the Northern WRC is ever going to be built...

It truly is reaching a laughable state to live in

DWCommuter

westtip wrote: »

It truly is reaching a laughable state to live in

And when Athenry - Tuam opens, will we meet at the airport on our way out?:D

corktina

i went past Midleton station today....at lunchtime....4 cars in car park...what hope does Tuam or Gort etc have of sustaining a service?