Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

westtip

foggy_lad wrote: »

surely for most people if they live in Limerick or Galway there is nothing they would need from the other city which would neccessitate such an arduous journey on a clapped out railcar for two hours, and even if there were reasons to travel between the two cities people can do the journey faster cheaper and in more comfort on the express coach service which runs twice as often as the train at least

Touche, exactamundo, precisely. I wonder just how much is this line losing in operating costs now...... On forecast to only lose x or beating forecasts and losing xxxx.

I wonder if we can get this information from IE (LOL):D I intend writing them a very strongly worded letter about the lack of ginger beer on the refreshments trolley on this INTERCITY route - actually I might even mention there is no refreshment trolley on this INTERCITY route and just how long are you expected to sit on a train without being offered a very expensive cup of coffee (roughly two hours I think is the answer)....... and I will tell them in no uncertain terms, mark my words, that next time I will get the bus and still have time for lunch at the other end before the train I could have got arrives. That will make them listen......

Wait for it......It hasn't been properly promoted and marketed there are not enough price promotions la di da - same old record about to come out soon.

But no heavy rain to close it down this year

---

so far.

foggy_lad

As far as refreshment goes they have been cutting back on the number of refreshments trolleys on trains with many of the cork trains now running with no trolly service at all just the snack car open for the premier class end of the train, and some of the Dublin-Waterford trains having no refreshment at all bar water from the toilet.

So I can't ever see them having any kind of refreshment at all on this laughable inter-city service or they would have to provide the same level of service for Waterford-Limerick passengers.

westtip

foggy_lad wrote: »

and some of the Dublin-Waterford trains having no refreshment at all bar water from the toilet.

.

I think I would rather drink the water from the Calcutta public water supply

dynamick

Kenny sees old railway as tourist trail

FRANK McDONALD, Environment Editor

FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny has lent his support to plans for a walking and cycling “greenway” on part of the western rail corridor, implicitly ruling out its reinstatement as a railway.

“I favour this kind of development . . . which will have a considerable impact in respect of tourism,” Mr Kenny told Sligo-based greenway promoter Brendan Quinn, saying it should be subject to a feasibility study by Mayo and Sligo county councils.

The proposal is to create a greenway on the corridor between Claremorris, Co Mayo, and Collooney, Co Sligo, based on the success of the Great Western Greenway from Newport to Mulranny, Co Mayo, which is now being extended to Achill Island.

Last summer, the existing route attracted 300 walkers and cyclists on weekdays and up to 1,000 at weekends. It has been a “phenomenal success”, according to Mr Quinn. “Imagine what that is doing for these sleepy backwaters of Irish tourism,” he said.

more...

CIE

DWCommuter wrote: »

I believe intercity rail travel in Ireland is DEAD

If that's the truth, then that's only because the government policy killed it. There's no sense in operating an "intercity" service at average speeds at 40 mph and slower. The technology is there to make operations on the general railway network up to date in terms of speed and efficiency (and has been there for close to two-thirds of a century), but instead, government policy is to keep Ireland stuck in the dark ages on the rails and in the early latter half of the 20th century as far as the roads go.

corktina

CIE wrote: »

If that's the truth, then that's only because the government policy killed it. There's no sense in operating an "intercity" service at average speeds at 40 mph and slower. The technology is there to make operations on the general railway network up to date in terms of speed and efficiency (and has been there for close to two-thirds of a century), but instead, government policy is to keep Ireland stuck in the dark ages on the rails and in the early latter half of the 20th century as far as the roads go.

link please to Government policy for this...

Judgement Day

Like so many other things in Ireland it's the lack of any 'policy' that has CIE where it is today. Things are just let drift until the whole lot ends up on the rocks.

westtip

dynamick wrote: »

more...

Yes its rather a good piece I thought!!!!! Along withe double page spread in Sligo weekender and the five minute coverage on Mid West Radio this morning!

took the train to Dublin Friday on the sligo line - got to say it's a bloody good service now - made me thinkg all this nonsense about the WRC what would be a much greater service to the west woudl be to see double tracking to Galway and the same as far as Longford. This whole WRC line is a distraction that will dilute what could actually be done with the mainline services to Dublin, which wil die without real express services, but overall I have to give the sligo line a much improved services mark for the journey I took and the addition of a mid morning and mid afternoon service is a big fillip.

Judgement Day

Westtip - I bet there was no dining car for 1st class patrons though and even the poxy trolley won't have had any ginger beer! I remember when..........:D

westtip

Judgement Day wrote: »

Westtip - I bet there was no dining car for 1st class patrons though and even the poxy trolley won't have had any ginger beer! I remember when..........:D

Indeed, First class seems to be a rather distant past memory of the halcyon days of steam, Are you looking forward to the bike ride down the Burma road?:pac:

foggy_lad

If anyone wants first class they should get a limousine which would probably still work out cheaper!

westtip

dynamick wrote: »

more...

West on Track are having a dicky fit!

wild handlin

Interesting article, although I must admit the logic of having a "green way" over what essentially is nothing more than 'standard Western countryside' is beyond me. You already have the spectacular green way out to Achill-already renouned for it's high tourism appeal (as well as Westport-only being a stones throw away) gives is a good footing to begin with, with the added bonous of building on the tourism industry which is already there.
What does Claremorris attract to tourists at present? Correct me if I'm wrong but there is no big "tourism attraction" or magestic scenary to attract any real numbers at present. Equally what is there between there and Collooney to attract tourism (bar the small Museum in Kiltimagh) With the exception of the Ox Mountain range visible from Tobercurry - Leyney what other highly scenic attractions are there?
Please correct me if I'm wrong but it's coming across as if this is just giving the 2 fingers to WoT for the extension to Collooney.
Which leads me onto another point. What are cyclists going to do when they reach Collooney? Brave the N4 race-track to the tourism hot-spots of Sligo and Strandhill!?
Westtipp, if you're serious about promoting dedicated cycle routes (which I'm all for BTW) then you have to have something to attract tourists to. Eg. What about a dedicated cycleway from Sligo-Glencar Valley- Manorhamilton, or Sligo-Strandhill or Sligo-Rosses Point, or even Tobercurry-Ballina via Lough Talt? It just appears to me that this proposal is to stop WoT having any chance of getting the line open from Collooney from Claremorris. And whilst I agree that Collooney-Claremorris is very unlikely in the short-medium term, still, never say never. Oh BTW I've no part of WoT or any other transport campaign, I'm just curious as to why Collooney-Claremorris has been chosen for a cycleway as opposed to many other routes which would have a lot more tourism appeal to begin with...

Judgement Day

I think these guys (The Ox Mountain Gang) will not be too happy to see their railway turned into a cycleway for ginger beer swilling cyclists - unless, that is, it will be suitable for Honda 50s too?

corktina

wild handlin wrote: »

Interesting article, although I must admit the logic of having a "green way" over what essentially is nothing more than 'standard Western countryside' is beyond me. You already have the spectacular green way out to Achill-already renouned for it's high tourism appeal (as well as Westport-only being a stones throw away) gives is a good footing to begin with, with the added bonous of building on the tourism industry which is already there.
What does Claremorris attract to tourists at present? Correct me if I'm wrong but there is no big "tourism attraction" or magestic scenary to attract any real numbers at present. Equally what is there between there and Collooney to attract tourism (bar the small Museum in Kiltimagh) With the exception of the Ox Mountain range visible from Tobercurry - Leyney what other highly scenic attractions are there?
Please correct me if I'm wrong but it's coming across as if this is just giving the 2 fingers to WoT for the extension to Collooney.
Which leads me onto another point. What are cyclists going to do when they reach Collooney? Brave the N4 race-track to the tourism hot-spots of Sligo and Strandhill!?
Westtipp, if you're serious about promoting dedicated cycle routes (which I'm all for BTW) then you have to have something to attract tourists to. Eg. What about a dedicated cycleway from Sligo-Glencar Valley- Manorhamilton, or Sligo-Strandhill or Sligo-Rosses Point, or even Tobercurry-Ballina via Lough Talt? It just appears to me that this proposal is to stop WoT having any chance of getting the line open from Collooney from Claremorris. And whilst I agree that Collooney-Claremorris is very unlikely in the short-medium term, still, never say never. Oh BTW I've no part of WoT or any other transport campaign, I'm just curious as to why Collooney-Claremorris has been chosen for a cycleway as opposed to many other routes which would have a lot more tourism appeal to begin with...

GREENWAY...ah sure, build it and they will come.....

dowlingm

westtip wrote: »

This whole WRC line is a distraction that will dilute what could actually be done with the mainline services to Dublin

OMG PaleRail!!1! :D:D

DWCommuter

wild handlin wrote: »

Interesting article, although I must admit the logic of having a "green way" over what essentially is nothing more than 'standard Western countryside' is beyond me. You already have the spectacular green way out to Achill-already renouned for it's high tourism appeal (as well as Westport-only being a stones throw away) gives is a good footing to begin with, with the added bonous of building on the tourism industry which is already there.
What does Claremorris attract to tourists at present? Correct me if I'm wrong but there is no big "tourism attraction" or magestic scenary to attract any real numbers at present. Equally what is there between there and Collooney to attract tourism (bar the small Museum in Kiltimagh) With the exception of the Ox Mountain range visible from Tobercurry - Leyney what other highly scenic attractions are there?
Please correct me if I'm wrong but it's coming across as if this is just giving the 2 fingers to WoT for the extension to Collooney.
Which leads me onto another point. What are cyclists going to do when they reach Collooney? Brave the N4 race-track to the tourism hot-spots of Sligo and Strandhill!?
Westtipp, if you're serious about promoting dedicated cycle routes (which I'm all for BTW) then you have to have something to attract tourists to. Eg. What about a dedicated cycleway from Sligo-Glencar Valley- Manorhamilton, or Sligo-Strandhill or Sligo-Rosses Point, or even Tobercurry-Ballina via Lough Talt? It just appears to me that this proposal is to stop WoT having any chance of getting the line open from Collooney from Claremorris. And whilst I agree that Collooney-Claremorris is very unlikely in the short-medium term, still, never say never. Oh BTW I've no part of WoT or any other transport campaign, I'm just curious as to why Collooney-Claremorris has been chosen for a cycleway as opposed to many other routes which would have a lot more tourism appeal to begin with...

Okay so. You are saying that it has nothing to offer tourists, when it was tourists that WOT and WRC supporters used heavily as justification for reopening this particular section of line.

The mind boggles at the logic.:rolleyes:

Please correct me if I'm wrong but it's coming across as if this is just giving the 2 fingers to WoT for the extension to Collooney.

Your wrong. Why? Because a few million has already been spent on clearing vegetation and fencing part of the route on the assumption that it will one day reopen. I fail to see how the promotion of a Greenway is a declaration of war or as you put it, "giving the 2 fingers to WOT." It will preserve the alignment and offer a local and tourist amenity. Its not about scenery. Its about the ability to walk and or cycle in a safe dedicated environment.

wild handlin

You're missing the point DW Commuter. IIRC one of the main reasons for tourism traffic on the line was to link Sligo to Galway- both already popular tourism hot-spots. Also was one of the reasons to open Collooney-Claremorris for the provision of freight trains from the NW to Waterford? (Of course for this to happen would require policy change from IE)

My point about "getting at WoT" was that it came across as if "I want to build a Greenway to stop you of having any chance of re-opening the line in the future".

If the Green Way is not about scenary and about providing local facilities for safe and dedicated walking and cycling environment then surely it the appeal should be widened in order to bring in as many possible users to the new greenway, (scenary being a vital role in achieving this). The fact that money is willing to be spent on something which will only bring in a small catchment of users when there are far more oppertunistic routes within 50 miles of the proposed route to me seems illogical. The fact that the line has been cleared is not an infulential factor IMO, by now trees and vegetation are taking hold again- and some bridges would need to be renewed/re-inforced before the track could be lifted and the bed prepared for the surface on the green way.

One final point- who is going to enforce the the green way to stop those using scooters/quads and mini-motos on it?

westtip

wild handlin wrote: »

You're missing the point DW Commuter. IIRC one of the main reasons for tourism traffic on the line was to link Sligo to Galway- both already popular tourism hot-spots. Also was one of the reasons to open Collooney-Claremorris for the provision of freight trains from the NW to Waterford? (Of course for this to happen would require policy change from IE)

My point about "getting at WoT" was that it came across as if "I want to build a Greenway to stop you of having any chance of re-opening the line in the future".

If the Green Way is not about scenary and about providing local facilities for safe and dedicated walking and cycling environment then surely it the appeal should be widened in order to bring in as many possible users to the new greenway, (scenary being a vital role in achieving this). The fact that money is willing to be spent on something which will only bring in a small catchment of users when there are far more oppertunistic routes within 50 miles of the proposed route to me seems illogical. The fact that the line has been cleared is not an infulential factor IMO, by now trees and vegetation are taking hold again- and some bridges would need to be renewed/re-inforced before the track could be lifted and the bed prepared for the surface on the green way.

One final point- who is going to enforce the the green way to stop those using scooters/quads and mini-motos on it?

Taking the last point first = quads will be stopped with bollards, etc there is no reported abuse of the greenway form Newport to Mulranny, so what makes you think this one will be abused - and if it is that kind of anti social behaviour woudl need to be clamped down on but it would be a tiny minority.

I don't see your point about a small catchment area of users = when people are driving from Galway, Dublin and other parts of the country just to do the Great Western Greenway in peace away from cars and lorries on a safe environment, build this greenway and it will in itself become a major tourist attraction - with cyclists and walkers - once it is built everyone will wonder what all the fuss is about regarding the railway.

Actually this line is very scenic, it may not have the stunning views of clew bay but it does neverthless amble through some wonderful open countryside. The route would form a part of the national cycle network which both FG and FF are committed to. as for this route bringing in tourists as a railway - well that is a matter of pure speculation - but the Great Western Greenway numbrs are astonishing - It probably gets more users in one day than the Athenry - Ennis line gets in a week - we coudl roll out all the endless arguments but it is hardly worth it. A greenway would protect the alignment which is about as much as Transport 21 claims it is going to do - protect and preserve i think the line is. Look lets all stop talking poppy cock This line is never going to be opened as a railway so lets do something useful with it!

westtip

dowlingm wrote: »

OMG PaleRail!!1! :D:D

Not really dowling. Double tracking the mainline to Galway or even to Sligo (as far as Longford) would be very helpful to rail in the West:

More frequent services
Ability to have non stopping services from Terminal to terminal bypassing stopping trains.
Better late night commuter services to the likes of Longford to allow "park and ride" from the west.

Its not about Pale rail but the fact that most of us in the west using the train use it for one reason only - to go up to Dublin, the better the service to Dublin the more likely we are to use the train, Introducing a slow laborious branch line from Claremorris to Collooney will add very little value to train users in the west - simply because there is no demand for rail on these routes and the Service levels that may actually be offered will kill it off anyway (witness service levels of say Ennis-Athenry). And the hard truth is - like we have all said for many years - we cannot afford it!!!:D

wild handlin

I do appriecate where you are coming from Westtip, however if the goal is to promote tourism to the NW region then surely the provision of a cycleway in a more "appealing area" which could promote the cycleway right across Europe and beyond where tourists could come for a few days to explore the magnificent scenary which the NW has to offer. The likes of a Greenway from Strandhill-Sligo-Glencar IMO would generate a lot more tourist appeal than a greenway starting in Claremorris and ending in Collooney.
As regards the placement of bollards on the greenway to prevent quads from using it then surely this will be costly to impliment on every entrance/exit onto the greenway. Furthermore I would not be surprised if it was used by mini-motos, what better place to use em...away from car-parks and public roads = no fear of being caught by those who use them.

wild handlin

Apologies for the double post; just to pick up on what you were saying about the Great Western Greenway being a place for people to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside doesn't the Collooney-Claremorris section cross the busy N5, is paraellel to the main Kiltimagh-Claremorris road, and is also paraellel to the main N17 from Charlestown to Tobercurry for much of the way? Not really a great positive for potential tourists to visit with busy roads to cross and run paraellel to.

dowlingm

westtip - you failed to pick up on the smileys mate. It used to be a "purity test" for them in the Wesht that only cross-radial routes were worthy, not routes going into Dublin that actually had the potential for more than 2-3 carriage loads.

mgmt

wild handlin wrote: »

Apologies for the double post; just to pick up on what you were saying about the Great Western Greenway being a place for people to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside doesn't the Collooney-Claremorris section cross the busy N5, is paraellel to the main Kiltimagh-Claremorris road, and is also paraellel to the main N17 from Charlestown to Tobercurry for much of the way? Not really a great positive for potential tourists to visit with busy roads to cross and run paraellel to.

Come on...


Have you ever cycled at all???

It crosses the N5 once and is parallel to the N17 for a short distance. I've been on a number of cycling trips in Europe where they make much use of old converted rail lines as recreational pathways. This will be great for the country.

wild handlin

Mgmt wrote "have you ever cycled it?"

Nope, no way to unless I got one of them rail bikes - and besides the line is full of vegetation!! :-D

It still seems strange that some of you are advocating the use of this line for a greenway when there are surely much more feasable routes which would be of great benafit to the tourism industry... What's wrong with Strandhill-Sligo or Rosses Point-Sligo or Glencar Valley-Sligo?

westtip

wild handlin wrote: »

I do appriecate where you are coming from Westtip, however if the goal is to promote tourism to the NW region then surely the provision of a cycleway in a more "appealing area" which could promote the cycleway right across Europe and beyond where tourists could come for a few days to explore the magnificent scenary which the NW has to offer. The likes of a Greenway from Strandhill-Sligo-Glencar IMO would generate a lot more tourist appeal than a greenway starting in Claremorris and ending in Collooney.
As regards the placement of bollards on the greenway to prevent quads from using it then surely this will be costly to impliment on every entrance/exit onto the greenway. Furthermore I would not be surprised if it was used by mini-motos, what better place to use em...away from car-parks and public roads = no fear of being caught by those who use them.

WH I think you are totally missing the point - the Sligo-Mayo Greenway should be viewed in the context of the entire national cycle network which is planned, regarding your idea for a sligo glencar strandhill route - great idea - who is going to buy the land - the state already owns the rail alignment, this is the whole point - BTW a route that would be fantastic would be the Collooney - Enniskillen route which goes through fabulous country side in Leitrim - in the Uk they have greenways running through suburban areas the country side and old industrial wastelands - the idea is to give people a safe place to walk and cycle - as for the carnage you imagine with mini motos, motorbikes etc - well anti social behavour has to be managed - and this has not been the type of behaviour I have ever witnessed on greenways in the UK or indeed on the great western greenway - I suggest a little more faith in human nature is required - I just cannot understand the negativity....

dowlingm

If it's being used, it stops encroachment. Kerry TDs should be lobbying for one from Tralee-Fenit as the next one.

Judgement Day

dowlingm wrote: »

If it's being used, it stops encroachment. Kerry TDs should be lobbying for one from Tralee-Fenit as the next one.

http://blog.tralee.org/2009/10/15/the-tralee-fenit-cycleway-will-become-a-reality/

You're late out of the stop blocks on this one.

Victor

wild handlin wrote: »

What's wrong with Strandhill-Sligo or Rosses Point-Sligo or Glencar Valley-Sligo?

Nothing. So I presume you will be promoting the concept to your local politicians.

More to the point, this thread is about the WRC, not Strandhill-Sligo or Rosses Point-Sligo.

dowlingm

Judgement Day wrote: »

http://blog.tralee.org/2009/10/15/the-tralee-fenit-cycleway-will-become-a-reality/

You're late out of the stop blocks on this one.

Um, yes. Quite.
http://traleetofenitcycleway.wordpress.com/

I hope that Kerry Co. Co. are taking ownership and that the line will be in no way a drain on CIE/IE in the future.