Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

westtip

yer man! wrote: »

To be fair they don't advertise an ennis to cork service see as it requires 2 changes, found put a student from Ennis to Athenry is €10 single so I shall be using it later today to see what the service is like.

Should be no problem finding a seat.:D

yer man!

westtip wrote: »

Should be no problem finding a seat.:D

Well that's true, the one positive thing WRC has done though is get the Galway commuter rail project kickstarted, Oranmore station is coming on nicely and the fact that Irishrail have said you can bring a bicycle on board for free makes it a very desirable option for me to get into Galway and cycle to college.

dowlingm

Markcheese wrote: »

Had to get from ennis to cork last autumn, decided to take train, change at Limerick... Times all suited.. Problem was ennis train had to wait for a train to leave to get a platform space... The limerick junction train.. Upshot was it took me till after midnight with a three hour wait to get to cork...won't use it again..

Once Alan Kelly leaves Dept of Transport platform space shouldn't be as much of an issue at Limerick :rolleyes::p

CrowdedHouse

yer man! wrote: »

Oranmore station is coming on nicely

That could be another waste of money - the only comment I hear about it in Oranmore is that it's too far out from the village.

yer man!

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

That could be another waste of money - the only comment I hear about it in Oranmore is that it's too far out from the village.

Long term plan is to include another station on the other side of the village, this station is really for Ardaun, the planned town that the council want to put in, sorry, wanted to put in.

westtip

I reckon we would only need about 25 million of this to provide greenways all over the country - and for the Western Rail corridor greenway some of this cash would be handy - so perhaps michael ring might get his department on it:

6 billion euro of EU funding According to the ECF there’s 6 billion euro of EU funding available see end of the attached link. “We are serious; 6 billion for investment in cycling infrastructure. However, nothing is allocated for such proje...cts as nobody is asking for it. That’s what the Cycling Industry Club is going to change.” Extensive coverage of Eurobike’s first Advocacy Summit will be in Bike Europe’s September edition, I wonder if Michael Ring is aware of this or will have the gumption to ask for some cash to extend the success of the Great Western greenway. when you go into the link scroll down to the bottom. http://www.bike-eu.com/Industry-retail-organizations/Industry/2012/8/Giant-and-TBEA-Join-Cycling-Industry-Club-1058497W/?cmpid=NLC|Bike%20Europe|30-aug-2012|Giant%20and%20TBEA%20Join%20Cycling%20Industry%20Club

westtip

a few photos taken out near Colooney - these are about half a mile before the WRC meets the Dublin Sligo line - of course this is the ultimate goal for West on track to have the rail line opened up as far as here - its never going to happen because a bit of land grabbing has been going on. The black fence around the photos landgrab 1 and landgrab 2 is a new appearance - the relatively new bungalow next to this fencing was of cours given permission to build in the boom times - at around the time Sligo County council put a strategic aim in the county development plan to suppor the re-opening of the western rail corridor. It seems the county development plan was gathering dust in the planners office at the time. Of course this kind of action now raises concerns about the Greenway right of way as well.

Our man in Havana

An 071 would make short work of that fence.

CrowdedHouse

Plain laziness not lifting the rails, could destroy his mower

dowlingm

Our man in Havana wrote: »

An 071 would make short work of that fence.

Not to mention what a weedsprayer behind would do to their lawn

The Idyll Race

Our man in Havana wrote: »

An 071 would make short work of that fence.

Bring it on! Anyone attempting to make adverse possession of public property should have a little lesson in what theft results in.

black47

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

Welcome to West=On=Track

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

Press Release Monday Sept 3rd 2012


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

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

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

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

Consultants' Recommendations regarding development of the Western Rail Corridor

AECOM/Goodbody Strategic Rail Investments Needs Review

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

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

Comments by AECOM:

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

corktina

steps in the right direction.small ones.

Didn't the WRC used to be from Sligo /Athenry/ Limerick ? Now it seems it's Galway/Limerick/Cork

westtip

Without wishing to knock all these initiatives, the simple problem for the WRC is lack of people, lack of commuters and the realisation that rural train services such as the WRC will pale even further into insignificance as the roads and bus services improve. Increases of 50% in passenger numbers over the summer? 50% of very little is still very little. The capacity on this route will never be fulfiled in terms of passenger numbers - simply because the passengers aren't there. Commuters? There are less people working and less commuters to service, and because of lack of numbers this never was a sustainable commuter line. Students. You don't build railways to accomodate students for 9 months of the year. Cheaper fares. Not before time, I am not sure it is the root of the problem though. Lack of people is and always will be.

This effort is definitely the last hurrah - if these things don't work,and paying passengers will be the acid test, not more pensioners on the train. The death knell can be sounded.

No mention of phases 2 3 and 4 anymore - it seems to be all about getting Athenry - Ennis to limp along better.

The Idyll Race

black47 wrote: »

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

Welcome to West=On=Track

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

Press Release Monday Sept 3rd 2012


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

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

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

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

Consultants' Recommendations regarding development of the Western Rail Corridor

AECOM/Goodbody Strategic Rail Investments Needs Review

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

They go on to make the following proposals:

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

Comments by AECOM:

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

This is all positive and is a case of those promoting the railway at the start continuing to do so under their own initiative. Well done.

The Idyll Race

westtip wrote: »

No mention of phases 2 3 and 4 anymore - it seems to be all about getting Athenry - Ennis to limp along better.

You missed this bit:

Comments by AECOM:

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

This proposal also scored highly in Irish Rail's report into possible future reopenings. Don't freek though, you may well be able to consume north of Tuam given the scorings IR gave to north of Tuam.

black47

The Idyll Race wrote: »

You missed this bit:

Comments by AECOM:

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

This proposal also scored highly in Irish Rail's report into possible future reopenings. Don't freek though, you may well be able to consume north of Tuam given the scorings IR gave to north of Tuam.

For some strange reason I think that WOT will get their way and get the line extended to Tuam eventually. Enda and Michael Ring are quietly by stealth, without any major publicity, getting significant projects built to serve west e.g.

M17/18 Gort Tuam - To start Jan 2013
N5 Longford bypass -Done
N5 Ballaghadreen bypass starting shortly
Extension of Westport Achill Greenway out to Murrisk/Croagh Patrick
Galway outer bypass - Has been committed to be built but not in short term

corktina

how much longer will those guys be in power though?

The Idyll Race

corktina wrote: »

how much longer will those guys be in power though?

Who else though? Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail in coalition, the cowboys and the indians together?

dowlingm

More WOT spoofery (quoting 2030 vision FFS)

This enables students from locations along the route to commute daily to the major third level institutions in Galway and Limerick

So this means halts are to be built at Parkway (UL-ish), Longpavement (LIT) and Renmore (GMIT)? Yeah, I didn't think so. Integrated fares with city buses to get them to the colleges? Didn't think so either.

22Ks? BFD. The way things are going we'll see 22Ks Cork-Midleton.

All this bending over backwards when Nenagh commuters were shafted and Waterford/Clonmel/Cahir people can't get to Limerick before 9 because of a ludicrously long delay at the Junction.

dowlingm

The Idyll Race wrote: »

This is all positive and is a case of those promoting the railway at the start continuing to do so under their own initiative. Well done.

Ask the Nenagh Rail Partnership what happened to the Nenagh-Limerick commuter rail market after the Alan Kelly TGV schedule change which made the last train to Nenagh 1705.

pigtown

dowlingm wrote: »

More WOT spoofery (quoting 2030 vision FFS)

So this means halts are to be built at Parkway (UL-ish), Longpavement (LIT) and Renmore (GMIT)? Yeah, I didn't think so. Integrated fares with city buses to get them to the colleges? Didn't think so either.

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

dowlingm wrote: »

Ask the Nenagh Rail Partnership what happened to the Nenagh-Limerick commuter rail market after the Alan Kelly TGV schedule change which made the last train to Nenagh 1705.

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

The Idyll Race

pigtown wrote: »

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



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

Because it suited them? Perhaps they knew better about their own local conditions?

westtip

pigtown wrote: »

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

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

black47 wrote: »

The Idyll Race wrote: »

You missed this bit:
For some strange reason I think that WOT will get their way and get the line extended to Tuam eventually. Enda and Michael Ring are quietly by stealth, without any major publicity, getting significant projects built to serve west e.g.

M17/18 Gort Tuam - To start Jan 2013

It is precisely this project that will kill off the northern branch line!

Comments by AECOM:

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

I can assure you Varadkar will not put his ministerial pen to an order to re-open Athenry Tuam - because he will cite -the failure of ennis/athenry to set the world alight. Believe me Ring and Kenny are far more supportive of the N17 project than the northern branch line. This is typical WOT spin doctoring to get the idea of the WRC back in the share of voice in the media - Articles referring to the greenway idea, voices on local media and indeed national media and support in Irish Times editorial has resulted in WOT losing the PR was, so that's why they are back on the Press release game with their usual twaddle and nonsense.

rainbowdash

westtip wrote: »

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

.

He mentioned halts at longpavement and parkway. He never mentioned building any new railway, and neither longpavement or parkway are rural parts of the west of Ireland

pigtown

The Idyll Race wrote: »

Because it suited them? Perhaps they knew better about their own local conditions?

I'm not saying they don't. But the Nenagh Rail Partnership was set up to campaign for a commuter service to and from Limerick. They got this but the new schedule effectively cancels out all the improvements to the commuter service. I just wonder why they support what I see as an erosion of services. Maybe I'm wrong.

westtip wrote: »

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

I'm not campaigning for anything, nor am I advocating any new lines to be built. I'm merely pointing out that Limerick city has an abundance of rail lines already, and the construction of new halts at certain points could transform public tranport in the city. Maybe a fleet of buses would be better, but how can we know when a feasibility study hasn't been carried out?
I also question your discription of the Parkway and Longpavement as 'isolated parts of rural west of Ireland'. They are major suburbs of the third largest city in the state.

Quackster

westtip wrote: »

a few photos taken out near Colooney - these are about half a mile before the WRC meets the Dublin Sligo line - of course this is the ultimate goal for West on track to have the rail line opened up as far as here - its never going to happen because a bit of land grabbing has been going on. The black fence around the photos landgrab 1 and landgrab 2 is a new appearance - the relatively new bungalow next to this fencing was of cours given permission to build in the boom times - at around the time Sligo County council put a strategic aim in the county development plan to suppor the re-opening of the western rail corridor. It seems the county development plan was gathering dust in the planners office at the time. Of course this kind of action now raises concerns about the Greenway right of way as well.

As far as I'm aware, this line hasn't been formally abandoned and therefore the Act of Parliament establishing it hasn't been repealed. In that case, the
permanent way is protected by statute law so (as statute law trumps common law) adverse possession cannot take place, no matter how long a person swats on it.

Of course, the actuality of removing said swatter(s) is another matter due to the time and resources consumed in taking legal action. We're currently suffering such a problem here in Kerry trying to develop the Tralee to Fenit Greenway.

popebenny16

pigtown wrote: »

I'm not saying they don't. But the Nenagh Rail Partnership was set up to campaign for a commuter service to and from Limerick. They got this but the new schedule effectively cancels out all the improvements to the commuter service. I just wonder why they support what I see as an erosion of services. Maybe I'm wrong.

NRP did a very detailed passenger survey on the branch in July. I imagine that they will have made some representation to IE on it. My impression talking to the lad doing the survey was that there are as many theories about the Alan Kelly express as there are labour votes in Nenagh. Was Alan shafted by IE? But didnt he say in the Nenagh Guardian that he lobbied for the service? Do NRP want the branch to be a efficeintly working branch line with shuttles that meet the mainline services and allow commuters to get to and from Limerick? Do they, at the same time, want services to go to and from brophy non-stop to dublin like a north tipp limo?Who knows.....:cool:

what_traffic

black47 wrote: »

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

Welcome to West=On=Track

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

Press Release Monday Sept 3rd 2012

Connacht Tribune is carrying this PR today
http://www.galwaynews.ie/27628-new-drive-increase-train-passenger-numbers

The Idyll Race

pigtown wrote: »

I'm not saying they don't. But the Nenagh Rail Partnership was set up to campaign for a commuter service to and from Limerick. They got this but the new schedule effectively cancels out all the improvements to the commuter service. I just wonder why they support what I see as an erosion of services. Maybe I'm wrong.



I'm not campaigning for anything, nor am I advocating any new lines to be built. I'm merely pointing out that Limerick city has an abundance of rail lines already, and the construction of new halts at certain points could transform public tranport in the city. Maybe a fleet of buses would be better, but how can we know when a feasibility study hasn't been carried out?
I also question your discription of the Parkway and Longpavement as 'isolated parts of rural west of Ireland'. They are major suburbs of the third largest city in the state.

Welcome to C&T's infamous WRC thread. Westtip is merely trying to get you to "get with the program"