Western Rail Corridor

Roryhy

Transport21 http://www.transport21.ie/MEDIA/Press_Releases/Limerick_to_Ennis_Line_Reopens.html

The planned opening date of 9th January 2010 for the Ennis-Athenry line, which would deliver direct Limerick-Galway services, was deferred as a result of the flooding in November. However, driver training resumed between Ennis and Galway last week, and will now continue over the full Limerick-Galway route.

As a result, Iarnród Éireann has stated that the line is on schedule to open in March 2010, with a precise opening date expected to be confirmed shortly.

The €106.5 million redevelopment of the Ennis-Athenry line will:

- Deliver direct Galway to Limerick services

- Serve Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway; and new stations at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell

- Expand commuter links to Limerick and Galway

- Promote balanced regional development, in line with National Spatial Strategy objectives, by linking two Gateways – Limerick and Galway – and serving the hub of Ennis



The investment project delivered by Iarnród Éireann involves:

- renewal of 36 miles of track, including all necessary fencing, and installation of points and crossings at Gort and Ennis.

- a 90m platform with furniture, signage, shelter, Automatic Ticket Vending Machine, lighting, car park, PA, Customer Information Systems, help point and CCTV provision at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell. These stations will also be accessible to the mobility impaired

- At Ennis and Athenry stations, PA, Customer Information Systems, help point and CCTV has been provided

- Repair and improvement work has been undertaken on bridges on the route to allow rail services to operate

- modernised signalling systems

- improvement to level crossings, and elimination where practicable

Judgement Day

I can hardly wait, I am already trembling in anticipation with anorak ready, marmite sandwiches made and Ian Allan spotters guide in hand.....:D

BluntGuy

Deliver direct Galway to Limerick services

I really hate this lie. "Direct" is as point-to-point as possible, not going through hamlets, twisting and turning on a rotting, outdated alignment and worst of all, that hopeless, shuffling (and completely avoidable) mess of a turnaround at Athenry. :mad:

Tech3

BluntGuy wrote: »

I really hate this lie. "Direct" is as point-to-point as possible, not going through hamlets, twisting and turning on a rotting, outdated alignment and worst of all, that hopeless, shuffling (and completely avoidable) mess of a turnaround at Athenry. :mad:

I agree it's a little misleading to say the least. I really would have loved a proper direct rail line built from scratch from Limerick to Galway to make it somewhat feasible to travel by rail over car.

With the improvements on the M18 it's hard to see this getting a large amount of passenger numbers. Gort to Crusheen and the Limerick Tunnel will cut possible 10-15 mins off a trip.

Car: 1hr 10mins-1hr 20mins
Rail: 1hr 50mins-2hr 10mins

BluntGuy

tech2 wrote: »

With the improvements on the M18 it's hard to see this getting a large amount of passenger numbers. Gort to Crusheen and the Limerick Tunnel will cut possible 10-15 mins off a trip.

I think the cost benefit analysis said the train would only be 5 minutes faster when the M18 is finished. I'll have to find that for you, but tis a shockingly low figure and makes the project look (even more) worthless.

Tech3

I thought it would have been a lot better than 5 mins, that is shockingly bad and tells its own story.

So when is the opening date of the line? I know it was delayed due to the flooding at Kiltartan and Labane. Sometime in February?

BluntGuy

The article says March.

rainbowdash

BluntGuy wrote: »

I really hate this lie. "Direct" is as point-to-point as possible, not going through hamlets, twisting and turning on a rotting, outdated alignment and worst of all, that hopeless, shuffling (and completely avoidable) mess of a turnaround at Athenry. :mad:

Well its certainly not rotting, most of it is brand new, I live beside it.

Athenry will not be as bad for turnaround in a railcar, the driver will just walk end to end, unless they are working to rule;)

I agree it is not direct though and will be too slow with too many hamlet stops. Gort and Sixmilebridge (serves Shannon also) were the only new viable stops at the startup phase IMO.

Anyone up for a boards beers (on the way to and) in Limerick?
Or Ennis or somewhere along the way?

Judgement Day

Me - but only if Westtip and Nostradamus can make it - and it has to be ginger beer!

Roryhy

Came across a few pictures on metrovick.com

Gort station

Check out all the crossings in the background here!

munchkin_utd

Whats the story with the planned Oranmore Station?
Is it being built at all?

Roryhy

I think that is to be built as part of the Galway commuter rail project linking Galway, Oranmore and Athenry. Theres no date for that yet.

paulm17781

Roryhy wrote: »

Check out all the crossings in the background here!

... and the smooth flat track. :rolleyes:

Sponge Bob

Roryhy wrote: »

I think that is to be built as part of the Galway commuter rail project linking Galway, Oranmore and Athenry. Theres no date for that yet.

There is no date for that because of the price IE quoted in 2007 to actually do it, €180m.

How everybody laughed

Roryhy

€180m!!!!!:eek:
All they need is one new station and one train isnt it!!
Does this section need to be resignalled? That price might include double tracking too? Needless to say, that kind of spend couldnt be justified!

Sponge Bob

Roryhy wrote: »

€180m!!!!!:eek:
All they need is one new station and one train isnt it!!
Does this section need to be resignalled? That price might include double tracking too? Needless to say, that kind of spend couldnt be justified!

It did include double tracking even though Galway Oranmore was doudble tracked before WW1 and the second track was lifted thereafter. The Oranmore - Athenry section was never double tracked that I know of.

That is €15m a mile. The N18 motorway around Gort cost €5m a mile ( not including land acquisition costs) . Then again CIE already own all the expensive land , from Galway to Oranmore

dubhthach

Sponge Bob wrote: »

It did include double tracking even though Galway Oranmore was doudble tracked before WW1 and the second track was lifted thereafter. The Oranmore - Athenry section was never double tracked that I know of.

That is €15m a mile. The N18 motorway around Gort cost €5m a mile ( not including land acquisition costs) . Then again CIE already own all the expensive land , from Galway to Oranmore

Double tracked up to the 1920's was one of the sections of the former MGWR mainline singled by the GSR to save money for the Cumann na nGaedhael government.

As for the WRC you would think if you were going to reopen a line that they would have put some engineering into it to straighten out curves/flatten the line etc. But then no doubt that require having some imagination. :rolleyes:

Roryhy

And how much would that have cost, its perfectly adequate as it is, no more money need be spent until it has proven itself.

Sponge Bob

Not entirely sure that it was the Free State Governments fault, the process of removing double track predates that.

I mentioned it to prove the land was already there for it.

http://www.irrs.ie/Journal%20165/165%20Ballysodare.htm

The lines of the former Midland Great Western Railway as built were provided with a surprising mileage of double track, as described by Oliver Doyle in JOURNAL 144, February 2001, “Double Track on the Midland”. With the sole exceptions of the short portion from Dublin (Broadstone and North Wall) to Clonsilla and also Ballysodare to Sligo, arguably also the short length between Mullingar Nos. 1 and 2 signal boxes, all of the double track sections were singled between 1918 and 1930.


Ballysodare - Sligo was not dealt with in JOURNAL 144 and neither is it mentioned in Ernie Shepherd’s book, “The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland”. With the Sligo line now seeing a greater number of passenger trains than has been the case for more than half a century, and enjoying more through services than at any time in its history, it is appropriate to complete the story of Midland double track.
The 41/2 miles between Ballysodare and Sligo appear to have been double from the opening of the line in 1862. With the arrival of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway from Enniskillen in 1882, which had entered into an agreement to make use of the Midland’s tracks into Sligo from Carrignagat, 1 mile south of Ballysodare, the double line was extended to a new double track junction at that location, the provision of the additional track being funded by the SL&NCR, although the track itself became the property of the Midland.

black47

Well, it's open, 2 hours beween cities. 100 out of 142 level crossings eliminated. 12 more to be gone over next 12 months. This should improve journey times surely. Oranmore stop in 2011. No minesterial commitment to extending further to Tuam and Claremorris though.


'The Limerick to Galway rail line has been officially reopened, with trains travelling between the two cities for the first time in 34 years.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey attended the official departure of the first service from Limerick at 10.30am.
The re-opening of the rail link comes after €160m has been spent on upgrading the Ennis to Athenry line.
Advertisement

As well as serving Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway, the project involved the building and total fit-out of new stations at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell.
Car parking facilities, as well as mobility-impaired access, are provided at the new stations.
There will be five services each way along the new route starting at 6am from Limerick, with journey times varying from just under two hours to two-and-a-half hours.
An estimated 300,000 passengers a year are expected to use the service.
The new link has been widely welcomed, however Labour's Jan O'Sullivan said it was disappointing the route did not include a terminal at Moyross as part of the important regeneration process.
Fine Gael Senator Fidelma Healy Eames, who lives in Oranmore, said the greatest mistake on the line was that it did not include a stop there, which serves a hinterland of up to 15,000 people.
An Oranmore stop is planned to open in 2011.
West on Track, which has campaigned heavily for the new service, said it is important to proceed to phases two and three to Tuam and Claremorris.
However, Iarnród Éireann cannot say when these phases will be start given the current difficulties with the State finances.'

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0329/rail.html

glineli

A lot of talk on a stop to be added in Crusheen if they can get private investment to pay for the stop. Will be interesting to see if this will happen

zootroid

black47 wrote: »

Well, it's open, 2 hours beween cities. 100 out of 142 level crossings eliminated. 12 more to be gone over next 12 months. This should improve journey times surely. Oranmore stop in 2011. No minesterial commitment to extending further to Tuam and Claremorris though.


'The Limerick to Galway rail line has been officially reopened, with trains travelling between the two cities for the first time in 34 years.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey attended the official departure of the first service from Limerick at 10.30am.
The re-opening of the rail link comes after €160m has been spent on upgrading the Ennis to Athenry line.
Advertisement

As well as serving Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway, the project involved the building and total fit-out of new stations at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell.
Car parking facilities, as well as mobility-impaired access, are provided at the new stations.
There will be five services each way along the new route starting at 6am from Limerick, with journey times varying from just under two hours to two-and-a-half hours.
An estimated 300,000 passengers a year are expected to use the service.
The new link has been widely welcomed, however Labour's Jan O'Sullivan said it was disappointing the route did not include a terminal at Moyross as part of the important regeneration process.
Fine Gael Senator Fidelma Healy Eames, who lives in Oranmore, said the greatest mistake on the line was that it did not include a stop there, which serves a hinterland of up to 15,000 people.
An Oranmore stop is planned to open in 2011.
West on Track, which has campaigned heavily for the new service, said it is important to proceed to phases two and three to Tuam and Claremorris.
However, Iarnród Éireann cannot say when these phases will be start given the current difficulties with the State finances.'

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0329/rail.html

This is the main issue I have with public transport in this country. Not only is it expensive, but it's too slow. Why would you take the train when you could save up to an hour by travelling by car? You need to provide an incentive for people to take public transport, and a slow, expensive form of transport isn't going to get people out of their cars.

wellbutty

zootroid wrote: »

This is the main issue I have with public transport in this country. Not only is it expensive, but it's too slow. Why would you take the train when you could save up to an hour by travelling by car? You need to provide an incentive for people to take public transport, and a slow, expensive form of transport isn't going to get people out of their cars.

Exactly...what is it........100km??? This must be 1 hour.

I've always been curious and ignorant as to why our trains are so slow and visitors to Ireland often ask me, hopefully some of the more knowledgeable here can help me.......is it the gradients, curvature, track, engines, level crossings, "slow down at the bottom of Mary's garden" or station shuffling? I thought CIE had invested heavily in engines and tracks over the years, thereby ruling these two out.

Bards

wellbutty wrote: »

Exactly...what is it........100km??? This must be 1 hour.

I've always been curious and ignorant as to why our trains are so slow and visitors to Ireland often ask me, hopefully some of the more knowledgeable here can help me.......is it the gradients, curvature, track, engines, level crossings, "slow down at the bottom of Mary's garden" or station shuffling? I thought CIE had invested heavily in engines and tracks over the years, thereby ruling these two out.

probably the public sector work ethic "Hold on there boi .. you don't want to be doing your job too quickly now do you? - need to make this train journey last as long as possible now- you hear!! - wouldn't want to be doing myself outta a job"

L1011

Gradients and curvature on this line. On others its track condition.

paddy cork

should'nt this track be going through shannon airport?

JupiterKid

I can see this new line being a total white elephant. The number using the service will be tiny and why in God's name wasn't the line rerouted to serve Shannon Airport? Not having a stop at Oranmore, a sizeable satellite commuter town of Galway, was also very clever.:rolleyes:

2 to 2.5 hours to travel from Limerick to Galway or vice versa is pathetic. The service is far too slow and its cost will deter people fro using it. Plus, when the M18 motorway is finished, or even once Gort is bypassed later this year, the journey times by road between the two cities will be pretty much twice as fast as the rail sevice.

westtip

Judgement Day wrote: »

Me - but only if Westtip and Nostradamus can make it - and it has to be ginger beer!

Jolly ho - and bring along a flask of tea a copy of the latest famous five book, and some cheese and branston pickle butties - and a nice tuppaware cup of orange squash.

Promise to wear my grey flannel shorts and world cup willie badge on my school blazer -- tally ho!

westtip

JupiterKid wrote: »

I can see this new line being a total white elephant. The number using the service will be tiny and why in God's name wasn't the line rerouted to serve Shannon Airport? Not having a stop at Oranmore, a sizeable satellite commuter town of Galway, was also very clever.:rolleyes:

2 to 2.5 hours to travel from Limerick to Galway or vice versa is pathetic. The service is far too slow and its cost will deter people fro using it. Plus, when the M18 motorway is finished, or even once Gort is bypassed later this year, the journey times by road between the two cities will be pretty much twice as fast as the rail sevice.

Check out the five years of debate on the one true thread closed down by the thought police.

Carawaystick

It's 13.50 by Bus Éireann, it takes 90 mins on Citilink and Irish rail don;'t quote prices nor can you make a reservation online on their new intercity service.....

rainbowdash

This Crusheen kit flying is a joke. Ardrahan and Craughwell should never have been built. Moyross was an obvious choice with LIT, Thomond Park and the Gaelic grounds nearby.

You would get more people taking the train to Thomond Park on one night for games than will use Ardrahan and Craughwell together in a whole year.

serfboard

Carawaystick wrote: »

It's 13.50 by Bus Éireann, it takes 90 mins on Citilink and Irish rail don;'t quote prices nor can you make a reservation online on their new intercity service.....

You can actually get a price online on this if you click the check price button - although you can't actually buy a ticket!

Anyway, to confirm what I heard on Clare FM during the week, a day return from Ennis to Galway will cost you €20 - and if you go today and come back tomorrow it will cost you €28!

dowlingm

Presumably Moyross might be on the table when the Limerick resignalling is done, but given the likely go-slow on redevelopment there I wouldn't hold my breath.

I note the train today was a 4-car 2700 consist. I wonder when scheduled numbers will justify that, rather than a ministerial jolly?

Amtmann

Strange letter in Today's IT:

Madam, – Your article on the welcome reopening of the Limerick-Galway rail line (Home News, March 29th) describes the journey time of under two hours as “slow”. While the train might not be TGV speed, it does beat the published journey time by bus of two hours 25 minutes and the actual journey time of over three hours. And while the AA might calculate the road journey time at 1 hour 29 minutes, those of us who don’t have the opportunity to drive in rocket cars at 2am might have experienced more realistic driving times of about two-and-a-half hours between the two city centres.
The cost of this rail connection has been €100 million. This represents one third of the cost of the Gort Bypass, and one eighth of the cost of the Shannon tunnel – both of which were needed to get the “official” road travel time below two hours, along with further hundreds of millions spent on the Ennis bypass, the N18 dual carriage way, etc.
Indeed, money spent on this rail link, and its reasonable journey time, compares very favourably with the multiple billions spent trying to achieve a similar journey time by road. Had a fifth of this money been spent on the rail line, we really would have a TGV between Limerick and Galway. – Yours, etc,
Dr MARK SUGRUE,
Killester, Dublin 5.

StephenM_smc

Furet wrote: »

Strange letter in Today's IT:

Interesting figures quoted in that letter. Are they actually factually correct?

dubhthach

StephenM_smc wrote: »

Interesting figures quoted in that letter. Are they actually factually correct?

I'd like his crack pipe that's for sure. I recall been in a bus going form NUIG to Cork and it was under 2hours from Galway city centre to Limerick (if not 1 and half) and that was before the Ennis Bypass had been opened.

Throw in Ennis Bypass and the next section to Gort (opening this summer?) and his figures don't stand up at all.

Amtmann

His arguments are easily destroyed. I wish someone would pen a riposte to his letter.

KevR

rainbowdash wrote: »

This Crusheen kit flying is a joke. Ardrahan and Craughwell should never have been built. Moyross was an obvious choice with LIT, Thomond Park and the Gaelic grounds nearby.

You would get more people taking the train to Thomond Park on one night for games than will use Ardrahan and Craughwell together in a whole year.

Agree. It's their own fault if it makes a annual loss of more than €2.4 million. The service targets regional and long distance travellers - the likes of Craughwell and Ardrahan don't have big enough populations and Galway-Limerick journeys are cheaper/faster by bus.

Instead, they should have focused on commuters at both ends. At the Limerick end a station in Moyross like you said. And stations in Oranmore and Renmore at the Galway end. There are now 28 trains going through Oranmore and Renmore everyday but no stations...

spacetweek

StephenM_smc wrote: »

Interesting figures quoted in that letter. Are they actually factually correct?

His numbers are complete nonse!

You're looking at less than 90 mins by car, including congestion at both ends. Future projects (Rest of M18, rest of Limerick ring, Galway bypass), will make this even easier. Express buses could/will appear using the new roads which will be only a little slower than driving (there'll also be more bus lanes in the future, which the bus can use to beat traffic).

He's also making the classic error of thinking that you choose a mode, then get everyone to use that - as in, spend the money on the train, then a road upgrade won't be necessary. This is false. Transport is multi-modal and many users are unable to avoid the road. Both need investment, and the current road is a cattle track.

glineli wrote: »

A lot of talk on a stop to be added in Crusheen if they can get private investment to pay for the stop. Will be interesting to see if this will happen

What is the pop. for Crusheen? Is it more than 1000 or so? Otherwise, no way should that happen.
Look at Ardrahan and Craughwell - tiny villages of a few 100 people. Intercity train passengers should not be needlessly delayed by having to stop there while nobody gets on or off.

Changes needed, in rough order:
- Hurry up with the Oranmore Station/double tracking projects.
- The Athenry "left turn" - allowing trains to run directly northbound then westbound towards Galway without having to swap direction/driver etc. at Athenry.
- Close Craughwell and especially Ardrahan stations. No value-add here and it's wasting passengers' time.
- Spur to Shannon Airport. I know this was ruled out a few years ago in a study they did, but this is nonse - the airport is really important, esp. to Limerick residents.

paulm17781

KevR wrote: »

Instead, they should have focused on commuters at both ends. At the Limerick end a station in Moyross like you said. And stations in Oranmore and Renmore at the Galway end. There are now 28 trains going through Oranmore and Renmore everyday but no stations...

It was because of WoT that they didn't. I know someone (who posts here regularily ) who approached WoT about campaigning for commuter services for Galway, including a station at Oranmore and they were completely not interested. They wanted the WRC nothing else.

glineli

KevR wrote: »

Instead, they should have focused on commuters at both ends. At the Limerick end a station in Moyross like you said. And stations in Oranmore and Renmore at the Galway end. There are now 28 trains going through Oranmore and Renmore everyday but no stations...

Indeed, Oranmore -> Renmore -> Galway would be a great route to have. Along with a park and ride at Oranmore to service Parkmore, Ballybrit etc.

Oranmore is a year away yet, shame. The only concern i have about it, will people walk to the station? Until they build a footbridge over the N18, i cant see many people using it.

KevR

glineli wrote: »

Indeed, Oranmore -> Renmore -> Galway would be a great route to have. Along with a park and ride at Oranmore to service Parkmore, Ballybrit etc.

Oranmore is a year away yet, shame. The only concern i have about it, will people walk to the station? Until they build a footbridge over the N18, i cant see many people using it.

My fear for Oranmore is that they will make a mess of the station.

• They won't have adequate car parking spaces for the P&R.
• There won't be an integrated connecting bus service for the industrial estates on the East of Galway City.
• Ticketing won't be integrated.

The problem of the station being too far from the town - when the station is built they need to de-zone all land to the South of Oranmore. Absolutely nothing should be built to the South of the town for a couple of decades at least. All development should be focused to the North of the town, close to the station. And yes, a footbridge should definitely be built to encourage people to walk from the existing town.

Same situation for a station in Renmore (if it ever happens) - land in East Galway City away from the station needs to be de-zoned while land near the station should be re-zoned for medium rise development.

The Ceannt Quarter development will see some high rise and many medium rise buildings right beside Ceannt Station. We could actually see good population densities along the railway line if politicians are on the ball when it comes to Oranmore and Renmore.

petronius

I look foward to giving the limerick to galway line a go soon.
very good to see Fr McGreil on tg4 - talking about it I recall talking to him many moons ago in college in maynooth.
My concerns would be additional stations at oranmore, and indeed better connectivity with Shannon Airport, I alway thought they should re-align it to try and make it from shannon town to the airport however a commuter link to limerick may be an optionlinking to the six mile bridge station?

Tech3

petronius wrote: »

I look foward to giving the limerick to galway line a go soon.

I'm looking forward to the reports stating the average amount of passengers per day that are using this service, hopefully the government will see sense and shut this rail service down before any more taxpayers money goes down the drain. I can do 1hr 10mins in a car why would I use the train. Bus Eireann is a little longer for much less the money. I know which option I would choose if I had use public transport!

dowlingm

petronius wrote: »

I alway thought they should re-align it to try and make it from shannon town to the airport however a commuter link to limerick may be an optionlinking to the six mile bridge station?

Given the cost of Dunboyne I'd say you're looking at 200m to acquire the land and lay a 15km Midleton-type alignment with stations at SNN, Shannon Town and Cratloe for transfers, plus adding enough passing capacity between Cratloe and Limerick Station to run a frequent shuttle and 3 x 2700 sets refitted with extra baggage space (2 in service, 1 in maintenance/hot spare). It could operate as a run through to Ennis near Clarecastle which is about another 10-15, but it's hard to see the project cost staying under 300 by that point.

Hard to see IE coming into that kind of cash for that sort of project any time soon.

dowlingm

tech2 wrote: »

I'm looking forward to the reports stating the average amount of passengers per day that are using this service, hopefully the government will see sense and shut this rail service down before any more taxpayers money goes down the drain. I can do 1hr 10mins in a car why would I use the train. Bus Eireann is a little longer for much less the money. I know which option I would choose if I had use public transport!

Now that it's open the best should be made of it. But my suspicion is the best will involve no stops from Gort to Athenry. The important thing is to slam the brakes on any adventures north of Athenry when the Athlone-Galway and Ennis-Limerick sections are crying out for passing track.

KevR

Can any point out on a map where the planned station for Oranmore will be?

There were 2 really ideal locations but of course the County Council didn't see a problem with allowing a business park to be built right beside the railway line at the first location and some sort of a warehouse at the second location (again, right beside the railway line).

Wouldn't have made any difference to the business park or the warehouse to be a couple of hundred metres away from the rail line. Obviously it makes a huge difference for any possible railway station which has to be on the line; and needs to be as near the town as possible but still easily accessible from the M6/N18.

yachtsman

Just short of 2000 pasengers used the WRC yesterday the 8th April. So great are the numbers that most trains now consist of four cars and passengers have had to be left behind on one occason this week. It would be refreshing if the Doomsday Merchants would give the WRC a break and think positively in respect of quality public transport. There are lessons already being learnt by Iarnrod Eireann and many of the teething snags will be addressed very soon, while some innovative initiatives are being considered according to staff. Great credit is due to West On Track or in other words the ordinary Joe and Mary Soaps in the West who fearlessly campaigned against all the odds including some fairly vindictive personal abuse at times.

They insinuated "Use it or Lose it!" Well now we're saying

"We're packin' it.
Stop attackin it.
And for a real jawdroppin' show
Roll on to Tuam and Mayo!"

Carawaystick

yachtsman wrote: »

Just short of 2000 pasengers used the WRC yesterday the 8th April. So great are the numbers that most trains now consist of four cars and passengers have had to be left behind on one occason this week. It would be refreshing if the Doomsday Merchants would give the WRC a break and think positively in respect of quality public transport. There are lessons already being learnt by Iarnrod Eireann and many of the teething snags will be addressed very soon, while some innovative initiatives are being considered according to staff. Great credit is due to West On Track or in other words the ordinary Joe and Mary Soaps in the West who fearlessly campaigned against all the odds including some fairly vindictive personal abuse at times.

Source for the above?

A 4-car commuter train has a capacity of over 500. The 29k cars have a capacity of 48 seating and more than twice that standing. the older commuting carriages have more seats and less standing room but I still can't see people being left behind rather just not getting on the train.


I still find this hard to believe - considering there was 7 passengers On a train last Thursday

How many extra passengers travelled on the Limerick to Ennis section and the Athenry to Galway section, I assume your 2k pax is *only* for the new section between Ennis and Athenry....

dowlingm

yachtsman - if you have access to figures can you break them out? For instance, how is Galway-Athenry and Ennis-Limerick traffic accounted for - on a gross basis including existing Dublin/Athlone and Limerick commuter, or incrementally counting only the boardings on the through services?

carawaystick the 27s have a higher seat count - I think it's 112 per two car set. That means ~220 seated and less standing room on a max length train of 4 cars.