WRC TO OPEN 29TH MARCH

sonyair

Its finally going to open on the 29th of march and then on the 30th with fee paying passengers,

5 trips daily monday to saturday
4 on a sunday

Stark

sonyair wrote: »

and then on the 30th with fee paying passengers,

All 4 of them.

sonyair

press release

Limerick to Galway line: full services commence 30th March 2010 by Corporate Communications
Iarnród Éireann has announced that rail services between Limerick and Galway are set to commence next month.
The €106.5 million new route will be officially launched on 29th March 2010, following the completion of the rebuilding of the Ennis to Athenry line, and the receding of recent flooding between Limerick and Ennis, and full schedules will operate from 30th March.
Major infrastructure works were completed towards the end of last year, and driver training is well underway.
OVERVIEW OF PROJECT
After a gap of over 30 years since the last scheduled services on the line, the Ennis to Athenry renewal will:
- Deliver direct Galway to Limerick services, timed to meet commuter needs
- Serve Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway; and new stations at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan, 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 drainage 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
The service will commence with five services each way daily (Monday to Saturday), and four services each way on Sundays.

Chris_5339762

Will it start off as a 1/2 service with Ennis - Limerick replaced by buses due to the persistant flooding?

Edit:

- Deliver direct Galway to Limerick services, timed to meet commuter needs

No comment.

dowlingm

4 services Limerick-Galway on Sunday - 0 services Limerick-Waterford. Joke.

Judgement Day

I think even I may make the effort to get there for the Grand Opening - that is if I can find my flask, marmite and anorak!

muchos04

what about a stop at Oranmore?

alpha2zulu

dowlingm wrote: »

4 services Limerick-Galway on Sunday - 0 services Limerick-Waterford. Joke.

Yeah agreed, and with Limerick-Galway becoming almost all motorway this year, the need for the line in the first palce seems nothing more than a vanity project for the local politicians and action groups. There are so many students heading from all over Tipp towards Waterford on Sundays it would I beleive actually be its busiest day of the week. The road on the route is in an awful state so with decent rail journey times IE could definetly make a better fist of bringing in more revenue.

IE cannabalise the Limerick - Waterford traffic with the rediculous length of stops at Limerick Junction. Tried the route about a year back and the train just sits there with the doors open to a gale blowing in for almost 25minutes waiting for Dublin-Cork trains to arrive. Miserable stuff.

fricatus

dowlingm wrote: »

4 services Limerick-Galway on Sunday - 0 services Limerick-Waterford. Joke.

It makes no sense to be running one line down while simultaneously reopening another one with a similar population profile; especially since the two could deliver passengers to one another.

I wish the WRC well, but I just don't see a future for it with the way Iarnród Éireann run things.

murphaph

dowlingm wrote: »

4 services Limerick-Galway on Sunday - 0 services Limerick-Waterford. Joke.

But Waterford is not in the whesht so all is fair apparently.

KevR

muchos04 wrote: »

what about a stop at Oranmore?

In an ideal world there would be a stop with a large Park and Ride at Oranmore (would cater for M6 and N18 traffic). And ideally, there would be a dual-track between Athenry and Galway, and a commuter service Athenry-Oranmore-Galway.

There's talk of having a bus Park and Ride off the M6 near Oranmore. It will be a waste of time if the bus gets stuck in traffic for ages at the Doughiska roundabout..

Cool Mo D

fricatus wrote: »

It makes no sense to be running one line down while simultaneously reopening another one with a similar population profile; especially since the two could deliver passengers to one another.

I wish the WRC well, but I just don't see a future for it with the way Iarnród Éireann run things.

The train doesn't even run Limerick to Waterford - It runs Waterford to Limerick Junction, where you have a long wait to get on a Limerick Junction to Limerick train.
If IE are going to spend money running trains on the WRC, they should go all the way Waterford -Galway, and integrate with services to Dublin and Cork at Limerick Junction. All it needs is planning - the trains will all be running anyway. That way, at least there's a slightly reduced chance of losing tonnes of money running empty trains.

dowlingm

CoolMoD I would run them as an integrated Rosslare-Galway route but I don't have data for how long a train can be operated without refuelling or a crew change - it would be less distant than Dublin-Tralee but given the much slower trackage probably longer time-wise. But until IE stop viewing the Limerick-LJ as being solely to get people from Limerick to Dublin-Cork services, that's not going to happen anyway.