Railfreight

RonanM123

I see IRN made specific referance to Waterford. The ship that IWT liners load onto in Dublin also calles at Waterford.

Losty Dublin

LivelineDipso wrote: »

In many countries wagonload is thriving too. Depends on the mentality of the rail operator.

We do not have a rail operator with a mind.

As for the Tipp mining, I would not be too optimistic that ever going by rail. I would be amazed if Foynes ever saw another train. I was down there last week and the route has fallen into bits in the last 2 years.

The CIE 'Care and Maintainance' or 'Keep on Trucking' program is the only show down there now.

I know some countries still have it but it's very much the exception to have stop start trains with manual loading. The heyday of brown van trains has been replaced by White Van Man and soft top trucks, a market no railway can compete with. What we have is a rail operator which is told by it's paymasters to run it's freight on a stand alone basis only as road haulage cleans up shop; very little it can do in that regard.

You willbe delighted to know that professional track engineers have walked the branch and surevyed it this year. The reports which came back are of a line that will cope with reasonable speeds without much relaying needed. There are soft spots that need attention and a viaduct which requires a lot of strenghening but asides from them, that's it. On this basis, the expenditure required to reopen the line is not excessive provided that the traffic flow will be provided on the line.

foggy_lad

Losty Dublin wrote: »

I know some countries still have it but it's very much the exception to have stop start trains with manual loading. The heyday of brown van trains has been replaced by White Van Man and soft top trucks, a market no railway can compete with. What we have is a rail operator which is told by it's paymasters to run it's freight on a stand alone basis only as road haulage cleans up shop; very little it can do in that regard.

You will be delighted to know that professional track engineers have walked the branch and surveyed it this year. The reports which came back are of a line that will cope with reasonable speeds without much relaying needed. There are soft spots that need attention and a viaduct which requires a lot of strengthening but asides from them, that's it. On this basis, the expenditure required to reopen the line is not excessive provided that the traffic flow will be provided on the line.

Which Viaduct is in danger of collapsing? how much strengthening does it require and how much use is it currently getting?

It is possibly ok to have freight trains travelling over such a viaduct but i would think that any infrastructure such as viaducts(Malahide) which are used for passenger trains should be kept in better repair than " requires a lot of strengthening "

LivelineDipso

Losty Dublin wrote: »

You willbe delighted to know that professional track engineers have walked the branch and surevyed it this year. The reports which came back are of a line that will cope with reasonable speeds without much relaying needed. There are soft spots that need attention and a viaduct which requires a lot of strenghening but asides from them, that's it. On this basis, the expenditure required to reopen the line is not excessive provided that the traffic flow will be provided on the line.

Well tat is potentially some good news for a change.

Mind you they will probably scrap all the locos before then.

Losty Dublin

LivelineDipso wrote: »

Mind you they will probably scrap all the locos before then.

There you go, cynican as usual

Eiretrains

foggy_lad wrote: »

Which Viaduct is in danger of collapsing? how much strengthening does it require and how much use is it currently getting?
"

Don't know much about the viaduct other than this picture on the old IRN photo site, it's located at Robertstown outside Foynes.

LivelineDipso

Losty Dublin wrote: »

There you go, cynican as usual

Can you honestly blame me with this shower running the show!


Irish Rail promoting railfrieght is like a Rabbi selling Rashers.

foggy_lad

Eiretrains wrote: »

Don't know much about the viaduct other than this picture on the old IRN photo site, it's located at Robertstown outside Foynes.

So it is not currently in use then except for the weed-spraying train, or is it strong enough for any train to pass over it? another example of a line that is costing Irish rail large sums of money even though it is worth nothing to the company and will likely never see passenger or freight use again.

Losty Dublin

LivelineDipso wrote: »

Can you honestly blame me with this shower running the show!.

I don't know how much you know about rail freight but the situation from ministerial level is that it's run on a unsubsidised basis whereby all operational costs are covered from income taken in. This has been been for a long time and is one that doesn't appear to be for turning any time soon. So long as this situation remains , Irish Rail aren't in much of a position to compete for much freight flows.

dowlingm

I'm merely going to re-state my existing position re: Foynes and Pallasgreen orebody. No matter how cheap it is relay the alignment and rehab the viaduct and level crossings, it's gotta be cheaper to send it the other way over existing trackage (with some improvements perhaps) to Waterford's bulk port. Might even get doubled Killonan-Limerick Junction out of it.

steamengine

Will Limerick Jct - Waterford be around for the foreseeable future - this from the most recent RPSI members news bulletin :-

Quote

'There are some worrying reports coming in that closure dates can be expected in
2013 for Killonan Junction to Ballybrophy and Waterford to Limerick Junction,
and even perhaps Ennis to Athenry.'

dowlingm

Depends on when the orebody might come on stream but presumably the line would remain for a few years after cessation. Would certainly make pathing easier!

highdef

I saw a billboard just beside the railway bridge on Sarsfield Road in D10 this morning with a picture of a freight train headed by an 071 advertising Railfreight. Are IE actively trying to promote railfreight, other than this advertising?

corktina

paying lip-service?

dowlingm

The problem with IE is that they are that truly terrible thing - a public body operating under a cloak of commercial confidentiality. Their public statements have been provably disingenuous in the past and thus trust is lacking.

steamengine

dowlingm wrote: »

IRN rumour has it that 12 pocket wagons are in Limerick for servicing with a view to re-entry to service. There doesn't seem to be clarity about intended purpose.

Further news about that on IRN - Link

murphaph

Losty Dublin wrote: »

I don't know how much you know about rail freight but the situation from ministerial level is that it's run on a unsubsidised basis whereby all operational costs are covered from income taken in. This has been been for a long time and is one that doesn't appear to be for turning any time soon. So long as this situation remains , Irish Rail aren't in much of a position to compete for much freight flows.

There's a tiny railway operator that I can see from my balcony (2 locos) that haul unit trains of coffee beans and food ingredients from 2 factories about 2 miles away up to the mainline and hand it over to DB, from where the coffee train goes back empty to Bremen to get more coffee beans (which are roasted in one of those factories near me).

I find it amazing that this tiny railway (30 staff AFTER a merger!!) still exists after over 100 years but in Ireland it's "not possible" (not solely their own fault, but it's a combination of them and the dead hand of government).

The coffee bean flows near me are actually "new business". They switched to rail from road in 1993 and up until 2008 they had replaced over 100k truck journeys between Bremen and Berlin with 15k train journeys. It can be done.

(german text wiki is all I could find: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industriebahn_Berlin)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzxMwFXENwo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAfrAllORc4&list=UUXJxK--LzDSQ8WDp3IbPj8g&index=6&feature=plcp

dowlingm

I think the safety culture there is now might make it hard for a new entrant to start without serious financial backing. Even if IE was completely co-operative there's the RSC hoop to jump through.

murphaph

dowlingm wrote: »

I think the safety culture there is now might make it hard for a new entrant to start without serious financial backing. Even if IE was completely co-operative there's the RSC hoop to jump through.

Possibly, the second youtube clip I added shows radio controlled shunting with the operator standing on a footplate. In Ireland there's probably some silly rule against it.

Jamie2k9

Is there any more info on the roumours of the Ballina-Waterford IWT liner starting anytime soon?

metrovick001

I dont think IWT have an interest in Waterford to be honest Jamie2k9.
There is a rumour that DFDS will recommence a Waterford-Ballina flow soonthough.

Jamie2k9

There is a rumour that DFDS will recommence a Waterford-Ballina flow soonthough.

That was the one I ment to post so still only a soon date.

out_of_the_pale

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

That was the one I ment to post so still only a soon date.

The DFDS liner service is staring on the 4th of March. 2 services each way per week

John Denver

Does anyone know which terminus the flow will start from, Ballina or Bellview Port? And when will the CPU's leave Limerick to transfer to either Waterford or Ballina?

Jamie2k9

John Denver wrote: »

Does anyone know which terminus the flow will start from, Ballina or Bellview Port? And when will the CPU's leave Limerick to transfer to either Waterford or Ballina?

They will have to be cleared between Waterford West and Bellview first so it may start off from there.

Jamie2k9

An 071 with pocket containers departed Inchicore this afternoon, either headed for Waterford or Ballina but I expect it was Waterford for the trail run before Monday.

newmug

I ujst saw on Facebook that IE are starting a NEW railfreight service from Ballina to Waterford. Anyone know what thats all about?

Judgement Day

newmug wrote: »

I ujst saw on Facebook that IE are starting a NEW railfreight service from Ballina to Waterford. Anyone know what thats all about?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056891271

n0brain3r

A second IWT freight train passed Sallins for Ballina today over the past few weeks I've noticed the occasional second train. Is freight traffic on the increase?

davidlacey

It could be to do with the bank holiday weekends...