Reviving the youghal railway line

whisky_galore

The railway only crosses it at one point, so should have had plenty ballast etc laid down when built to make it stable, what happens to the rest of the road is irrelevant.

mordeith

whisky_galore wrote: »

Not a dicky bird about it for a long time.

Surprised the greenway thing hasn't surfaced much, seems to be greenway 'mania' in the rest of the country.

Cork council are quietly going about investigating the possibility of a greenway. However the main issues that need to be cleared would be any land disputes. Apparently other councils have gone ahead with greenways only to be beset by legal wranglings.

whisky_galore

mordeith wrote: »

Cork council are quietly going about investigating the possibility of a greenway. However the main issues that need to be cleared would be any land disputes. Apparently other councils have gone ahead with greenways only to be beset by legal wranglings.

Not many houses from Midleton to Youghal backing onto the line so don't think there would be many (or any) 'squatters' apart from one former still-occupied crossing cottage near Killeagh, there's a lot of completely overgrown stretches that farmers appear not to have laid claim to so it should be fairly straightforward.

boardsuser1

the dairygold factory in Mogeely backs onto the line,also in youghal about a mile from the station there's a henhouse or something of the like on the track,the area around the bog road you wouldn't even know a track once existed there as it is all field only,the entire line is legally preserved however but legal issues are an issue,have any greenways been converted back to railway tracks,never heard of it myself personally

Markcheese

If it's still irish rails , then they could assert ownership by sending a bulldozer down the line ! Of course they won't - but they could-

whisky_galore

KC161 wrote: »

have any greenways been converted back to railway tracks,never heard of it myself personally

Once it becomes a greenway, it usually stays a greenway. At least that is the case in the uk.

bogman

Have happy memories of my father racing the Youghal train back towards Cork at the unbelievable speed of 45mph in his Morris Minor 1000cc, my uncle was closeby in another Morris

boardsuser1

This would be an absolute disaster if it were to happen.

http://www.eveningecho.ie/cork-news/midleton-youghal-line-may-formally-shut/2572831/

deRanged

I don't see that line reopening ever. I can't see how the funding would be made available for a job that big.
I think we're looking at the next greenway - specially given the success of the Waterford one.

boardsuser1

Discussion on the line here;

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=103317203#post103317203

deRanged

There was a report that two senior planners are being appointed to look at turning the line into a Greenway, and with the announcement that there's funding available at national level for greenways, I reckon that's the nail in the coffin for the railway line reopening.

boardsuser1

deRanged wrote: »

There was a report that two senior planners are being appointed to look at turning the line into a Greenway, and with the announcement that there's funding available at national level for greenways, I reckon that's the nail in the coffin for the railway line reopening.

Yeah, i posted that link from the echo a while back.

Irish Rail have sought government approval to permanently shut it, but there is no guarantees they will get that.

It's only because of the cost of maintaining the line i imagine.

whisky_galore

KC161 wrote: »

Yeah, i posted that link from the echo a while back.

Irish Rail have sought government approval to permanently shut it, but there is no guarantees they will get that.

It's only because of the cost of maintaining the line i imagine.

Maintaining what? Maintaining the trees growing up through it? :pac:

5rtytry56

whisky_galore wrote: »

Maintaining what? Maintaining the trees growing up through it? :pac:

Another segment of the lines is now tarmaced over as a caprpark in Fermoy

boardsuser1

whisky_galore wrote: »

Maintaining what? Maintaining the trees growing up through it? :pac:

Some sort of EU directive

boardsuser1

5rtytry56 wrote: »

Another segment of the lines is now tarmaced over as a caprpark in Fermoy

Where abouts?

5rtytry56

KC161 wrote: »

Where abouts?

the carpark is for a supermarket.

marno21

5rtytry56 wrote: »

the carpark is for a supermarket.

That's on the Mallow-Waterford railway line, rather than the Cork-Youghal railway line.

namloc1980

Better served as a greenway. Can't see the demand for a rail line to Youghal that would justify the investment. Upgrading the N25 would be much more beneficial.

boardsuser1

namloc1980 wrote: »

Better served as a greenway. Can't see the demand for a rail line to Youghal that would justify the investment. Upgrading the N25 would be much more beneficial.

We'll be a long time waiting for that.

The railway line stands more of a chance (for now).

namloc1980

KC161 wrote: »

We'll be a long time waiting for that.

The railway line stands more of a chance (for now).

I know we'll be waiting but the reopening of the rail line is pie in the sky stuff. It'll never happen. The only reasonably sized population centre is Youghal itself with a population of just over 7,000. Irish Rail already did an assessment of reopening the line and found it a poor candidate - so if the rail company don't support it, then it's dead in the water.

Taking Midleton-Youghal as an example, this
proposed route scores poorly (48 points) on
the Population per Route Km score as the only
significant settlement attached to the rail system
by the investment is Youghal itself. On Integration,
its score is poor (20 points), as it is a branch line
and does not link parts of the network. Moreover, it
does not contain a Gateway or Hub. With regard to
road competition, it again scores poorly (33 points),
as there is a National Primary Route in competition
with the line. It also scores poorly on the quality
of alternative bus services, as there are relatively
good bus links. The overall score of 33 out of 100
for this route means that it is a poor candidate
for reopening.

There are much more pressing transport needs in Cork than this.

sdanseo

https://www.google.ie/maps/@51.9371935,-7.8628873,3a,61.5y,288.31h,89.46t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjCO_KOTPK5vjh8YJrDy4pA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Look at the amount of clearance work that would be required. Compare that to the WRC and the fact that we connected Ireland's third and fourth cities with a railway and it is chronically under-utilised.

It's a no-go at the minute.

Now, clever planners would insist that any future large developments are built along its route and with the railway in mind, don't encroach on its path, etc. Then when population does demand it could be done. But this is Ireland, so don't hold out too much hope for that.

5rtytry56

sdanseo wrote: »

https://www.google.ie/maps/@51.9371935,-7.8628873,3a,61.5y,288.31h,89.46t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjCO_KOTPK5vjh8YJrDy4pA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Now, clever planners would insist that any future large developments are built along its route and with the railway in mind, don't encroach on its path, etc. Then when population does demand it could be done.

But this is Ireland, so don't hold out too much hope for that.

mariehazelwood

It would be great to be able to take the train from Cork to .Youghal beach for a day out.

boardsuser1

mariehazelwood wrote: »

It would be great to be able to take the train from Cork to .Youghal beach for a day out.

I'm not long in the door from the beach, the station building isn't looking the greatest.

While I was very young when the last train departure took place I don't remember it.

The one thing I'd love is a return journey to Youghal on the train. As time passes it's looking more and more remote.

mordeith

mariehazelwood wrote: »

It would be great to be able to take the train from Cork to .Youghal beach for a day out.

That's the problem. There wouldn't be enough of a demand on a service outside the summer months I'd say

marno21

mordeith wrote: »

That's the problem. There wouldn't be enough of a demand on a service outside the summer months I'd say

There would be a demand commuting wise if there was a viable way of getting to CIT/CUH/UCC/Apple/Mahon/EMC etc once you arrive in Kent Station.

IMO rapid transit in Cork needs to happen first, then open the railway to Youghal. It would be a very viable option to the N25. At the minute, even though the N25 is a mess in the mornings it's still faster than the bus.

Radio5

Yes it is the lack of joined up options that lets things down, You arrive at Kent station then what? It's on to a bus to crawl through the city centre traffic, even getting out to UCC can take an eternity. Whoever decided to narrow Western Rd to one lane was a real genius.

boardsuser1

Radio5 wrote: »

Yes it is the lack of joined up options that lets things down, You arrive at Kent station then what? It's on to a bus to crawl through the city centre traffic, even getting out to UCC can take an eternity. Whoever decided to narrow Western Rd to one lane was a real genius.

Thank god the Green part were booted out.

Look at the mess that crowd caused in 4 years of power.

surprised that disused lines like youghal and others around the country weren't a priority to get cars off the road.

Instead they increased it with the 'cheap tax'

namloc1980

marno21 wrote: »

There would be a demand commuting wise if there was a viable way of getting to CIT/CUH/UCC/Apple/Mahon/EMC etc once you arrive in Kent Station.

IMO rapid transit in Cork needs to happen first, then open the railway to Youghal. It would be a very viable option to the N25. At the minute, even though the N25 is a mess in the mornings it's still faster than the bus.

There is insufficient demand for a rail line to Youghal. The romantic days of the bucket and spade traffic heading to Youghal is long gone. It cost €75m to build the c10km line extension to Midleton so the additional 24km to Youghal would be coming up on €200m. With a population of c.7,000 in Youghal, the c.€200m it would cost to reopen the railway would get a lot more done in the city to improve transport options for multiples more people. That money would get you a high quality BRT corridor across the city.