Western Rail Corridor / Rail Trail Discussion

Westernview

Irish Rail is praising Baxter's ambition in changing over to rail to move their product to Waterford and also their commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Also mentions the possibility of linking to Foynes and the increasing demand from industry to switch to rail.

https://www.con-telegraph.ie/2023/06/07/iarnrod-eireann-welcomes-baxter-healthcare-aboard-rail-freight-services-from-mayo-to-waterford/

Hodges

I see from RTÉ news that the Kiltimagh Velorail has opened.

mayo.mick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120695782#Comment_120695782

Kinda puts an end to any trains back on that section again, anytime soon? Good to see a mini greenway along the middle of it though.

brianc89

I thought this was a Monorail joke or something. But I see it's very real and looks super cool.

Hotblack Desiato

The joke is on ratepayers.

mayo.mick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120696829#Comment_120696829

€800,000 I think RTE stated the project received in funding. Looked on the booking site there, very limited operating hours.

Hotblack Desiato

They might as well have done a KLF and shoved the hundreds of thousands in notes into a fire for all the fúcking good it'll do.

Voters should be asking very hard questions before the next local elections but.. they won't

CatInABox

Was reading into it there, and it all seems so.... not well thought out. You can't go out on your own, staff (I assume volunteers) will cycle along behind, they'll be the ones that open the crossing gates and turn your cart around when you get to the end. There's only one departure time available, 3pm, and it costs €40 no matter the size of the cart used.

Look, far play to them for going through with it, but I can't see how this is better than a greenway. It's significantly worse in every way. You can only use it at certain times, you need a staff member to come with you at all times, you can't bring pets on it, it only fits a standard wheelchair, you can't use it to travel as you have to cycle the cart back at the end.

whisky_galore

I can't see this being a roaring success. It's pricey, you can't just rock up any old time and all respect to the area it's a tourist backwater and hardly outstandingly scenic.

Their website is vague as to what distance it covers 'several kilometers' and how long the 'experience' takes.

Decades

A joke. A grudge induced vanity project. €800,000 up in smoke. A town that badly needs infrastructure investment gets a proverbial hot air balloon ride on any given Sunday (when the operator feels up to it) instead.

Maybe the investigations into the funding pushed them to finally open it

Though I use the word "open" very loosely here

Westernview

I'm usually positive towards new initiatives but it's hard to see how the velorail will be a success. 40 quid a go as mentioned above and even if it were free realistically how many people will try it more than once. Even the locals won't when they have to pay each time.

The beauty of greenways is that they are free and you have more autonomy in that you can go on them anytime you like and choose a length suitable for your fitness levels or time constraints. They also appeal to walkers and joggers.

I wish the velorail well and I hope I am proven wrong but it's difficult to see it working.

Hotblack Desiato

How the hell did that "brainwave" ever get past the most cursory examination? Somebody somewhere must be on the take because it's stupidity beyond belief.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120703562#Comment_120703562

It requires tracks so was acceptable to those who think that train services might be reinstated. At this stage, it's less about what goes on the alignment and more about keeping a greenway off it for some people. MCC are of that mindset too and have the experience and resources to put into dressing up grant applications regardless of how poor the rationale is.

The folly of it will become clear quite quickly, they'll have to keep it open for all of this summer but I'd be amazed if it sees out next summer. This whole experience will do wonders for Greenways going forward.

tom.....

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120700525#Comment_120700525

With the road crossings i suppose they have to restrict it, that knock road is busy

3pm *3 weekly you'd wonder where they got the original projections from

tom.....

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120700875#Comment_120700875

It looks dead in the water €40 a shot they'll be lucky to break into double figures a week

It's mad money what are they thinking

I'm assuming they'll be mostly going northbound on the less busy kilkelly side

Closing the knock road is no small undertaking for a procession of carriages . Would it not have been simpler to depart north of the kilkelly crossing from where the carriages are stored ,forget the southside and dispense with road crossings altogether

end of the road

i'm sure those who operate the project have done all of their homework and made the decisions from there.

presumably if there is decent usage then operating hours and more volunteers will happen.

obviously the council were convinced by the arguments of the promotors of the project beyond reasonable doubt hence the funding.

realistically there is no big thing here, just people crying foul because they didn't get their greenway, which is fine but is not reason to think there is anything amiss or dodgy with this project.

it has opened when doubters said it wouldn't, it is open and whether it will be successful or not time will tell.

Decades

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120706447#Comment_120706447

"time will tell" Translation; "I too am not overly convinced of its success"

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120706602#Comment_120706602

no, just simply time will tell.

tom.....

"doubters" ?

Sure it was only a tiny little project

A shed few gates and signs repair a bit of track

Buy in the carriages

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120706447#Comment_120706447

It's incorrect to say people here have doubts about it just because it isn't a greenway. It can be judged on its own merits separately. I for one just don't think it will be a success based on the reasons already stated. I honestly hope I'm wrong though.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120706447#Comment_120706447

I'm not convinced people will drive out of their way to pedal a contraption at a designated time that goes from Kiltimagh to a few miles outside Kiltimagh and back again. That's all it is, that's it.

Unremarkable scenery and no great engineering features of note. Even if it was a greenway and free to use it wouldn't have the volumes of Westport-achill or Waterford-dungarvan.

brianc89

pedal a contraption at a designated time that goes from Kiltimagh to a few miles outside Kiltimagh and back again

😂😂😂 I still think it sounds Great!

Can someone volunteer to actually do it and report back?! I won't be in the area for a few weeks.

I'm baffled as to why anyone would go on it though. Maybe you'll get some who will try it once but its unlikely you'll ever get repeat trade for what is, essentially, a cycle at the pace of the slowest, supervised, on a set track, at a set time, for 40 quid a head and only available when someone volunteers to run it

What donkey thought giving this nearly 1 million in public funding was a good idea. Its no wonder the funding shenanigans are under investigation. Something smells off about the whole venture

CatInABox

Look, it may turn out to be a success, and I actually wish them well doing it, but I just can't see it. There's just so much weirdness about it, from the cost, to the requirement for volunteers, to the schedules, almost everything about it tells me that it's going to be a failure.

Can anyone imagine someone going on this twice? Like, someone from Mayo, driving to Kiltimagh, and then paying €40 a second time to do this? It's definitely a one and done thing, and once the greenway opens up the road, this is going to pale significantly in comparison. That's going to have repeat users from all around.

Meanwhile, in Sligo CoCo, the greenway project (free, use any time, no supervision etc) moves ahead to public consultation

https://sligogreenway.ie/whats-happening-now/

Galway CoCo look to be moving to a design stage as well for their section I think. Anyone know what became of the feasibility study there?

Pete_Cavan

How do they justify the €40 fee when the equipment was paid for by the taxpayer and it is being run by "volunteers"? I would have thought insurance could have fallen under MCC general PL.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120708241#Comment_120708241

It sounds dead boring, chaperoned "fun".

Maybe the concept would work well in an established, especially scenic tourist circuit where you need only grab them once, but not in a part of Mayo where a tourist is a rare sight.

Locals may try it once, if the cost doesn't put them off, and that's it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120697940#Comment_120697940

How much was raised locally, surely they had to get a decent chunk themselves?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120711039#Comment_120711039

Its all public funding

300k through Mayo CoCo

200k through LEADER

and the rest through some other allocations e.g. Ring approved a 120k allocation that ended up in the papers because it was against the rules.

Mayo CoCo ended up having to pay back 80k to the govt when they got caught

There's also questions over the allocation of EU funding with talks of audits and investigations happening due to that as well

All in all, it looks like a right mess and may end up causing some kind of a tribunal before its all said and done due to the amount of rule breaking in the funding allocations to this particular project