Waterford -> Limerick Junction Train Line Mentioned in The Guardian

dzilla

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/jan/29/10-europes-best-rural-train-rail-journeys-branch-lines

Sad to see the demise of this line.

Harry Palmr

Good spot. It's not a done deal yet is it? Maybe this article can keep it going - or thinking laterally maybe it could be the "Greenway Express" linking the Waterford and Limerick Cycle routes. It's the sort of thing that could be done with an adapted shuttle bus chassis

dzilla

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Good spot. It's not a done deal yet is it? Maybe this article can keep it going - or thinking laterally maybe it could be the "Greenway Express" linking the Waterford and Limerick Cycle routes. It's the sort of thing that could be done with an adapted shuttle bus chassis

If the North Quays development was to happen surely there is potential for a commuter service to Carrick - Clonmel and Cahir.

lassykk

I meet that train every morning going to work around 7.20 at the level crossing in Newrath. There is rarely even a single person on it so it's no surprise if it's closed

azimuth17

If they ran the train from Clonmel to Waterford arriving before 9 am it would make great sense, WIT, UHW, work etc, . Then return as has been suggested, to Limerick, then back to Waterford to depart at 5,30 pm for Clonmel. The timetable is organised to close the line. A small increase in frequency could transform the line.

marvin80

Two questions:

What are the most scenic parts of that route while travelling on the train?

And if going from Limerick Junction to Waterford is there a better side to sit for those views?

I was on that train years ago but too young to appreciate it so wouldn't mind giving it a spin before they close it, which would be a shame.

As people have said the times of the trains are ridiculous.

Muttley79

There’s talks about getting this line up and running to its potential with a freight service linking Galway/limerick to both Waterford and rosslare ports for shipping to and from Europe now that using a land bridge over Britain will be effected with brexit.

BBM77

azimuth17 wrote: »

If they ran the train from Clonmel to Waterford arriving before 9 am it would make great sense, WIT, UHW, work etc, . Then return as has been suggested, to Limerick, then back to Waterford to depart at 5,30 pm for Clonmel. The timetable is organised to close the line. A small increase in frequency could transform the line.

It is possible to get the train from Waterford to Galway. But as you say the timetable is organised for the line to fail. Sensibly timed services for Waterford-Limerick-Galway and back would attract a lot of people. CIE don’t seem to want to make it work.

sweet_trip

The amount of commuter traffic between Waterford and Carrick/Clonmel/Cahir every day is crazy. It reminds me of the old Waterford to Dublin road, it's lethal and a head wreck to commute every day.
If IE gave two shíts about providing a decent rail service for the country there would be massive demand for this.


Between students, and workers, the trains would be packed if they had an 8am and 9am arrival into waterford, and 5/6/7pm departure towards Clonmel.


But nope, as others have said it's designed to fail. IE want to close the line.

It's a shambles anyway and so outdated and slow. The trains are often cancelled and a bus is put in place anyway.



As for it being a good scenic line? Eh, not really. It's a pretty dull line overall aside from some distant views of the around carrick and clonmel, and then the Galty's but it's not exactly breath taking.

dzilla

BBM77 wrote: »

It is possible to get the train from Waterford to Galway. But as you say the timetable is organised for the line to fail. Sensibly timed services for Waterford-Limerick-Galway and back would attract a lot of people. CIE don’t seem to want to make it work.

I think there are two suitable trains a day where you can change in Kildare that get you to Galway 3.5 hours.

BBM77

dzilla wrote: »

I think there are two suitable trains a day where you can change in Kildare that get you to Galway 3.5 hours.

https://www.irishrail.ie/IrishRail/media/Timetable-PDF-s/Heuston-timetables/12_WaterfordClonmelLimk.pdf

Meant you can get the train from Waterford to Galway via Limerick but it is not marketed. Not all routes have to radiate from Dublin. If it was timetabled to work it would be popular. Even with just students there would be a lot of potential passengers on the Waterford-Limerick-Galway line. The infrastructure is there why not make the most of it.

hardybuck

I would agree that the service looks crazy as organised, but there must be capacity issues at play on the line or lack of carriages as it probably costs them money to put on the service currently in place.

The bus does go every hour though?

Isthisthingon?

I took this train once purley for the novelty as I was visiting a friend in Limerick. I live in Carlow now and could of gone via Kildare but I said I'd go via Plunket. It was a Saturday Afternoon and I came down from Carlow.

There were about 5 people on that train and I think by the time we reached Limerick Junction there were only 2 of us left to go on to Colbert.

What struck me ( apart from the small passenger numbers ) was that virtually all the stations were unmanned and in terrible condition , boarded up buildings and sheds etc. Its a shame because in most of these small stations the buildings themselves are beautiful and of a bygone era. The Waterford Dublin Line is the same - at least ( for the most part) the buildings are maintained and used.

But as mentioned before - the schedules are ridiculous and CIE ( showing my age) will come back with the usual ' use it or lose it'

dzilla

BBM77 wrote: »

https://www.irishrail.ie/IrishRail/media/Timetable-PDF-s/Heuston-timetables/12_WaterfordClonmelLimk.pdf

Meant you can get the train from Waterford to Galway via Limerick but it is not marketed. Not all routes have to radiate from Dublin. If it was timetabled to work it would be popular. Even with just students there would be a lot of potential passengers on the Waterford-Limerick-Galway line. The infrastructure is there why not make the most of it.

Like the roads aswell. everything radiates to Dublin. if you put a Dual Carraigeway road from Waterford to Limerick we would have connectivity to all other cities via Cahir interchange onward to Galway / Limerick and southwards to Cork on the M8

Samsgirl

A lot of it has to do with the manual level crossings which need to be manned. IE won't pay the gate keepers to open / close the gates more frequently so they can't run the trains

91wx763

Samsgirl wrote: »

A lot of it has to do with the manual level crossings which need to be manned. IE won't pay the gate keepers to open / close the gates more frequently so they can't run the trains

Wrong. Same pay regardless. They might get a bit annoyed if there was a need to open the gates too frequently 🙂