"Iarnród Éireann to spend €500m boosting rail freight services by 2040"

Itssoeasy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118265027#Comment_118265027

Oh where to start on this post

• there is one 001 in running order out a total of four preserved so no a good few aren’t in running order or near it and also they are well over 50 years old and aren’t far off being longer out of service then they were in service.
• there is two baby gms is working order which are B141 and 146 but again they aren’t young locos and the ones that aren’t scraped haven’t run in years. As @endoftheroad rightly pointed out the non push pull 201s would be a stretch to get working so the baby gms have less chance than Bob hope coming back to life.
• There’s one 121 in Connolly shed which is being worked on and has been repainted and looks well, but given it’s a single cab loco when lots of places on the Irish network are dead ended and it can’t run bonnet first it’s not very useful now is it ?
• I will concede that the mk3s being cut up was a poor move.
• What large amount of wagons ? I’ve seen a couple in Kent station but that was before that yard was gutted, and any siding that isn’t in use was ripped up.
• you talk as if ringaskiddy is youhgal and it could be reconnected somewhat easily(obviously there’s a lot involved in youghal) Was it ever even connected to any rail line ?

L1011

There is no circumstance in the world where they're going to use heritage locos for mainline. Just get the idea out of your head

The Mk3s were cut up (shouldn't have been, but they're done); they are not going to throw huge amounts of money to convert 2700s or 8200s to loco hauled - the effort required to do that to a modern train is immense, its not like pulling slam doors original-2600s where you just need to connect brake lines and lighting power.

The only retired stock that could ever come back to mainline are some of the 201s. And that's even unlikely.

The CB&P alignment is narrow gauge, runs through housing and terminates in the city - not at the existing rail alignment. It would not be reused for any rail link to Ringaskiddy. If there's going to be a rail link it won't be using that alignment.

Markcheese

What exactly do people envision being carried on this reinvigorated rail freight service - Irish rail couldn't run rail freight when we didn't have a motorway network,and they had rail connected ports and freight yards.. I don't see them being capable of competeing with trucks on motorways now ,except maybe for mine traffic...

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118265402#Comment_118265402

Irish Rail ran piles of rail freight pre-motorway - until Bell went bust, and then the ILDA strike encouraged the move of Guinness, Irish Cement, IFI to road.

With rising road diesel prices, truck driver shortages and so on there is a market to get containers back. Getting a distribution partner who can handle rail depot to final site would help hugely - Irish Rail should not try return to that market themselves as its not their competency.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the truck motorway speed limit returned to 80km/h as an environmental measure too.

They were not competitive in an era of cheap road diesel, no truck driver shortages, 90km/h motorway speed limits on an expanding motorway network and so on. Times have changed.

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118265402#Comment_118265402

If one is serious about carbon emissions and carbon pricing, rail should regain an advantage over trucks, especially on longer-distance routes from ports. IE already are competitive on long runs from Waterford and Dublin to Ballina.

If you read the IE document, they mention other potential bulk traffics. Also there are examples from the UK and Europe of rail being competitive in situations similar to those found in Ireland.

Sad to see a changed and positive approach by IA met with such negativity. I feel that the greatest danger to this development will be from the entrenched interests in the NTA and the DoT

Jamie2k9

Not read the report in detail however it's really a marketing gimmick. I am not sure freight will ever increase to projected levels and that isn't all down to IE.

New Wagons, Timber operating to Belview, Cork-Dublin container, Other Timber flows are possibly the most achievable targets this side of 2030. The development at Limerick J is positive and could work well for container flow out of Cork.

Losty Dublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118265431#Comment_118265431

IFI traffic ceased when IFI closed it's Irish operatons. Contrary to urban myths it had little to do with the ILDA whatsoever. Guinness had been winding down keg traffic from the late 90's onwards in favour of a logistic model of point to point combined keg and gas deliveries while they considered closing their Irish brewing concerns. Likewise, Gypsum traffic had been winding down from a train a day to about a train a week. When it did go to road haulage in 2001, it was carried by a CIE road haulage subsidiary.

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118268004#Comment_118268004

Jamie2k9, you should read the report just a little more before being so dismissive. I am really pleased to see IE take the initiative and make what looks like a good case: the NTA and DoT bureaucracies would take forever and spend millions on consultants before producing any sort of document.

We are living in changed times. If the emissions question is so serious as to warrant electrifying private car transport, then its surely serious enough to warrant shifting from trucks to trains, which when suitably loaded emit less than quarter the amount of CO2 per tonne-km. If the railways were electrified, emissions could be halved again and if the electricity was generated by wind, hydro, solar or nuclear you could virtually get to zero.

I get a little tired about excessive focus on new lines (usually in the West) which neglects the urgent need to remove pinch-points on the existing network and enable significantly greater capacity. The IE freight proposal quite properly focuses on this.

The document is a huge challenge to a transport minister who is also leader of the Green party.

L1011

Randomly checking something on Google Maps in Sligo and noticed that the container gantry seems to still be there on the Sligo Quay branch

And probably in serviceable condition too

Obviously needs someone to want to use it, and loco/wagon availability, and the branch to be reconnected, for that to ever happen though.