Rail Lines to close ...?:

jd

Meant to post this earlier..o
I'm in the middle of work stuff so I'll add my views later

From IT breaking news..


SIPTU has warned Irish Rail against implementing rumoured plans to cut back rail services.

The warning comes following the circulation of rumours that railway lines between Arklow and Rosslare Harbour; Limerick Junction and Waterford; and between Waterford and Rosslare Harbour were to close.

Condemning any such move, Mr Tony Tobin, secretary of SIPTU's rail services division said while Irish Rail’s financial situation was a matter of concern, it would be the "height of folly" to start cutting back on rail services in the wake of a major investment programme in the rail network. He said such proposals would "vehemently opposed by SIPTU".

SIPTU warned against what it called "simplistic solutions" to Irish Rail’s financial difficulties following a meeting between senior management and trade unions in which the company forecast a €25 million budget deficit for this year. It also predicted further annual short-falls ranging from €36.2 million to € 50.6 million for the years up to 2006.

The union is calling for fare increases to be index-linked in order to avoid large increases which "understandably arouse opposition" from the travelling public. It also called on the Government to increase its subvention if it was reluctant to grant fare increases.

mike65

Jesus if there's any truth in that they might as well just close the whole network down, you can't get from Waterford to Cork now, in fact you always had to go via "Limerick Junction".

The private coach operators are doing very well, sounds like they'll be the only game in town soon...

Mike.

jd

The Dublin-Wexford Rosslaretrain is too slow, slower than bus eireann, and less frequent-a comment I picked up elsewhere-
Iarnrod Eireann are probably penalised financially in their subsidy structure if a train runs late (see service charter), so it is cheaper from a maintainance point of view, and general wear and tear to have a train running slower rather than it is capable of.

How Shortsighted of Ie, negate the risk of fines for being late, but drive the customers away from the service..
The Rosslare Waterford route should be a Wexford/Waterford route, there is a high volume of traffic between these two centers-course the journey time would have to improve substantially.
jd

merlante

I doubt any routes will be cancelled, since the government is always emphasising infrastructure and improving roads and rail. There is even some lobbying from Waterford about the introduction of a direct route to and from Dublin.

Of course you can't guarantee anything.

merlante

So Roslare port would have no rail link, whereas Fishguard and holyhead would ..how silly is that??

Mind you I was on the early Roslare train (805am, I think) from Connolly recently on a tueday and it was practically empty.
the other trains seem pretty full.

If you can't make a profit from a full train-it's not the route thats wrong, it's the way it's managed.

And imagine a town like Wexford without a train service??
mm

jd

Originally posted by madman
So Roslare port would have no rail link, whereas Fishguard and holyhead would ..how silly is that??

Mind you I was on the early Roslare train (805am, I think) from Connolly recently on a tueday and it was practically empty.
the other trains seem pretty full.

That train gets in quite late in the morning, so its useless for any type of business. Also it acts as a commuter train(starts in maynooth) as well, and the extra stops add time to the journey..

mike65

They were talking about this on the one o'clock news today (monday) and the Limereick Junction line to Waterford got a mention again. The SIPTU guy mentioned how the Wateford - Mallow line was "mothballed" in 1964 and of course it never ran again, indeed it does'nt exist anymore.

The Irish Rail chappie said nothing was closing in the forseable future (ie the next 5 mins).

They were also talking about ending all freight services
which is madness, thats the kind of thing the government should be encouraging.

Mike.

sceptre

Originally posted by mike65
The SIPTU guy mentioned how the Wateford - Mallow line was "mothballed" in 1964 and of course it never ran again, indeed it does'nt exist anymore.

'Twas 1967 but close enough (I assume that was his date, not yours).

I use to live near to it about a mile outside Mallow. There are new housing estates running on about half a mile of the line now.

Thw Cork-Youghal line was pulled up a few years ago and hasn't been replaced despite the calls of some people (it's the reason the Cork-Cobh line veers at almost a right angle - it was originally a spur). Chances are they'll not be putting the track down again, which is a shame as it would be another comuter option if they upgraded the line properly. I'm not aware of the status of the Waterford-enar to Dungarvan line (connecting the two lines would have resulted in a direct Cork-Waterford route)

Much of the lack of use has come from the shoddy state of the lines (like the Dublin-Sligo route). The trains run so slow on some lines due to the 10mph speed limits around the country that it really isn't worth taking the train a lot of the time.

SNCF closed many of the lesser-used French lines about fifteen years ago and ran regular bus services instead. I don't know if that would be a solution on some of the Irish lines (almost certainly on the Nenagh-Birdhill-Limerick line though as an example) - the service would have to be regular and reliable.

Removing the freight services sounds particularly nutty though. Especially in the case of ammonia transportation - I wouldn't like to see it moved to the roads.

jd

For those interested-there is a site here
http://groups.msn.com/IrishRailwayNews/general.msnw?pgmarket=en-gb

No search function, but there may be stuff under documents..
ohn

mike65

Originally posted by sceptre


I'm not aware of the status of the Waterford-to Dungarvan line (connecting the two lines would have resulted in a direct Cork-Waterford route)

The Dungarvan line closed to passanger traffic in 1968
and was kept open after that only for a freight. The line closed in 1982 and was torn up fully only a few years back. Now a section has been relayed from Waterford to Kilmeaden, 6 miles from Plunket Station and its home to a narrow guauge steam train.

Removing the freight services sounds particularly nutty though. Especially in the case of ammonia transportation - I wouldn't like to see it moved to the roads.

With some planning alot of bulk cargo could be put on rails using "slide-on/off" designs which are used elsewhere in Europe for transporting cars for example.

Mike.

jd

From the Indo
"CIE insisted last night that the Dublin-Rosslare rail route is not under threat as Irish Rail continues to review its network.


A delegation led by Junior Minister John Browne met CIE chairman Dr John Lynch yesterday to press for further investment in rail services linking Wexford to the capital and the mid-west.


He assured the group that further investment and upgrading of the Dublin-Rosslare line is on the way but acknowledged that a recommendation would be put to the CIE board at a meeting on November 6 to curtail services on the Rosslare-Limerick line.


Speaking after the meeting, Mr Browne said the CIE chairman hoped a seasonal service would be maintained to meet the needs of the sugar beet industry. "Dr Lynch stated that the beet was losing substantial amounts of money but confirmed the company are looking at seasonal trains for the beet, but there was no final decision on that," he said.

"


It looks like the threat to close part of the Dublin Rosslare line was a bit of a red herring (it was never going to happen)-it allows ie to close the rosslare limerick line with less of a backlash...