The End for Youghal?

Population of Youghal is about 10k.
Hard to see enough passengers to justify rebuilding a train line, especially as the road will be upgraded, and thta will provide connectivity to Waterford as well as Cork. The wrc and Nenagh lines at least have potential for connecting to places at both ends.

XPS_Zero wrote: »

Surely it's time to scrap it OR open it, maintaining it while closed seems pointless

That was the mindset of fifty years ago.

loyatemu wrote: »

50 years ago they were closing lines that already had services running on them. These lines haven't seen a train in decades (in most cases) but are still costing money to maintain.

says CIE. the reality is rather different i suspect.
for example. youghal has had much of the track lifted for years. wrc had an inspection car i think 10 years ago. kingscourt has had nothing since 2002/3 i believe and is heavily over grown. athlone mullingar either a weedsprayer or inspection car around 2002/3 was the last movement apparently. costing money all right.

loyatemu wrote: »

This money comes from somewhere and could be better used somewhere else - it could even be used to improve services on (say) the Ballybrophy line (I don't actually think this is a good idea, but I'd rather see the transport budget spent on running transport than maintaining old infrastructure that has zero chance of being reopened).

you would swear we were talking about millions here. if this money even exists i suspect it will be a couple of grand to send someone to inspect the structures and nothing more. the only line which might be having a bit spent on it is rosslare waterford and even that has a 5mph speed on it now apparently, so wouldn't be costing barely anything. abandoning these lines won't bring improvements elswhere on the railway. that's not how we work in ireland.

loyatemu wrote: »

The big mistake in the past was selling off the land, or allowing it to fall into adverse possession, but we now have the option of turning old lines into Greenways, that's what should be done with all these lines (except maybe South Wexford as it's such a recent closure).

turning them into greenways doesn't guarantee the land can be taken back either. just look at the uk.

whisky_galore wrote: »

Next to impossible to prise them from the walkers and cyclists once they've got their hands on them.
There was a ridiculous situation in the uk where a branch could have been reopened to china clay traffic, but it was already converted into a so-called greenway. Heavy lorries thundering through small villages ended up being the only option. 'Greenway' my foot.

yes that's right. a certain group who are supposibly huge supporters of public transport, were behind the stifeling of the project. you couldn't make it up.

Quackster wrote: »

IE is in the process of transferring ownership of the Tralee/Fenit and North Kerry lines to Kerry Co Co. There was an issue over ducting the fibre that's laid along the North Kerry line which delayed things but that's been resolved now and the transfer should complete over the next few weeks.

Work is progressing on developing greenway on the sections from Tralee to Fenit and Abbeyfeale to Listowel and hopefully funding will be secured to progress these to construction in the very near future.

Definitely think this is the only realistic sensible option for most of the other lines, except those of particular strategic value such as Limerick/Foynes.

CIE Property takes aeons to do anything. The transfer won't make any difference to the obstructionists.

Mallow/Tralee will also make a fine Greenway in due course.

Quackster wrote: »

Don't worry, the 'obstructionists' are being dealt with.

We shall await with bated breath.

Hopefully it won't take as long as the other railway project in Kerry, the one we were promised in no uncertain terms would be up and running by now...

I work with suicide prevention amongst many other established voluntary help centres in areas like Youghal.
With the amount of weekly suicide attempts in and around Youghal and similar coastal towns that desperately need investment, in infrastructure and amenities. A few shillings towards reopening the line and reconnecting the town with the rest of the county and country would be the best incentive anyone can give to the town in these dark days.

Quackster wrote:

I must say I find the sheer contempt towards greenways by some here to be rather baffling. Denying rural communities a real tangible benefit now out of some deluded notion that it will ever make sense to reopen many of these railways is, well, deluded.

And deranged ideas of depriving greater economic prosperity to said rural economies isn't? Deluded he be but he sees the finite economic prospects of it through those rose tinted glasses.

end of the road wrote: »

none of us can say that it will never make sense to reopen these railways.

Within reason, there were railways built in isolated areas that never made sense, even in the days when the only competition was horse and cart.

Quackster wrote: »

Don't worry, the 'obstructionists' are being dealt with.

that sounds a bit ominous, like they're going to end up as part of the greenway.

n97 mini wrote: »

I'm not putting down the good work you do (fair play) but two things strike me about this post. Re-opening the line will only connect Youghal to Cork. There is already a road network (with buses) allowing people to travel far wider range of places. I doubt re-opening the line will make any difference to the problem.

Cork city, or specifically the southside has had a spate of these so it's not just isolated rural areas or coastal towns. Simply reopening a railway line is not a magic bullet solution.

end of the road wrote: »

areopening it (not that it will happen) would be a good way of encouraging people who wouldn't have thought about public transport before, to use it as an alternative to the car. existing roads with busses aren't really a good reason not to reopen it, it's whether it would generate enough traffic in it's own right.

And I'd agree that there wouldn't be much hope for youghal reopening if cobh juntion to Midleton was still one with nature but it isn't. It doesn't just connect youghal to cork. It connects to cork which connects to the wider rail network on the island.

" Irish Rail pointed out that while it is no longer obliged to operate train services on closed lines, it has to carry out structural inspections on the 387 bridges located on such routes to ensure their functionality and safety"


Don't these bridges need to be inspected even if the rail lines are formally closed?

The bridges could still collapse or get damaged at any time.

c montgomery wrote: »

I live in youghal and there is no need to waste money on this. Ideally spend any money improving the road from killeagh to castlemarter. It's full of potholes, dangerous to drive on a dirty night and was closed for 3 weeks this year due to flooding.

You'll be getting your way so and in twenty years time you'll probably be one of those shouting that the railway should be put back. :rolleyes:

MGWR wrote: »

For my part, I'm not against both. But having the government controlling both is a conflict of interest, and their preference for close to a century has been towards roads. These days, no matter how much the roads are improved (they won't get emptier), not having rail as alternative (which bypasses roads) means a detriment to not only commerce but quality of life.

But the N25 connects Youghal to Dungarvan and Waterford, as well as Middleton & Cork, whereas there will be no railway in Deise

My point is that opening the railway from Middleton to Youghal will only ever connect Youghal towards Cork, whereas improvements on the road connect Youghal to Cork, *and* Cork to Waterford. Which is a better return on investment. The terrain from Youghal to Dungarvan is difficult for a railway, which is why there was never one built, with the only way ever being through Cork and Mallow.
If Cork and Waterford are to get good transport connectivity, a road seems the most obvious method.

end of the road wrote: »

or we could do both. it's what normal countries (even ones similar to us) do.

With what money? There are far more pressing things that need the limited amount of it there is to go around.

end of the road wrote: »

or we could do both. it's what normal countries (even ones similar to us) do.

You are advocating building a brand new railway from Youghal to Waterford? and suggesting it's normal?
When even in the days the only motorised transport was railway, a line was never built linking the 2?

n97 mini wrote: »

That's a contradiction!

no it isn't.

n97 mini wrote: »

You spend the money on the more pressing things, leaving no money for the things that don't need it.

you have to leave money for the lesser needed things to be done later on.