Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

Muckyboots wrote: »

Quackster wrote: »

eastwest wrote: »

Once it's extended to Dublin on the Barrow way and grand canal, it will be logical to extend it towards Cork, so I'd say that West of dungarvan is already a plan.

The Youghal line would be out of the question for a number of reasons so routing it to Mallow would make the most sense.

Also having one end (or both if possible) of every greenway connect directly with the rail network world greatly facilitate end-to-end use, especially by tourists, and bolster patronage of the rail network at the same time.

As would Athenry & Claremorris on a WRC convert. They understand this in Athenry.

An Athenry-Claremorris-Collooney trail would be well served by rail connections and would add business to three rail routes.
Not that that is of interest to the anti-tourism brigade.

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

eastwest wrote: »

An Athenry-Claremorris-Collooney trail would be well served by rail connections and would add business to three rail routes.
Not that that is of interest to the anti-tourism brigade.

Let's say a greenway gets opened between Athenry - Claremorris - Collooney, you have identified possible increased rail business and one potential 'by-product' of this. Do you think other areas would see increased businesses? If so, what? And would any new businesses emerge as a result of the greenway?

The typical downstream jobs from long trails are accommodation, food, bike hire and taxi/minibus hire. Waterford has already seen a surge of jobs in these sectors in Kilmacthomas and dungarvan in particular.
Since most of this spending is done locally with local businesses, the money tends to stay local and to be spent between two and three times in the area with other providers -- builders, supermarkets, shops etc etc. Rural tourism has the highest distributive effect of any sector.
The chances of getting money from somebody passing through your town on a train are pretty much zero, unless he drops his wallet out the window, but a cyclist or Walker has to eat, drink and sleep somewhere.

Muckyboots wrote: »

eastwest wrote: »

The typical downstream jobs from long trails are accommodation, food, bike hire and taxi/minibus hire. Waterford has already seen a surge of jobs in these sectors in Kilmacthomas and dungarvan in particular.
Since most of this spending is done locally with local businesses, the money tends to stay local and to be spent between two and three times in the area with other providers -- builders, supermarkets, shops etc etc. Rural tourism has the highest distributive effect of any sector.
The chances of getting money from somebody passing through your town on a train are pretty much zero, unless he drops his wallet out the window, but a cyclist or Walker has to eat, drink and sleep somewhere.

It has also been well established that sense of community, local confidence that come naturally high quality living space and a healthy environment are as important to foreign multinationals wanting to invest in Ireland as transport & connectivity. Hence the success of http://westcorktech.ie
"West Cork’s natural beauty, it’s amenities and sense of community can offer companies and individuals all the benefits of location in an area which offers every attraction in terms of business, communication, transport and infrastructure" And don't fall for the East Galway is not West Cork argument.

The IDA uses 'quality of life' as one of the criteria when assessing investment locations, because it is near the top of the list for personnel managers tasked with staffing major projects.
Another important factor that is often overlooked is that rural tourism helps make the difference between profit or loss for many small businesses that communities need. The restaurant or small shop that we use half a dozen times a year won't survive on our spending, but we like it to be there when we need it. The much maligned 'Dublin 4 types on bikes' (as detractors like to style tourists) are the ones who keep services alive in many rural places.

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

eastwest wrote: »

The typical downstream jobs from long trails are accommodation, food, bike hire and taxi/minibus hire. Waterford has already seen a surge of jobs in these sectors in Kilmacthomas and dungarvan in particular.
Since most of this spending is done locally with local businesses, the money tends to stay local and to be spent between two and three times in the area with other providers -- builders, supermarkets, shops etc etc. Rural tourism has the highest distributive effect of any sector.
The chances of getting money from somebody passing through your town on a train are pretty much zero, unless he drops his wallet out the window, but a cyclist or Walker has to eat, drink and sleep somewhere.

Thanks - there were the ones I thought but was wondering if there were any less obvious ones as I wouldnt know as others on this thread about greenways / railways.

In Northumberland, a region very similar to East mayo/east Galway and south sligo, the initial impact of the hadrians wall path was accommodation-- mostly B&Bs at first and then campsites. Then the camping barns started to develop, small farmers converting disused sheds to hostel like accommodation, something that has spread and made many small farms viable. The next phase was the reopening of pubs and shops, and the refurbishment of existing hotels with a surge in employment in construction. A number of taxi firms now make a nice income from shuttling walkers to and from the points where they finished the night before to accommodation.
The most unexpected downstream jobs came from the two companies set up to carry luggage from place to place. These now run vans all along the route, not only carrying luggage but also other supplies to accommodation providers. A bus route also developed parallel to the trail, something that has proved a boon to people living along the route as well as to the hikers it was set up to serve.
The hadrians wall path has saved a dying region and completely turned it's fortunes around; the biggest bonus for locals, apart from jobs and income opportunities has been the revival of services locally -- shops, pubs and cafes have reopened or been saved from closure.

JCX BXC wrote: »

How is Northumberland similar to East mayo? The population within an hour of it is into the millions, compared to about 100,000 for mayo.

Poor land, subsistence sheep farming, wet climate, towns and villages in decline, all the young people gone, no jobs, shops, pubs and hotels closed. Sound familiar?
Then the National lottery gave them 7 million pounds to develop what became a 'must do' long-distance trail, and the place came back from the dead.
Still, being waved at from a slow train by six pensioners on a day out will be good for Kiltimagh, whenever it happens.
With varadkar as taoiseach, given his scathing dismissal of the politically driven first phase of the wrc, and his assertion that this mistake won't be repeated, that 'whenever' seems a hundred years away, at best. So what to do in the meantime, let it rot?

marno21 wrote: »

hytrogen wrote: »

I have to say I'm disappointed to hear that the emergency services had such a challenge trying to get an injured walker off the Achill greenway at the weekend. No forward planning or contingency thoughts made when developing that greenway for emergency situations..

Not an issue for the Tuam-Collooney greenway given the frequency of level crossings along the route.

Could be an issue for the fantasy 'stop the greenway' greenway proposed by West on track. The one that goes from nowhere to nowhere, connecting everything to nothing.

I'll see your imaginary train, and raise you one bridge.

Muckyboots wrote: »

eastwest wrote: »

I'll see your imaginary train, and raise you one bridge.

I see your bridge and slip a deep sea port at Foynes from under the deck to make a "western straight".

Hard luck. I have a priest and two Bishops, and two 'shur ya never knows'.

Sam Russell wrote: »

eastwest wrote: »

You may well be right, but railways need two things, high population densities and enough people willing to use them.
The problem in Ireland has been that politics and not logic has dictated investment in rail.

- or lack of investment.

They made investment, but in the wrong areas. The money wasted in building and subsidising the ennis athenry debacle coukd have been used to good effect, such as imoriving running times on dublin sligo ir building Dublin Navan for instance. Or anywhere with the customer base to sustain it.

Muckyboots wrote: »

Isambard wrote: »

Del.Monte wrote: »

I can't remember if this https://fundit.ie/project/save-the-quiet-man-train-station has been posted on this thread before, but surely it's something all you Greenway fans should be supporting. I won't be as they have already gravelled over the rails. [/QUOTE

I agree with Delboy. The track(s) should be preserved within station limits not gravelled over or removed.

They are trying to stop the roof from falling in and to use the building as a community centre. Very small local group who don't want to get fragmented with a rail v trail split. Simple stuff.

I agree, they are at least trying to preserve some heritage.

marno21 wrote: »

Del.Monte wrote: »

Will you be saying the same when there's a greenway from Mallow to Killarney instead of the train?

There will never be a closure of the Mallow-Killarney line. Any notions there will be are nuts.

I don't think 'nuts' is the word you're looking for. I would have said 'prophetic'.