Sam Russell wrote: » There is insufficient rolling stock throughout IR. Even new stock will not be enough to cover the Dart expansion, as they need more to run the current 10 min Dart service. Dart expansion is for extra services to Maynooth, and Drogheda and Hazelhatch, plus the shortfall on the current Dart service. There will be no spare. The intercity ones are currently running the PPT service when it should be commuter trains. Those Intercity ones are needed elsewhere on the network. They will be short of rolling stock for years. Anyway, I doubt that this bit of land will ever see a train again this century.
Sam Russell wrote: » If one were to be building a new rail connection between Tuam and Galway, would it not be better to build it along the N83 (old N17) which is 35 km, open countryside for the most part, and direct. Google gives the time for a car as 35 mins and 33 km, and surely a modern train on a new alignment would beat that. Put a few P&R stops along the way, and it might make sense. I think the old alignment makes no sense at all as it is a long way round (46 km vs 33 km), needs a complete rebuild, and there are no trip generators, nor any locals to use it. Plus the Athenry to Galway line needs to be upgraded (but that is needed anyway).
Isambard wrote: » If the money was available to build new rail routes as you suggest, there would be perhaps dozens of places ahead of Tuam in the queue. Just in Cork off the top of my head, I'd say Mitchelstown, Fermoy, Bandon, Macroom .
Sligo eye wrote: » The point is though that they aren’t in the queue. But if you want to start a campaign to get rails back to those towns I for one will gladly join in.
Sam Russell wrote: » But we have just built a motorway from Ennis to Athenry and then Tuam, do we need another major piece of infrastructure to join them up? Galway is the trip generator, not Tuam, not Gort, and not Ennis. The Motorway should have gone to Galway, not Athenry.
Losty Dublin wrote: » So the M17 should have gone from Tuam to Galway?
end of the road wrote: » i suspect he is talking about diesel sets, dart expansion will clear out the 29s from dublin in all likely hood, or at least that is what should happen. tuam wouldn't be electrified anyway i would imagine, so no EMUS being available wouldn't effect it.
Greaney wrote: » The Western Rail Corridor isn't ultimatly going to Tuam, it's going to Sligo. Tuam is just phase 2 (which was suppossed to be finished in 2011. Phase 1: Ennis to Athenry 58 km / 36 miles (€74.7 million) Phase 2: Athenry to Tuam 25 km / 15.5 miles (€34.7 million) Phase 3: Tuam to Claremorris (subject to study of rail freight demand or in conjunction with phase 2) 27 km / 17 miles (€58.9 million) Phase 4: Claremorris to Collooney (subject to further feasibility studies and possibly justifiable on the grounds of balanced regional development) 74.43 km / 46.25 miles (€197.4 million) Transport 21 On 1 November 2005 the Transport 21 plan was launched committing government expenditure of €34 billion between 2006 and 2015 on road, rail and light rail projects. The Western Railway Corridor commitments under this plan were largely those recommended by the McCann Report: 2009 – Opening of Ennis-Athenry section 2011 – Opening of Athenry-Tuam section 2014 – Opening of Tuam-Claremorris section
[Deleted User] wrote: » That's all good and well however the shockingly poor performance of the Ennis - Athenry section has put the rest of the line to bed forever. Sligo CoCo are now committed to changing the use to a greenway. Galway CoCo applied for funding also for a feasibility study on converting it to a greenway. As for your earlier posts about oodles of students using it, that's just not true. There is publicly available data from the schools themselves that show bugger all students use the existing rail line. If you have data that says otherwise, I invite you to show it. Btw, anecdotal evidence doesn't merit further discussion
Deleted User wrote: » That's all good and well however the shockingly poor performance of the Ennis - Athenry section has put the rest of the line to bed forever. As for your earlier posts about oodles of students using it, that's just not true. There is publicly available data from the schools themselves that show bugger all students use the existing rail line. If you have data that says otherwise, I invite you to show it.
Greaney wrote: » Crikey, I don't know where you're getting your information!! Everyone knows the number are climbing very healthily... This is from Feb 2020PASSENGER NUMBERS SOAR ON WESTERN RAIL CORRIDOR
Sligo eye wrote: » This is a classic example of propaganda put out by the anti rail movement that makes all sorts of false statements about the railway without any actual data to back those statements up.
donvito99 wrote: » How many times does it need to be said that anti-continuation of a meandering railway service to Sligo via nowhere and Tuam is not anti-rail.
Sligo eye wrote: » Sorry, but I’ve been “an interested bystander” of your campaign for some years now and most of it consists of mealy mouthed rhetoric such as the post above. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc.
Accidentally wrote: » I'm getting really tired of this nonsense where a surge in commuter numbers from Oranmore to Galway is being attributed to the western rail corridor. I think everyone agrees that double tracking to Athenry or further would be a good idea, but it has sod all to do with the western rail corridor.
L1011 wrote: » The 29s will need a mid life full refit by then - don't be surprised if a few cars succumb to corrosion; and the 2600s will be over 30 and at risk of being scrapped rather than refit also. They (2600) are probably worth refitting but the maths may say no - as long as we get to see the maths and aren't told to trust it like with the Mk3s So don't expect all released 29ks to be available for other services basically.
Deleted User wrote: » That's all good and well however the shockingly poor performance of the Ennis - Athenry section has put the rest of the line to bed forever. Sligo CoCo are now committed to changing the use to a greenway. Galway CoCo applied for funding also for a feasibility study on converting it to a greenway. As for your earlier posts about oodles of students using it, that's just not true. There is publicly available data from the schools themselves that show bugger all students use the existing rail line. If you have data that says otherwise, I invite you to show it. Btw, anecdotal evidence doesn't merit further discussion
end of the road wrote: » if they are getting on a train that originates from limerick then they are part of that train. if that train wasn't running, they wouldn't be there.
Sam Russell wrote: » That is equivalent to justifying the Rosslare to Dublin line using figures for commuters to Dubin from Greystones, or Rathdrum. Not all trains that go from Limerick to Ennis continue to Athenry Only 4 trains a day go from Ennis to Galway each way. Of course, Limerick to Galway takes two hours. It is one hour 20 mins non-stop.
Sam Russell wrote: » The M17 and the M18 were built too far East. Or more importantly, the M18/M17 should have been built going South East from Limerick and be called the M20.
Accidentally wrote: » Greany, We can pretend as much as you want, but the truth is no one outside of Irish Rail and WRC enthusiasts would expect commuter figures for Oranmore to be included in WRC passenger numbers. It is deceitful at best. I grew up in the countryside with no public transport, where you hitched and begged lifts wherever you could. I now bring kids wherever they need to go, but it doesn't stop at 12 or 13, it stops when they learn how to drive. To me the WRC is a solution in search of a problem, and Tuam-Galway commuting appears to be one(if not the primary)problem it proposes to fix. It would appear that I am one of the target customers for the WRC, as I regularly travel between Tuam and Galway. Here are the issues I have. 1. I want to travel to Galway, and have no desire to travel to Athenry, or spend time connecting there. It might be okay as a one off, but it is not something I would consider on a daily basis. I don't think there's even a bus service between the two towns, so there is minimal local demand between the two towns. 2. To be useful you would need a regular service(every hour?), but I cannot see passenger numbers supporting this, especially for a connecting service. 3. Burke's cover the city centre, colleges, business parks and some estates. Rail would cover city centre only, with a bus or walk required for the others. In short, bus and car already cover the needs of people in Tuam. Rail would provide minimal benefit for a huge investment, which could be much better used elsewhere. If you want to invest in rail, reopen the line to Navan, where you already have the numbers. Even Athlone-Mullingar would make more sense that Athenry-Tuam.
end of the road wrote: » where are you getting the idea that it would be a connecting service, we don't know what the service pattern would be as it has not even to my knowledge been discussed. it's an assumption made with no basis from what i can see, made on the basis that the driver has to change ends at athenry which is not an issue these days with multiple unit trains. bus and car may just about provide the needs for some, but it is never going to be thee sollution and galway cannot take any more cars hence rail being needed and talked about, and bus is not going to be the transport option to cut that car traffic because if it was, it would have done it long ago.
Sam Russell wrote: » The trains leaving Tuam are destined for Galway or Limerick? The trains leaving Ennis are going to Tuam or Galway? The trains going from Limerick Junction to Ennis go via Limerick and have to change ends, so why not at Athenry? Is this thought through?
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