westtip wrote: » Sean Canney a mate of Lord Ross . .
Muckyboots wrote: » Not true at the heel of the hunt. Remember, Sean lost by a unanimious decision of the judges when the Boxer challenged and he left the party early only to come back to Gov as a non AI independent . Sean said on GBFM that he "would be the last person in the country to see the report". Anyway water under the bridge for all parties at this stage. So many intended and unintended puns in there, I've lost count.
Deleted User wrote: » Any predictions? Rail is viable, rail isn't viable, fudge. I vote fudge.
Muckyboots wrote: » I vote "Rail isn't viable.....but followed by, "I am a Green Minister for Transport and carbon emissions won't decrese and climate change won't be stopped if we use viability as a qualifier". He should have thrown the report in the bin and just get on with his promise of rolling out a national interconnected greenway network. Open rails services where they are needed.
Pete_Cavan wrote: » I'd say what is most likely is that the report states something like the railway isn't viable but if you look really far into the future and squint really hard, maybe it could be an option, you never know! The net result being the Greenway is resisted and the line continues to rot for another generation. Some will even consider that to be progress.
Del.Monte wrote: » Good news? https://www.con-telegraph.ie/2020/09/19/mayo-expectant-over-rail-corridor-delivery/?fbclid=IwAR3DM2ZOky8ej_1cB3vRvlnt5nO6CN80m1n7Cv5MB70KjhJR8SaTVL2vOUg
Muckyboots wrote: » What is the benefit of connecting international airports by rail? Is it so people from the UK can fly into Knock but return via Shannon, therefore avoiding the development charge ?
seekers wrote: » Is there talk of an announcement in the autumn on this line reopening?
eastwest wrote: » Any day now, I'd say. ;-) ;-)
Del.Monte wrote: » Right through to Letterkenny by the end of next year I heard.
eastwest wrote: » Oh, I didn't know there was a delay in the project.
eastwest wrote: » Anyone who watched the Dail TV this morning will now understand the end game in this debate, an outcome I have often predicted. The west is again getting nothing, but that will be dressed up in a pile of reports, the likes of which we have never seen. Eamon Ryan clearly knows little of what goes on west of the Shannon, his answers to Dara Callearey in the Dail chamber today were straight from the WOT phrasebook, all about freight on the WRC. It is clear that he hasn't read the WDC report that contradicts all that with facts, but Ryan is inspired by some higher power obviously. Yesterday he told the Dail that the rail report is being reviewed by another consultancy company, after which the review of the review will be reviewed by Eamon Ryan, who has his mind made up about freight volumes in the west according to his impassioned speech this morning, with his new transport expert friend Eamon O'Cuiv looking very pleased in the background. So, here's what will happen. The review will be reviewed, then the Minister will review the review and find that all those experts have got it wrong. A plan will be put in place to build a railway from Foynes to some vague place called the north west, to carry some vague freight stuff that doesn't yet exist. For the next four years while the Greens have their presence in government, it will be all about freight, with the officials in DTTAS holding the line against more mad spending. In other words, nothing will be built, not a railway, not a greenway, and probably no further improvements in the N17 in case that might impact on the railway that isn't coming, but just might if we win the lotto. But there will be reports, lots of reports, and for that we should be grateful.
Muckyboots wrote: » Eamon Ryan is a Green Minister for Transport. Idealist. Big picture guy. Not fiscally retrained. Planetary outlook and committed to meeting carbon emmision targets. Why would anyone be surprised he would speak in favour of rail? The question is, given all these attributes, can he be convinced to incorporated a cycle network into the plans while project rail either progresses or stagnates? I personally think he can.
eastwest wrote: » Anyone who watched the Dail TV this morning will now understand the end game in this debate, an outcome I have often predicted. The west is again getting nothing, but that will be dressed up in a pile of reports, the likes of which we have never seen. Eamon Ryan clearly knows little of what goes on west of the Shannon, his answers to Dara Callearey in the Dail chamber today were straight from the WOT phrasebook, all about freight on the WRC. It is clear that he hasn't read the WDC report that contradicts all that with facts, but Ryan is inspired by some higher power obviously.
ShaneC1600 wrote: » Which WDC report are you referring to here? .
westtip wrote: » The WDC commissioned the report into Rail Freight and the Western Region in March of 2015at a cost of €17,000. The report was produced by a UK based rail consultant Intermodality which has been involved in several rail freight projects in the UK. The report was released on the WDC.ie website on 17th December 2015, sorry but I cannot find a link to the report now but search www.wdc.ie The report focused on two levels of Forecast on future freight volumes: Realistic and Speculative The report highlighted the number of freight trains per day going in and out of the West of Ireland at about 4 per day (4.3.17 page 46, 2 inbound trains 2 outbound), which is hardly enough to justify new railway lines. The report did what it called extensive “bottom up” analysis involvung trade research with industry in the region showed that there is potential for about another 2 freight trains per day in and out of the region. The report also covers what is called “speculative freight increase” to a level of 10-14 freight trains a day by 2050. It was the kind of speculation that has to be taken for what it is, pure speculation, there is no realistic reason to accept that rail freight to and from the West of Ireland is going to increase fourfold anytime in the near to medium future. There was concern that this speculation may lead to optimism from those who still believe in the Western Rail Corridor concept; It seems Minister Ryan is a believer in fairytale speculation.
With regard to the western rail corridor study, I will be answering questions on the same issue tomorrow during priority and oral questions. I hope that we can publish that report shortly. I am waiting for a further report from JASPERS, an international organisation which is reviewing the review and I am reviewing it myself in a slightly wider context. In a series of meetings that I have had with people interested in the project I referred to the fact that if we just look at this in the context of a section of rail line between Claremorris and Athenry, that is a relatively narrative focus. One has to look at a slightly wider focus as to what is the economic potential for development of the west and north-west of the country and the infrastructure that would best suit that purpose. It is not just to my mind a question of whether we need a commuter rail service between Tuam or Claremorris into Galway city or to Athenry. The real consideration is a slightly wider one with regard to the economic development of the whole north-west region and what infrastructure may support that. Included in that, I am particularly interested in what the potential is for rail freight developments in the western region and if we are looking at a changed policy as to promoting rather than restricting rail freight, which I think has been the case for the last 30 or 40 years. I cannot go into the details of that here now but I look forward to engaging with the Deputy. My focus at the moment is looking at that aspect of it and looking at it in a wider regional context, as well as looking at the content of the two reports he mentioned.
marno21 wrote: » From Eamon Ryan: In a series of meetings that I have had with people interested in the project I referred to the fact that if we just look at this in the context of a section of rail line between Claremorris and Athenry, that is a relatively narrative focus. One has to look at a slightly wider focus as to what is the economic potential for development of the west and north-west of the country and the infrastructure that would best suit that purpose. It is not just to my mind a question of whether we need a commuter rail service between Tuam or Claremorris into Galway city or to Athenry. The real consideration is a slightly wider one with regard to the economic development of the whole north-west region and what infrastructure may support that. Included in that, I am particularly interested in what the potential is for rail freight developments in the western region and if we are looking at a changed policy as to promoting rather than restricting rail freight, which I think has been the case for the last 30 or 40 years. https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2020-09-23a.271
In a series of meetings that I have had with people interested in the project I referred to the fact that if we just look at this in the context of a section of rail line between Claremorris and Athenry, that is a relatively narrative focus. One has to look at a slightly wider focus as to what is the economic potential for development of the west and north-west of the country and the infrastructure that would best suit that purpose. It is not just to my mind a question of whether we need a commuter rail service between Tuam or Claremorris into Galway city or to Athenry. The real consideration is a slightly wider one with regard to the economic development of the whole north-west region and what infrastructure may support that. Included in that, I am particularly interested in what the potential is for rail freight developments in the western region and if we are looking at a changed policy as to promoting rather than restricting rail freight, which I think has been the case for the last 30 or 40 years.
These services will involve the undertaking of an appraisal and the appraisal must ensure that all relevant appraisal processes and value-for-money tests required under the PSC and CAF are fully complied with. Given that the level of investment involved in the WRC proposal will exceed €20 million in total cost, the Consultant will be required to complete the following tasks as part of the preliminary and detailed appraisal stages and as part of the preparation of the Business Case for the proposed project. Stage 1 - Preliminary Appraisal Stage 2 - Detailed Appraisal (incorporating Appraisal Plan & Assumptions, Demand Projections for Passenger & Freight, Quantified Impacts, Qualitative Impacts etc.)
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w6.vanillicon.com/v2/62877c35768f143f69acd7bb6cd43f3c.svg)
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w4.vanillicon.com/v2/4c998303aa0fcfcedb419267ab426bd5.svg)
