Freight rail in Ireland

Not great pictures but last nights train came fully loaded back from Waterford port this morning. Anybody know whats it's hauling? Looks like containers and chemical storage.

Most of the containers are empty running to Ballina to collect exports.. The tanks have caramel in them for use in production in Ballina

Train just headed down to Waterford port. Pretty unusual to see it this late. Have seen both timber trains and container/chemical versions in the past week.

That was the XPO Liner,had an issue at Kildare earlier and didn't leave Kildare until 19.00. Had to be looped at Athy to let the up & down Waterford's through before she went on her way.

The train has a set path and won’t wait for a box..

There was an issue with the brakes on the rear wagon after the run around in Kildare, and it missed its path down the Waterford line so had to wait till after the peak trains

Think it might be S810 but will check tomorrow

Thanks for whatever reason I had K and S820 next to DFDS and K and S547 for return.

makes sense to have a change as XPO carry dg cargo to Ballina which DFDS never did

There is already another thread on this topic for a few days now. Under something like "Rail Systems" heading, I think.

How long does it take the Freight train to get from Ballina to waterford

What a cynical and negative comment. Given the lack of interest in rail transport by the DoT, the NTA and other bodies it's good to see Irish Rail making a case for more business. It certainly beats the old attitude of some years ago to close whatever they could.

What's you solution then? The IE document has a lot of sensible proposals. What a different generation of management did is not really relevant. Arguably the IE proposals represent the sort of culture shift you talk about.

As a train driver with considerable service who worked through the ILDA dispute I’m gonna wager that your talking out of your you know what. Train drivers are contracted to drive trains day or night 5 days a week. There’s no magical group of drivers that can scupper any effort IE make to run trains as long as the shifts are within your contracted hours. To frankly suggest otherwise is just plain ignorance.

Furthermore I doubt you have any idea what the ILDA dispute was about. Whilst most drivers at the time were not members of ILDA most drivers did agree with their position but just not the implementation of their dispute. Since that dispute many of ILDA’s demands have been implemented such as no forced overtime or what were known as “contingency drivers”

Your anti trade union bias clouds your view on a subject you more than likely know nothing about.

Freight declined on Irish rail for 2 reasons. Lack of interest by senior management and uneconomic flows though not all flows were uneconomic.

Take a typical liner train back then. It was generally 18 or 21 lx/lp wagons, IE sold each slot separately so they had to attract possibly 18/21 different customers. Nowadays IWT or XPO contract the whole train so it’s no skin of iE’s nose if the train is full or empty. They get paid. There is no subsidy for freight it must cover its cost. Bulk flows for one customer such as Smartply or Irish cement I reckon would have been profitable. Ammonia was a money spinner for IE because it was dangerous goods and truckers needed special permits to haul it which was expensive, IE didn’t. Beet trains were pots of gold worth at the time €8m per season.

I said the sentiments and aims of ILDA were supported by most drivers but ILDA as an organisation were not, there’s a difference. During the 10 week dispute all non-ILDA drivers worked their turns of duty including their freight jobs. IE chose to prioritise passenger turns over freight that’s not the fault of any driver. ILDA done what they did cos 56 men were lead up a dead end and nobody or nothing could stop them. Remember none of these drivers were paid a penny for 10 weeks. It wouldn’t happen now as very few could afford it. IE couldn’t put a gun to their heads and tell them to get back to work. In fact some of them were actually sacked. Very few are left driving. A lot left the driving grade and most are supervisors/senior managers now or retired.

As for Brendan Ogle, I knew the man, quite a well read guy ,very articulate and knowledgeable regarding industrial relations matters but a bit of a chancer really. I would imagine he hoped that he would establish a driver only union with him as the head with the salary that goes with it(he had form in this regard) He tried to rope in the ATGWU and ASLEF but that didn’t go far. Ultimately the high court sealed his fate.

The winds of change are blowing through IE regarding freight and I for one am glad to see it and so are most drivers as it means more revenue for the company and more drivers jobs(which anyone can apply for now)

Despite the belief that train drivers are Leon Trotsky and Arthur Scargills lovechildren and have some agenda to scupper IE, I can assure you we are not. We all have bills to pay and hope the company gets busier to secure our jobs.

Thanks, Rootsblower, for that very fair and informative post. Puts this discussion back on the rails, so to speak.