Western Rail Corridor / Rail Trail Discussion

If going from Galway to Sligo via this route you'd go:

Galway->Oranmore->Athenry->Ballyglunin->Tuam->Milltown->Ballindine->Claremorris->Kiltimagh->Swinford->Charlestown->Tobercurry->Collooney->Sligo.

It might take a longer while to get there if speed is lower due to more stations and less straight track with more LCs.

You'd also be waiting for the state to rebuild 75km of rail line which is unlikely to happen in any of our lifetimes.

as i understand it is correct that it was built to light rail and narrow gauge rail standards but it is definitely a braud gauge line rather then narrow gauge.

trains were able to run the whole through route from limerick to sligo until the closure of mayo to sligo from where they went to mayo only.

i'm sure freight would have come from other destinations as well and specials from various destinations may have ran the through route as a whole in the line's time.

Spotted this in last week's Clare Echo. Local Councillors still pushing for a station at Crusheen.

'Compelling case' to reopen Crusheen railway station to be put before Iarnród Éireann - Clare Echo

https://www.midwestradio.ie/audio/marieraul.mp3

The train is slow and infrequent so until it can be improved in this regard, it's unlikely to attract people from the intermediate stops. It has attracted plenty going from Galway to Limerick and vice versa.

Galway County Council should also seek to concentrate development in these towns and villages over the likes of Kilcolgan and Clarinbridge which are more dependent on the road network.

the problem is that densify first infrastructure later has always been our way and unless it's a road, it hasn't delivered.

so maybe it is time to change tac.

Navan is the obvious example.

"Build it and they will come" holds true when what is built is fit for purpose.

Reinstatement of a line along an old meandering alignment is setting up for failure from day 1. For the line to succeed it needs to offer an alternative that will be comparable or faster times than bus at a bare minimum, and ideally times that can complete with car commuting times.

The original WRC alignment will never provide a service that's faster - or even equivalent time - compared to the alternatives and will struggle to get viable pax numbers because of that.

For a WRC to actually work then a proper route assessment needs to be carried out. Use elements of the old alignment where it makes sense to do so, but also be willing to deviate from the old alignment (and deviate significantly) where needed.

Too much of the campaign appears to be driven by spotters who are more interested in seeing trains along the old line than in actaully having a service that works.

Dual tracking of main line definitely needed. I would be more optimistic of this happening sooner than 2036 given the changing focus from roads to public transport.

Current time from Galway to Athenry (20km) is 18-20minutes. Athenry to Tuam is 25km, so 20 to 25minutes is definitely possible. With dual tracking, a 40 minute Tuam to Galway journey is very achievable.

This compares to 50minute current bus time. Since people prefer trains, there would absolutely be demand for this.

Ah OK, so anecdotal evidence only. Right, right.

You spend an extra forty minutes going all the way from Galway to Limerick? Meaning you spend an extra eighty minutes per day? Fair play to you - you must love th'oul trains. Percy French would be proud.

Alright, take it handy! I’d love to know where first hand information is now considered anecdotal? I’ll stick to the train and you can stick to your car and your tin foil hat.

The demand is for Tuam to Galway - not Tuam to Athenry.

The diversion via Athenry (and the insistence on stopping at any and every historic stop in between) all adds time, which takes away from the benefits v bus. Especially when you factor in that how much of the Tuam to Galway commuter traffic is heading for the various business parks around Parkmore/Ballybrit

Tuam to Athenry to Galway on the existing alignment (followed by many commuters having to then face the traffic from city centre back out to the business parks) would simply be too slow to get enough modal shift. A proper commuter line would go direct from Tuam to Galway, with a stop at Claregalway, Parkmore and then the alignment heading to meet the mainline around Roscam.

Given how bad we are at building new lines, that's unlikely to get funding anytime in the medium term - but the fact that a viable line won't be built doesn't justify pissing away money on an unviable line that would doomed to failure due to the alignment