Western Rail Corridor / Rail Trail Discussion

What do you base the statement that it's in the wrong place on?

God, I untentionally hit a raw nerve there. I'm sure Knock airport is a fantastic amenity for people in Mayo. But at the time there were serious questions about the costs and benefits of the investment. Now that it's built, these costs are sunk, so no point worrying about them.

My main reason for posting was objection to the "ravings of a priest" comment. Ad hominem stuff should not enter into the argument.

It's 12 minutes from the N5 and 3 minutes from the N17 so in road terms it's not bad - at Connaught's crossroads as Fr Horan called it. Ideally it would be nearer the the East-West train line at Claremorris but back in the late 70s early 80s, when airport construction began, there was more of an inclination at government level to close stations and lines rather than providing new rail connectivity to anything so it was probably just not factored in. Also,when you consider the challenges in aquiring such a large landbank it really was a huge achievement and it continues to benefit the region in a very big way today.

The only two airports on the island of Ireland that are built along train lines are Derry and Belfast City - neither of which have stops that serve the airport.

This doesn't make sense BTW - infrastructure is needed to connect rural communities to one another, to carry produce from one place to another. There is nothing anti-urban about allowing rural infrastructure to gradually run down, or fall apart.

Look at our islands for instance, rural communities with a vengeance. Which of them had proper quays built in the first 50, 80 years of independence? While the islands west of Carraroe were all connected together and to the mainland prior to independence, the other islands were allowed to fester and die - as was most of rural Ireland. In relative terms, imagine the social and economic benefits of building causeways or bridges between the three Aran Islands for the inhabitants of those islands, and having a bus run back and forth from Inis Oirr to Bun Gabhla in the west of Inishmore.

In mainland terms, how about running trains through from Cork to Belfast, Wexford to Sligo and so on, instead of everything running from a hub in Dublin. And we're still waiting for a good, high-quality road from Cork to Letterkenny and Derry.

Intercity trains Belfast to Cork/ Sligo to Wexford is one of German models and works great. Offers more options to swing people out of cars.

German is also serving a couple of main stations not just one eg Galway train serving Heuston - Drumcondra (Airport buses) - Connolly - Pearse - Dun Laoghaire etc on to Wexford..

Absolutely. While Ryan may not be aware of the basic realities, you'd hope the AIRR takes cognisance of the actual situation on the ground and recommends investing in Belview as a hub for rail freight. If not, and it spoofs about Rosslare, then the report will essentially be the equivalent of toilet paper.

The comments of Joe Gilmore from Knock Airport to the Inter-County Expenses Collection Committee being reported again, with sh1te about shuttles from Kiltimagh or Charlestown, neither of which have a hope in hell of ever being re-opened for rail - all to aid in his attempted greenwashing of the most unsustainable form of transport.

If anybody is enthusiastic rail freight about from Claremorris that is because there is an existing operational rail line running through there. We certainly don't have to spend more than €100m to accommodate that freight. Fairly modest upgrades could facilitate much more services to/from Mayo, be they passenger or freight.

If the AIRR recommends further reopening the WRC then it is basically toilet paper. There is so much untapped potential in the existing network which could be unlocked with relatively modest investment. Spending a nine figure sum to reopen another limited capacity line which connects into the existing network which has little capacity for additional services would be absolutely criminal.

Its not 100m. Its not even the 154m previously claimed (that should be rounded up, not down as its over 150, if you wanted a round figure) - its probably 300m all in. Plus ongoing running costs, with absolutely nothing to suggest a positive return on that.

And I mean in general, not in terms of notional profits. It will not deliver growth at the same rate as about a thousand individual other transport projects in the country would.

The main claim people currently make involves diverting existing rail freight flows that are perfectly well catered for on the existing network so there isn't even a climate argument to be made - the CO2 produced during the rebuild/reinstatement works would never be recovered in any tiny savings on existing trains. There will be a feck load of concrete poured to rebuild a railway, pouring out CO2 for decades (quickly then slowly)

If I had 154m to improve rail in Mayo, it wouldn't be spent on the WRC - even if it could be got for 154m, which it can't. It would be spent on freight yards, double tracking, station facilities, railcars, improving/guaranteeing bus connections to rail stations and so on. Because the return for those would be vastly, vastly higher than the return on reopening Claremorris-Athenry