The Strategic Rail Review will consider how the rail network on the island can improve sustainable connectivity between major cities, enhance regional accessibility including to the North West and support balanced regional development.
What a complete and utterly pointless waste of money. Nothing but a gormless publicity stunt.
Another very angry customer. 😄
I don't have a chip on my shoulder. What I do have is a general idea that there are an awful lot of rail projects which are orders of magnitude more cost-effective than the WRC (esp the Northern bit). Anything which pre-empts resources that have more urgent or valuable uses, I am dead against.
Irrespective of your views on the WRC my point was that it's not acceptable to try and bully someone off a thread just because you don't like or agree with what they are posting. There is no evidence that the WRC is getting more comments than the rest of the network (especially in recent months) so there's no point pretending otherwise.
There are plenty of healthy debates on the thread about things like electrification and passing loops with people being accused of being activists and having fetishes.
When you’re reduced to snide comments and “playing the man instead of the ball” it’s generally a sign of how weak your arguments are.
Argument? Seeing as your comment was just a general angry stream of words you didn't make any points for me to argue against.
One question I'd have regarding the WRC is why the Claremorris-Collooney section was left in situ when others, such as the North Kerry and numerous branches, were lifted in 1988? I know the rest of the line was used for freight in the 1990s but the northern end hasn't seen a train since 1975.
I'd imagine that it was something to do with population centres. Plenty of rails were abandoned in low population rural areas of Mayo such as Westport-Achill and Ballina-Killala.
Whereas the WRC between Sligo and Galway was linking 2 larger centres and was probably seen as having potential to come back at some stage in the future and were therefore classified as disused.
Then again Tralee was linking to Limerick so I dont know about those cases.
actually i believe a train did venture up part of the northern section in the 80s to deliver carrages to a museum in i think charlestown? i believe another train ventured up earlier, think it was a weedspray train, and had to reverse as part of the track was missing presumed lifted for whatever reason.
Really cool to see this cleared. I'm biased as I'm from the area but I think this line has strong potential to alleviate the housing issues around Galway and tie together the different ATU campuses. Densities are poor but the hope would be this would be the beginning of moving away from one off housing in the region and growing towns close to the line.
That was the weedsprayer in 75/76. A B101 went up from Claremorris but had to reverse at Collooney junction because it had been disconnected on that side.
There has never been a balanced and unbiased CBA done on Athenry to Tuam. The last one (see my comment) was a complete farce and made fundamental biased errors to knock down the numbers.
That last report assumed capital expenditure to bring the line to 150kmh but assumed it would take 50minutes to go from Tuam to Galway. It also assumed only 2 tourists would use each train despite the line linking Galway and Westport, two of the biggest tourist destinations in the country.
The only people here with an unhealthy obsession are those religiously opposed to this line.
Clearing the vegetation along the line makes sense if it is to be turned into a cycleway, or any use at all.
A cycleway on or beside the track has been ruled out by both Irish Rail and Eamon Ryan so no chance of that happening.
I'd guess many of the cross-ties would be rotten by this stage, although light vehicles might manage to travel whatever is useable.
If it gets a lot of attention, it is surely because there is a lot of interest in the region in getting it up and running again.
Some people only see the local aspect here, but reinstating the Athenry to Claremorris section would involve connecting Waterford, Limerick and Galway to Ballina and/or Westport, eventually even connecting Sligo.
Today, more and more of the population lives in towns making rail more viable for passenger traffic than at any time in the recent past. Of course the same process of urbanisation makes freight more viable too as distances from train to the ultimate destination are shorter.
There's no way to get anything other than a road-rail vehicle even on to it. I'm not sure what if any of those Irish Rail has.
And it wouldn't be of any use, it would have to be an inspection / MPV car to prove anything.
What was the purpose of clearing the vegetation exactly? I mean what now?
Usually clearing areas like that is for the purposes of facilitating topographical survey works. The topo survey can then be used to develop sections and profiles for estimating quantities of fill needed for example. This allows more accurate estimate of costs. The structures along the route can also be assessed in greater detail. The same type of work is carried out at the start of road projects.
The rapid pace of works on the Foynes line proves how quickly works can happen when the will is there. Clear the line first, show how intact the alignment is, build public support and get surveyors on site.
Eamon is playing this one v.well. No biggie, we're just clearing the line.... okay now it's cleared, let's just start surveying, no biggie, it's just surveying.... next step reinstate the bridge over the N63, no biggie the plan was always to replace that bridge after completion of the N63 upgrade.
....it'll be open before we know it.
CIÉ/Irish Rail legally asserting its ownership over the trackbed. You know, the way the greenway campaigners said they wanted to 'protect' the right of way.
Pre-election publicity stunt.
What is the story with this N63 bridge that was removed? Any pics of it?
The road was realigned. Ballyglunin is the name of the area, there's photos online, can't easily embed on the phone
Found it on Street View here, go through the years to see it now
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6ox6P2iC1whQqXNU8?g_st=ic
That bridge was dangerous an needed removal.
It was narrow, and low, and well built - so very unforgiving if anything hit it.
It also flooded v.badly as the road dipped under the bridge.
I find it really odd how people get so so animated by cutting a bit of shrubbery. If for nothing else you should be happy that IÉ is asserting its ownership of the alignment.
That last report assumed capital expenditure to bring the line to 150kmh
🤣 I am reminded of when the Wikipedia page for the WRC, in all seriousness, depicted it as a French-style LGV.
Public support is an absolutely awful way of prioritising and funding public infrastructure. Knock Airport had public support.
The usual lazy Knock bashing. Knock airport is a vital piece of infrastructure for the west of Ireland and Ryanair are on record as stating its importance in providing them with business in its early years when air lingus tried to block their development. Michael O'Leary said he would love to have had Monsignor Horan working for him such was his vision and ability to get things done.
Opening the railway is about taking freight off the road and isn't down to public pressure. Previously the government didn't have much interest in doing so regardless of what the public wanted but commitments to address climate change and obligations of the bigger employers in the west to reduce their carbon footprint has changed that. And that's without mentioning that the EU has highlighted the fact that the west and Northwest one of one the most undeveloped rail networks in Europe.
