Foynes Line

so it’s a top end figure, likely based on a cost per km calculation from the U.K. or somewhere in Europe and not allowing for any of the variables in the Irish context( driver wages, fuel costs, road access charging, train lengths, railway access charges).. So as a working figure it might tell us something but that doesn’t mean it’s in any way gospel..

The DPCs 1% figure came up when they were using rail freight as a political football to try get land back from the revenue as they misjudged where the demand would arise from Brexit.. It suited their agenda but again it ignores a few keys points including

1) rail pays to have containers loaded in the port and road doesn’t

2), The 1% figure is only based on their throughout.. Rail moves some of the heaviest containerised loads in this country(laden ISO tanks) over longer than average distances so in terms of laden tonne kilometres would have a higher percentage.. DPC are only looking at it from their perspective rather than rail as part of the overall hinterland transport to/from/through the port..

3) Access to the port for trains is limited and has been since 2020

4) Only 1 of the container terminals has a direct rail link

I’ve said this before but the cynic in me keeps going back to the Ryder Cup. Because there’s nothing more that this country likes than a major sporting event on its doorstep and the government pull out all the stops for one.

in fact it is 100s of millions, just look at Irish Rail company accounts.

clear case is the green minister for transport in his infinite wisdom. This is the man who said diesel engines were the way to go a decade ago when my dog knew better. This is the man who now says the future of rail is battery engines when a charge will use up more energy than a hospital and run for about 100km. The man is a plank

Then you have the like of the management at foynes port driving this clear case. They'd sell their granny for investment in the port.

If it made sense of course I'd support it. I despite the poor driving of hgvs on Irish roads.

Ireland is an outlier in many ways when it comes to rail freight, including geography, wage costs, permitted train lengths, to name just a few..

Irish rail exited a lot of freight business, but that was twenty years ago and a LOT has changed since then.. A lot has even changed in the last 4 years in transport, it’s a dynamic industry that is constantly evolving.. As you were told already, driver wages and fuel costs have risen considerably since the 2000s, the days of Eastern European drivers working for poor wages is coming to an end as they are all heading home as the gap in the standard of living has closed.. Fuel costs jumped drastically after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 10% fuel surcharges on top of increased base haulage rates aren’t unusual anymore, they are the norm for the past 2 years..

Find it hard to believe or not but it’s a FACT that IWT pay lift charges to have boxes loaded onto and off the train and no haulier does..

of course each country has specific cost structure but you have to compare costs of competing entities within the same market, costs are increased across all sectors within the market, Irish Rails employee costs are more than 50% of revenue. Length of carriage is a less economical in Ireland than within other countries due to the fact we can't carry as many carriages . You haven't explained how rail will work in 2025 inside 300km when it was a bust when we had lane ways for road infrastructure.

I still believe lift charges are baked into the overall cost to the user

if you had an electronics manufacturer in Kells say for arguments sake would you loads your wares on a train or get them delivered to the door in less time by the motorway network?

hundreds of millions for the network as a whole, an absolute bargain in reality.
multiples more will be spent on the road network and really only the main roads as the local ones are in ****.
governments were lied to about the diesel situation, we weren't the only country duped by that so blaming aemon ryan is just whinging nonsense.
charging infrastructure is miles ahead in efficiency to what it was years ago, the amounts of electricity they use are getting smaller and smaller by the day.
the old charging systems may have used more then a hospital for a charge but it's definitely not the case now, by any feet.
the line reopening makes sense hence it is happening, if it didn't, it wouldn't, it's as simple as that.

and there it is, so now 100s of millions is a bargain, still haven't indicated where McKinsey have been discredited.

I'm taking about battery run locomotives replacing diesel engines which use more energy than a hospital to charge.

lied to about what diesel situation? He said we should buy diesel cars which is a cleaner fuel than petrol. Any monkey would know that's complete nonsense.

using the poor state of the haulage sector another of Ryan's gaslighting.

below is Ryan speaking in Leinster House Feb 23, amazing that he seems to follow expert opinion when it suits,

below is Jim Meade….. question is really what is a short hop on an island about on average 120 miles between the cities

of course Irish Rail will find a business case to build railways. It's like discussing fire with a pyromaniac

we spent 1bn on decentralisation on the back of paying consultants 75m on the business feasibility study. We shut down Nenagh and Ennis A&E on the back of a feasibility study and people are now dying in Limerick A&E due to massive overcrowding. Business feasibility study is Gov's use to justify a fait accompli

Thanks for all your certainty that a business case exists, and the circumstantial evidence you dredged up. Unfortunately it amounts to nothing. Contrary to your unsubstantiated beliefs, no business case appears to have been prepared and or presented. The decision to reinstate the line was a ministerial whim. And the risk is that when it turns out to be a massive white elephant it will be yet another coffin nail in the future of rail freight in the country.

it's really at the moment just a whinge about ryan because he wants to make motorists who will choose the car no matter what, actually pay for what they use.

it wasn't a ministerial whim, i understand it's hard to come to terms with that you can't have a go at ryan on this one but ultimately a case was put forward and the government agreed with it.

i have heard it all before about how reopening x rail line will stop investment in rail/be another knail in the coffin of rail freight as you have just claimed ETC ETC.

neither are true, the game has changed and the government will be investing more in rail and rail freight, a mix of at their own hands and pressure from elsewhere.

here's the rub on battery run locomotives….we won't be using them. Just wanted to see what your answer would be, like your answer to my repeated request for your source on the McKinsey report. It seems you like to make stuff up unfortunately