Should have opened the South Wexford line as well
in fairness it was closed for a reason is hardly any sort of argument against reopening it. every line was "closed for a reason" whether the reason was genuinely legitimate or in this case simply not wanting to operate it because guff essentially, the same reasons why the wexford main line is a **** show. what has changed to reopen it is nothing, but the very same reasons why it shouldn't have been closed have just got greater.
if you weren't a user here at the time, go and read some of the threads discussing the line from around the time and after as you will get all of the information you require.
i would suggest posts by contributers such as judgement day who was a very knowledgable contributer especially on the matter of railways in wexford, and on rail matters in general.
lots of good discussion at the time, it was mostly before i joined as well but there will have been bits and pieces since.
Has it been connected at Limerick yet?
no abd it will not be connected i to Limerick. They will need to CPO houses and knock them. It being connected to tge line going to Limerick junction
There's no houses built on the former curve into the station. Just the (closed?) Irish Rail social club
There is no plan to reopen that part of the line though and IR have recently moved their customer car park onto the remaining bridge embankment.
Also LCCC and the LDA are planning on building circa 300 homes on the former Guinness site, which will more than likely end any possibility of it happening.
The Colbert Quarter masterplan was careful to preserve the alignment. I doubt they'd be that shortsighted
The Colbert Quarter masterplan is never going to be built. You'll get piecemeal development around the area, but that will be it.
The only proposal released so far was for a highly watered down development behind St. Josephs hospital, which still hasn't actually gone to planning two years after it was announced as it send back to the drawing board for being so underwhelming.
The development at the former Guinness site is being progressed by the council with the aid of the LDA and isn't actually listed as being part of the Colbert Quarter plan.
Where was the old curve ?
I thought it was at the back of Jackman.
Under the carpark and over the road. Can see one of the bridge abutments still
Lower Carey's Rd - Google Maps
Also the non square wall at the back of the adjacent plot to the South if you go on satellite view.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PJDoZPNNxJ6tAKYw6
It crossed the road here
The original alignment was roughly along the red line. The yellow box is the CIE club.
Yeah. The plan was underwhelming enough to start with and it won't be implemented in full. But John Moran was head of the LDA when the plan was being developed and he will push for as much of it as possible. He's already talking about the 'Limerick Link' walking and cycling route through the site.
I don't believe that the curve will be built on having survived the car centric past
You'd hope they would have sense to keep the land and have the option to put the curve back at some point in the future.
Track laying complete and next phase of works commence on Limerick to Foynes Freight line
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/news/limerick-foynes-freight-line
The line is planned to come into operation in 2026. The project now enters its next phase with works to be undertaken over the next 18 months including:
that's interesting that they will refurbish the station building at foynes. is it currently abandoned or is it being used for anything? the line apparently won't be going through the station either.
The first movment over the line cant be far away.
Superb new video by Dronehawk overflying the Foynes Fiasco
I’m all for infrastructure development especially rail but has any customer of this port expressed a firm interest in actually using this line to transport goods and materials once it re opens? It seems insane that that wouldn’t be core to the whole project before it even started planning and construction- a firm commitment between various companies, Irish rail and the department of transport as to plan for using it
https://www.thejournal.ie/irish-rail-new-freight-carriages-6696215-May2025/
Good prospects for new freight services?
In answer to your question, No.
Sounds positive.
A max of 400 over 10 years. Have IR got the storage capacity for 400?
Stunning footage, and no matter how much of a white elephant it is or isn’t, it truly is wonderful to see a freshly laid railway line.
A few things confusing me however, the first level crossing upon leaving Foynes is dual tracked (a preemptive measure I presume) and yet the second track is on the complete opposite side to the long siding… why is this?
As well as this none of the points to these sidings, or to the passing loop at Adare station seem to be put in… I presume it’s a case of waiting for them to arrive/be fabricated? Or will they be left out upon opening?
Also the siding in Foynes seems silly as it isn’t a loop in any way to allow loco run around… merely a stub of track. Will a turn back switch be added? Maybe on the Limerick side of that retaining roof support wall between the two?
Finally why is there a passing loop at Adare? Pre preparations for a potential Rider Cup shuttle as mentioned by Jim Meade..? I can’t imagine the line being in any way busy enough, given it’s length, to require a passing loop as a FREIGHT line… future proofing for passenger services perhaps…?
As it seems there is no sign yet of any freight to be moved along this line, surely that strengthens the case to open stations?
There Is not a justifable population density for commuter rail. That would be throwing good money after bad
I am not very familiar with Raheen / Patrickswell / Adare. How big are they?
Adare has a population of 1100. Patrickswell has a population of 850.
Raheen is a different beast as it's a suburb of the city and has a massive industrial estate located there.
There's no rolling stock to run any such service, nor is there likely to be for the medium term. 29000s released by BEMUs will need heavy maintenance (floors, seats all planned to be replaced) and are then already committed for capacity improvements elsewhere.
If something is cobbled together for the Ryder Cup it will be using maintenance slack from somewhere else and leaving existing services at risk; but Irish Rail do have a habit of screwing scheduled services for sporting events.
Raises the question as to why a private company should benefit from a tax payer funded project
Add to that the station in Rathkeale is 2-3km from the town and the one in Askeaton as well as Patrickswell are a kilometre from the towns
Anybody that think a commuter rail is an option dose not know the area. Aa well the rail line has no direct access to Corbert station at present
