Freight rail in Ireland

They want Irish Rail to cover the cost. 🤣

I saw a container freight train go through athlone the other day or is that another operation?

That would be the XPO from Belview-Ballina.

You seem to have missed the link poster in #366 above. Here it is again:

https://www.dublinport.ie/e9-million-investment-in-rail-freight-yard-at-north-wall/

It clearly states that the Alexandra Road tramway closure is temporary and is part of an upgrade and that direct port access is due to resume in 2027. I don't think that DPC would dare indulge in brazen lying.

the rail link at Waterford belview port seems to be going well. The trucks these take off the roads must be fantastic and surely more efficient in these days of scarce expensive labour.

I understand that, to clarify I don't think DPC is just lying to the public, however I do think they are going to use this as an opportunity to convice the MoT or anyone with power that terminating all rail freight in the North Wall yard is the best option for Dublin Port (whether it actually is or not).

There's a plan to have a bridge connecting the new terminal in North Wall to the docks. I presume this would allow tugs to operate. It's been a while since I've seen the plans for that, but I have them saved somewhere.

The max permitted speed for Alexandra Road, and North Wall freight yard is 5mph. Safety on the side of the fright handlers in the port has been fairly lacking. Drivers down there operate dangerously. They simply don't want trains getting in the way.

Managing the train in and out of the port isn't that difficult, it's other people's reaction to the train that's caused the biggest problems.

experts here answer me this, would it be feasible to shift unaccompanied trailers to rail - pocket wagons or the like ? On the continent you see it, albeit the distance is much greater. Would there be the necessary clearance for rail bridges or would a huge reconstruction job be necessary over the network? You see a huge number of these lorries on the roads.

Also, there are always on the motorways trucks carrying either rubbish for incineration or recycling- again could this be moved to rail? I would presume some pricing mechanism would need to be developed

thks, I suppose many of our existing rail bridges / stations etc remain from the Victorians. I did happen upon this old article which on the continent seems to offer a solution in certain circumstances there. The issue is rail freight is more competitive over long distances which we don’t really have on our network. Also we would not have the bulk freight volumes of other jurisdictions and the motorways have been a game changer for road haulage. Saying that congestion and environmental costs have to be an increasing factor where rail could play a role IMHO

https://www.railweb.ch/en/finally-a-wagon-to-carry-standard-semi-trailers-throughout-europe/

tunnels are the main issue more then bridges as bridges can be replaced all be it at a cost.

tunnels on the other hand are a lot more expensive to modify and some cases may actually be impossible to modify.

Rosslare is the main entry point for unaccompanied trailers; and there's some rather significant tunnels on the Rosslare line.

Containers are what the experience is there for, there was a massive container business from the early days of containerisation up until Bell went bust in the 90s.

There Is A Extra XPO Liner Starting Up In October Along With Timber.

The Timber Will Run Empty To Westport (Claremorris) On Wednesdays And Return Laden Ex Westport On Saturdays

The LX Set They Had From The IWT Is Set To Be Used For A Extra XPO As Far Im Aware.

Ballina-Dublin Port and Waterford-Kildare-Dublin Port are cleared for 9'6" already

Sligo and Belfast are 8'6", the rest of the network is cleared for 9', only issue between Portarlington and Cork is Cork Tunnel and thats fairly marginal so could be sorted out and they will need to do that anyway for the electrification in the future