If this project is finished, and there are no freight or pax trains, then it will be yet another farce all over the media.
Just like the electric busses with no charger this week.
Can we do anything right?
Meanwhile, people are fainting on some trains from Athenry to Galway, they are so packed.
You can be sure that won't be a problem when a few specials spin down to Adare from the junction.
that would be an issue whether foynes reopened or not unfortunately.
if it didn't reopen the money would not have been spent on new rolling stock that's for sure.
This won't even register with the media.
Talk about BS. First off part of this money came from the transportation budget. Yes it might not have got invested in rolling stock. It might have been allocated to charging systems for buses.
The Idea that wasted money will not be used elsewhere is zombie economics. Maybe it could have been used to get extensions to Limerick hospital started earlier and the money allocated to that last year could have been used to provide bus chargers last year.
not bs but reality. it was not going to be spent on rolling stock or charging systems for buses, or extentions to bus services to limerick hospital or anywhere.
So if it was not wasted on the railway line that nobody is going to use what was going to happen to that money?
we don't know that nobody is going to use the line.
the money would not have been given to the budget in the first place or would go unspent and get taken back if it wasn't spent.
The good old Schrodinger's train. Public transport is so busy people are fainting on the trains that nobody is using.
Not saying any poster on this thread thinks Athenry to Galway is empty but somewhere on Boards people are saying that the money that could have been used for Athenry instead of Foynes could have been used on a road because nobody uses trains.
Athenry is a separate project that is progressing, is getting money spent on it and rolling stock is also already an active project with Irish Rail.
For the duration of the previous government from 2019 to 2024 the Dept of Transport budget was
2020..... 2.7 billion ( Covid year)
2021...…3.5 billion
2022....3.5 billion
2923........3.5 billion
2024..........3.6 billion.
This project was signed off on by the minster by an agreement to change the cap on a project that a minister coukd sign off on( the project ended up costing over double its propoaed budget). The funding comes directly from the Department of Transport funds it was not part of any government budget.
Projects are funded directly from within a departments budget. To an extent and especially in a coalition Government Minister have huge dircression on where they spend there individual budgets. They tend to direct and redirect funds to different projects.
The money that went to the Foynes railway could have been allocated by the minister anywhere else within his department
Or the money saved could have been used to pay the enormous fine that lives in one dolt’s head which they alone believe would have resulted from failing to re-connect the port of Foynes to the non existent bulk freight rail network.
..
I honestly can't understand a word you are saying. It's all waffle.
this thread has become incredibly boring.
More like 2 bald men fighting over a comb! 😁
It looks like the level crossings on Childers Road and at Rosbrien are finally being finished.
https://www.limerick.ie/council/newsroom/road-notices/road-traffic-notice-limerick-foynes-railway-crossing
Don't miss this one! Engineers Ireland Thomond Region is hosting a free online webinar on 15th April at 1pm, featuring David Vaughan of Iarnród Éireann presenting on the re-opening of the historic Limerick to Foynes Freight Line. Hear firsthand how this 42km railway line — dormant since 2001 — is being brought back to life, with track laying complete and commissioning targeted for October 2026. From engineering challenges to three new road bridges, this is a fascinating deep-dive into one of Ireland's most significant rail infrastructure projects.
Register now at: https://www.engineersireland.ie/Events/event/11152 - it's free!
So is this event you are so excited about will result in a use for the line?
it's about the rebuilding of the line so how would it?
the line will automatically have a use by connecting a 10t port to the network anyway.
There is notjing automatic about it having a use because it was build.
The dormant ,unrestored line had that same function so ,
It was a potential link , same as the newly restored line is now ..
commissioning targeted for October 2026
I wonder will he explain the ever moving target…..
no it didn't because, well, it was dormant, meaning it couldn't be used for traffic so therefore wasn't either a link or potential link. now it can be used for traffic, so therefore now it's an actual link and not a potential link.
Kind of , it was dormant largely because there was no traffic..
Now newly rebuilt, but also with no potential traffic ..
Its a freight only line .. so any heavy freight traffic would take time to develop, which would have allowed time to refurb the line ..
And any new traffic will require ordering rolling stock, and potentially even locomotives; neither of which are instantly available.
And it more comex than that. Ideally rail is in a case like this Port to last 5-10km. But this is not realistic as you would struggle with volume.
Foyne imports and ecports a lot of volume materials. Neither is it a significant volume port. Take a situation where you place a bulk handling yard in say Athenry or a station in Mayo or Sligo In the case of Mayo or Sligo its a case of going back through Portarlington or Dublin.
Athenry can go via Ennis/Limerick even tjough you still have the reversing issue. From Galway or Mayo when you hit the Motorway you have a choive to make do you head diwn the road or travel.to Athenry to unload. There would have to be significant cost savings for a business to consider unloading and using rail. Wl your load have to wait 2-3 days to go to Foynes......will it have to wait even 12 hours. When the road to Foynes is finished you will be in Foynes in 80-90 minutes.
Irish cement stopped using trains for bulk transport in Limerick( and the line accross the dock road was removed). They stopped bulk transport 10+ years ago and the line was removed 5+.
The facination with rail.is anazing in Ireland and no business case analysis is done.
Are all 40 locos required elsewhere, on Enterprise and Dub-Cork, and to haul freight from Mayo?
Would you go away with that! At any time there's ~10 071s sitting around Inchicore, and IÉ already ordered 150 wagons (with options for more) in May. If there's any issue with the Foynes line a lack of rolling stock is not one of them.
Tara should be resuming in the medium term future, and PW need locos also. We're also talking about nearly 50 year old locos, so you need to have spares to cover for failures. There are no locos for Foynes services, because lots of 201s have been let rust to uselessness.
The wagon order is for container wagons to replace existing container wagons. No spares, and nothing for bulk traffic which is what Foynes primarily handles. And an order does not mean the stock currently exists either.
There is no rolling stock, so "go away with" trying to pretend there is.
