Western Rail Corridor reopen
 

Huge increase in rail traffic according to Irish Examiner article in the past year indicating that ppl will drop the car if an alternative is available. Time to begin to reopen the like of WRC to Limerick and further south like Rosslare and Cork to take pressure off mainline and improve connectivity. Use the infrastructure that the ppl have paid for over years.

Govt look at WRC
 

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/poli...ider-1.3598691
Government acting sensibly and strategically by looking at the advantages a rail corridor along the western route can provide to the entire country and not just the west. Such an artery to southern ports via Limerick will open up options for travel and freight and relieve the overused mainline from Dublin to Cork. This is about connectivity and access. Greenways are great but should not be provided at the expense of a rail corridor that could never be put in place today with all its infrastructure and right of way.

This is a passenger ONLY forum

Further discussion of freight will result in a ban

Maybe I have not seen that restriction during my time so far.I based my point on the title of the website which is “rail users” which I assumed meant those that use rail because in most countries rail has many purposes. If your point is to remove discussion on the relevance of Western Rail Corridor then I see it as an effective way of closing down discussion and I wonder why is that the case?

I think threatening bans is a little harsh. Railfreight has been discussed before in other threads without any such threats.

Thx James for your supportive words I also thought is was strange on a medium that discusses rail matters it’s about the retention of National infrastructure put in place over a century ago and now invaluable in terms of what it can offer the country. In future decades there will be high speed monorail systems and its only the permanent way that will be important to give the route.

Pretty much the same approach as Irish Rail !

A very solid point that baffles many in fairness the lobby against using rail to its full potential has been quite successful and has been led by Irish rail themselves and vested interests

I normally disagree with Goods on specific issues. However railway infrastructure cannot be neatly partitioned into Passenger or Freight. The viability of a rail line is surely related to the total amount of traffic (and hence revenue) generated. A line could be hopelessly unviable if confined to either Freight of Passengers but viable if it carried both. For example the South Wexford line became a basket case once the Freight went a few years ago, so the passenger service became unsustainable.

Unfortunately Freight is now so marginal in Ireland that this point tends to be lost, but looking to the longer term future and the increased need for really energy efficient transport, then the overall importance of railways for long-distance traffic of all kinds could be much greater than it is now.

I read today that Knock Airport is now serving 800k passengers and I remember at the time it was being built clever economists and other cynics belittling the notion of an airport on a foggy boggy hill in Mayo. Yet the grounded Canon Horan knew better and persevered and built the airport providing accessibility and competing with the Dublin metropolis. Western Rail Corridor has many of the same critics who do not envisage a future when public transport will be more in demand and what such key infrastructure could do to reconnect the west.

Expenditure on transport in IE
 

https://mobile.twitter.com/EU_Eurost...287488/photo/1
Worse than we imagined any wonder that rail infrastructure is lying idle and solutions like Glasnevin junction have never been tackled. Clueless

https://connachttribune.ie/taoiseach...reopening-690/
It looks as if someone is starting to listen and politicians start to think long term. This is a national asset and critical transport for 21st century connectivity. Connect west and south and breathe life into static communities with rail and new thinking - just do it!

Oh dear, some people won't see increasing usage of the WRC as good news !

According to the Connacht Tribune the WRC stats on passenger journeys has far surpassed the initial Irish Rail estimates confirming that despite the D4 cycnics the demand is real. Reopen the remainder of this great rail corridor and allow it to make a difference and prove the experts wrong again

For a lot of us, the concern is how meaningful the figures are.

The number includes passengers from Ennis to Limerick (always healthy enough) and Athenry to Galway (probably benefitting from improved frequency and the reopening of Oranmore), but there’s still a massive question mark over numbers between Ennis and Athenry, which is where the funding went.

Any reopening is competing for resources with other rail projects, like Waterford-Rosslare (with usable services), Athlone-Mullingar and Midleton-Youghal. The fact there’s a big motorway to Tuam must have seriously damaged its chances.

I can’t vouch for different figures on different parts of the line though I feel that point could be made for any line I think it’s fair to say there is an increasing demand.
I’m not sure if Athlone Mullingar is being considered but I think that the WRC has so much to offer as an alternative route to ports in the south as Brexit looms and as the mainline Dub-Cork route is choked up

If we're talking about connecting ports in the south as a Brexit insurance policy, surely Waterford to Rosslare would be of far higher priority than the WRC. In particular if the Barrow bridge is left to decay, it will become pretty much impossible to reopen Waterford to Rosslare even if there was a will to do so.

I don't think think any of Waterford - Rosslare, Athlone - Mullingar and Middleton - Youghal are under any consideration anywhere other than on on-line forums. All three would probably stack up better as a business case than the WRC yet for some reason the latter has remained on the news agenda for the best part of 20 years.

Agree completely with you about the bad decision to shut Waterford Rosslare which is an example of Irish Rail fragmented thinking. In both France and UK lines to ports continue despite the rise in car ferry travel. Bikers and hikers are regularly disembarking in Rosslare and then what?
On WRC what makes that line different from the others you mention is it’s connectivity with other mainlines - Sligo line, Westport, Galway and Limerick three of our top cities and one of our leading tourist destinations all connected via WRC.
West ofIreland TDs bar a few stalwarts like Sean Canney in Galway are more interested in the next election that long term planning for the west.
Knock Airport would never have been the solution it is today if it relied on short-termism of today’s TDs. They should band together and do something strategic for a change

"The revenues from operations came about as a 45.5m passenger journeys were made across Dart, Commuter and Intercity network matching the company's highest ever passenger numbers in 2007" - Irish Rail annual report.

Rreceipts from Public Service Obligations (PSO) increased from €110.64m to €114.779m while other exchequer funding fell from €112.58m to €95.98m.

We are decreasing funding to rail at a time when the country is taking in billions in tax and simultaneously preventing the network develop to its full potential by keeping lines like WRC idle instead of increasing connectivity. The demand is there provide the service. 95m in funding to a system that is giving service to 45m people thats 2 euro per passenger. Look at what a department like Justice costs - about 2 billion!

good read
 

The problem there is that the Athenry-Tuam motorway has completely blown Tuam's score to pieces. Where it had 100 for lack of road competition, that is now a 0. It's score is now a rather mid-table 41.

I was always perplexed by using scores from Gateways and Hubs from the National Spatial Strategy in this as well, seeing that the designation was rather arbitrary and more suited to help local politicians in 2002 than actually develop a strategy (I mean, why was Tuam, then population 7,200 and 34km from the nearest Gateway a hub, while Navan then population 19,400 and 48km from the nearest Gateway not a hub). The assessment criteria should simply have been town population.

Bus competition was perceived as a negative, when in fact it demonstrated the demand for public transport on a route. This actually worked against the Athenry-Tuam section of the WRC though, although it made the figures look way better further north.

http://www.mayonews.ie/news/32491-co...dor-campaigner
The case for reopening is solid its about taking the initiative - like Knock airport long ago

Reopen WRC line to Claremorris
 

http://www.mayonews.ie/news/32491-co...dor-campaigner

The absence of any real political backing for the reopening of the rail line to Claremorris in the west usually implies that local vested interests have knobbled the voice of the politician. The rail corridor is a national asset regardless if it competes against local transport interests. IE has signed up to 2030 UN Global cimate change goals that it cannot meet if we remain wedded to the car. Projects like WRC can contribute to the change including removing cars from commuting to Galway. Now is the time to mobilise not the day before an election.

Review report due on reopening of line to Tuam/Claremorris
 

https://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/ro...o-claremorris/

Much talk about climate change initiatives and regenerating towns in the west there are few more concrete examples of how to create connectivity and business that to reopen this artery through the country that links to about 5 other main lines including to Sligo, Castlebar, Ballina, Galway and Limerick

WESTERN RAIL CORRIDOR FROM LIMERICK TO SLIGO
 

https://sligonewsfile.com/news-item/...r-bowen-walsh/


A FULLY REINSTATED WESTERN RAIL CORRIDOR FROM LIMERICK TO SLIGO WOULD OPEN UP THE FAR TOO LONG NEGLECTED WEST

"Great credit is due to the people behind West=on=Track who have tirelessly fought to have the disused Collooney Claremorris track brought back into service as a fully functioning railway, people such as sociologist Fr. Micheal MacGreil, Colman O’Raghallaigh and, in Collooney, Peter Bowen Walsh. Detractors have pointed to costs, they have pointed to the community rebuilding role the revived service could play in linking the North West to the South and the dividend it would return both as passenger service and freight transportation operation linking towns and villages dying for want of essential transport infrastructure". No political vision on this critical transport issue.

https://connachttribune.ie/rail-corr...ther-year-110/

Sacrificing the western rail corridor permanent way for a greenway is an example of IE short term thinking. This is a piece of critical national transport infrastructure that has been kept in tact since the 1970s and vested interests want to kill off the reopening option by converting the rail bed to a greenway. This is the type of rail infrastructure that could breathe life into the west and regenerate communities like Castlerea and Tuam and even Sligo. The anti rail lobby is alive and well on this topic for own gain. Pushing the decision to a consultants report is another political opt out in doing the right think by the country.

Surprisingly, for once I agree with you.

Once Greenways have been built, rail will never run again, even if there are significant demographic changes (imagine if a successful multi-national saw Sligo’s population swell).

The same applies to other proposed Greenway projects like Midleton-Youghal and Rosslare-Waterford.

If the line is in a state where reopening is possible (and let’s face it Rosslare-Waterford could be reopened tomorrow), a Greenway shouldn’t be considered.

I also wonder if the tourism benefits are overstated. Authorities look at the Greenways in Westport and Dungarvan with envious eyes, but the unsuccessful one from Rathkeale to Abbeyfeale goes unnoticed. The first two are in very scenic areas; the latter covers unremarkable farmland.

Anyway, most cyclists I know would prefer to see the money go into urban cycling infrastructure.

Yes it’s good to agree once in awhile.
Waterford ROSSLARE closing is baffling at a time when the ferry port is being upgraded. A direct connection to a city likeWaterford opens up many options for connecting passengers. Maybe the downgrade has something to do with little container traffic.
Agree that once a greenway replaces the track that’s the end of the future rail option despite the CIE promises.

Review begins
 

https://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/ro...is-to-athenry/

EY-DKM consultants appointment to review western rail corridor Athenry-Claremorris and about time to extend the railway northwards after the outright success of the Limerick- Athenry section

game changer for western rail corridor
 

https://www.seancanney.com/freight-i...rail-corridor/
The case for reopening Western rail corridor is linked to the carbon emissions problem that is coming down the tracks in Ireland we are going to face international fines. Rail is a concrete solution to remove traffic from roads including freight.

Irish Rail website to-day (June 5th, 2019) has notice of a consultation process on possible extension of the WRC to (i) Athenty-Tuam and (ii) Tuam-Claremorris. It appears to be done in conjunction with the Department of Transport. No mention of the NTA. Strange why an operating company should have a role in this and not the National Transport Authority.
See: http://www.irishrail.ie/news/wrc-consultation

This bears out all the suspicions I have about the chaotic governance structures for public transport in Ireland.

http://www.irishrail.ie/news/wrc-con...RI4ZzPQT5BDBOM

Public consultation on western rail corridor

Maybe the reason why the consultation does not seem to involve the NTA is that it has been done to placate WRC lobbyists; hence the "political" (DoT) origin of the exercise.

I would hope that the NTA has a well-researched list of projects which would meet really urgent needs, starting with easing bottlenecks which limit system capacity.

I agree there are many priorities and bottle necks though there were many naysayers when phase 1 of WRC was reopened and data has shown that passenger numbers have surpassed what Irish rail had estimated before the line reopened.
The WRC is a piece of national rail infrastructure which would provide a fantastic rail option in the west and link south and north via WRC.
Rail projects should not be limited to Dublin only though I accept that it’s time to link Navan by rail to Dublin.

Fastest growing numbers on rail network
 

Ennis to Athenry was one of slowest growing routes in 2018. Ennis-Limerick numbers is not part of the WRC.

Limerick-Ballybrophy grew almost four times faster in % terms during 2018.

https://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-...018_V8_Web.pdf
I think the data on the Limerick - Galway route speaks for itself in terms of usage.
If you take a section of any route such as Mallow to Thurles or Banteer to Killarney the figures will be low the numbers using the service is the key and thousands are using the WRC phase 1 who would otherwise be traveling by road so the service is necessary. People is the west should have train services that are useful also. It’s about connectivity and using rail options for the future such as hydrogen and electric.

No surprise that the population down the country are a second thought in terms of transport which is probably why western Rail Corridor has so little central political support.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breaki...ds-937586.html

The balancing of Dublin's growth can come from strengthening western and southern urban centres, but Athenry-Claremorris is the middle or end of that process, not the beginning.

Athlone-Mullingar got greenwayed despite being materially more significant infrastructure than Tuam-Claremorris.
M3-Navan can't get done,
Youghal-Midleton can't,
Tivoli/Blarney/Blackpool can't, (Blackpool plan won a planning award ELEVEN YEARS AGO)
no passing loop at Sixmilebridge,
Killonan-Limerick Junction, Portarlington-Athlone, Athlone-Galway and Maynooth-Mullingar still mostly single track,
Waterford-Limerick Junction with loops lifted and an awkward terminus at both ends, plus ancient signalling and manual crossings (see also Nenagh branch)

I would do something about all of those *before* I would touch the Tuam route. Why not fill B&B beds with leisure trippers in the meantime?

Meanwhile Ireland is staring down the barrel of no-deal Brexit and the possibility of having to create from very little resources and less time a railfreight capability from Dublin Port to Belfast as some kind of help to the catastrophe a road border regime would create.

The fact, Goods, that you can link to article after article (and growth rates of trains operating in low double digit loads) does not indicate the likely success of such a venture. It only demonstrates the truth of the old saying "(local) paper never refused ink"

I agree that there are many rail priorities that have gathered dust over time probably the most inexplicable one is failing to extend the railway to Navan from M3 as was the intention.
Railways are more than just about the star performing lines they are also about transport infrastructure in the society that lead to future development and economic options. Knock Airport was rubbished often in the initial phase yet today it relieves traffic from the west going to a clogged Dublin everyday.
Galway is looking for solutions to deal with traffic gridlock, the railway link to Tuam is an option - the link to Limerick is a success already.
You rightly mention Brexit , the WRC is a north South option that could relieve the overused mainline south from Dublin and give access to Rosslare and Waterford ports for the future.
Railway is a transport solution that will become more important why not use infrastructure that is already in place and owned by the state. I take your point on different priorities whoever sets them