Unless Sheep become dedicated commuters there isn't much business that can be drummed up on the WRC
Waterford Rosslare closure saved about 1.75 million per annum, current WRC loss is just over 3 million
Best approach is probably to get Ennis Athenry numbers down to less than 4 per train, only be one taxi required then... Given the bus service who needs a taxi, its faster, serves Shannon and with the exception of the week of the Galway races is up to 25% faster than the train
Reality is closure of the WRC would be the quickest and least painful measure to deliver significant savings. Rip the TVM's out and deploy them elsewhere. Business between Athenry and Galway is booming with numbers continuing to increase and that could be made profitable as could Cork/Cobh/Midelton with a little bit of focus on service and revenue collection
Student numbers traveling are up massively this year as is revenue from students which shows what simplification of the ID requirement and fares can do.
People are still complaining of standing on intercity services so clearly there is demand out there but the cost to provide the service (or indeed the revenue not been collected) is killing the bottom line.
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