Quote:
Originally Posted by Inniskeen
I agree the 0505 from Limerick is anything but ideal. Not only is it slow on the branch, it is pathetically slow on the main line. Like Rail Users Ireland, Irish Rail want this service to fail and have effectively designed it in such a way as to ensure it does. I am not remotely surprised by low usage, I would be more than surprised by any other outcome. It needn't be that way.
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I think this issue should be clarified. RUI most certainly does not want any service to fail. The problem with the 0505 service is that it replaced and prevents the running of perfectly marketable and sensible commuter services to and from Limerick on that branch. What is overlooked here is the 0505 and the connecting train to the 1700 ex Heuston has scuppered this.
The problem that we have, and this is a perfectly valid point, is that this train is a political gambit which we are of the opinion was imposed without any consultation or reserch, and without adhering to the proper proceedures, simply to allow the local TD to print lots of leaflets and gets nice mentions in the Tipp Star and Nenagh Guardian. That is entirely in line with our long standing view on the interferance in rail issues by local TD's and ministers over the years.
It is indeed paradoxical for a rail users representation group to take that stance, when it may lead to us questioning the proper use of the assets of the rial company. But that is all that it is. IE could have a much better service on this line, one that truely develops it and ensures its continued existance. It chose long ago not to do this.
Why? Well, you may be correct in your view that IE is ok with the line closing. Since the McCarthy reports and the troika, things are not as rosy for IE as they once were. Like Minister Howlin, IE has its own low hanging fruit which can be plucked easily, and that includes the Nenagh branch. Not that this is acceptable either, but you do have to wonder why, in the face of all the evidence, IE continued to run a train every day for years when the traffic was going the other way.