[Article] WRC opening March 30th

[plant43]

Limerick to Galway line: full services commence 30th March 2010 by Corporate Communications

Iarnród Éireann has announced that rail services between Limerick and Galway are set to commence next month.

The €106.5 million new route will be officially launched on 29th March 2010, following the completion of the rebuilding of the Ennis to Athenry line, and the receding of recent flooding between Limerick and Ennis, and full schedules will operate from 30th March.

Major infrastructure works were completed towards the end of last year, and driver training is well underway.

OVERVIEW OF PROJECT

After a gap of over 30 years since the last scheduled services on the line, the Ennis to Athenry renewal will:

- Deliver direct Galway to Limerick services, timed to meet commuter needs

- Serve Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway; and new stations at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan, Craughwell

- Expand commuter links to Limerick and Galway

- Promote balanced regional development, in line with National Spatial Strategy objectives, by linking two Gateways – Limerick and Galway – and serving the hub of Ennis



The investment project delivered by Iarnród Éireann involves:

- renewal of 36 miles of track, including all necessary fencing and drainage and installation of points and crossings at Gort and Ennis.

- a 90m platform with furniture, signage, shelter, Automatic Ticket Vending Machine, lighting, car park, PA, Customer Information Systems, help point and CCTV provision at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell. These stations will also be accessible to the mobility impaired

- At Ennis and Athenry stations, PA, Customer Information Systems, help point and CCTV has been provided

- Repair and improvement work has been undertaken on bridges on the route to allow rail services to operate

- modernised signalling systems

- improvement to level crossings, and elimination where practicable

The service will commence with five services each way daily (Monday to Saturday), and four services each way on Sundays.

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/...ew&news_id=639

[Mark Gleeson]

timed to meet commuter needs

Single peak hour service and the usual nothing after 6:30pm

[James Howard]

And closed for 6 weeks a year due to flooding

[dowlingm]

4 services to Galway on Sundays, 0 services to Waterford...

[finnyus]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Single peak hour service and the usual nothing after 6:30pm

Arrival time into Galway @ 08:25 does not meet the needs of all commuters, if you live south of Athenry and/or your place of employment/etc is not in the vicinity of Galway Station.

Arrival time into Limerick @ 08:39 from stations north of Ennis is no good at all! All you need to do is look at the 07:20 "commuter" service from Nenagh to Limerick, with its arrival time of 08:42... very handy for people that might work at the station or work in shops close by, but what about students commuting to UL or LIT? or what about workers working in Limerick city centre or out in the big industrial estate or anywhere else?

The timetable is a big disappointment for people that want to commute to work/college/etc... from any new station between Ennis and Athenry.

Midleton line has recently been deemed a success in a Cork newspaper. I don't know facts and figures on how they came to this conclusion, but any time I have travelled on it there have been a lot of passengers. The timetable M-S allows for an arrival into Cork at 07:08 and a departure from Cork at 22:15. During the day there is an hourly clockface timetable in place - people know the timetable: xx:15 from Cork, xx:45 to Cork (Midleton people).

It's very simple, yet I do not understand:
Money is tight at the moment! Very tight! There is all talk about certain services are making next to nothing due to poor loadings: Rosslare - Waterford, Waterford - Limerick Junction, Ballybrophy - Limerick. The only timetable of these 3 that allows commuters to travel is the Waterford - Rosslare timetable! Into Waterford @ 08:20, departure from Waterford @ 17:20. Don't get me wrong, it could be well improved, but take a look at the other ones:

Limerick Junction - Waterford:
Earliest arrival into Waterford is 10:15!
Latest departure from Waterford is 16:15! (Who the hell is finished work at that stage or school/college for that matter!)

Dublin commuter services then is a different kettle of fish! I'm sure there are other people who can rant (like I just did) about the services in our capital!

Rant over!

[Mark Gleeson]

We didn't just spend 100 million on the Rosslare-Limerick Junction stretch. I counted close on 60 onboard last time I traveled Limerick Junction - Waterford, for such a poor frequency the numbers are actually quite impressive. Having spoken to others such numbers are not unusual

It should be noted that engineering works on the Nenagh line and the Waterford-Limerick Junction line to upgrade the line and reduce journey times were deferred to allow for the WRC, I'd put good money that the works at Limerick Junction also suffered.

Journey time is below par and will only get worse when Oranmore opens, the lack of through services from Galway to Limerick Junction and Waterford significantly reduces the attractiveness of the service

Midleton has been a success due in no small part to there being sufficient frequency and sufficient demand, it a commuter service and it actually generates significant revenues such that it could actually be profitable in coming years.

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Midleton has been a success due in no small part to there being sufficient frequency and sufficient demand, it a commuter service and it actually generates significant revenues such that it could actually be profitable in coming years.

That's surprising in the context of the amount of fare evasion there.

[Mark Gleeson]

Thats being worked on. Once the new signalling goes live the running costs will reduce further while punctuality and reliability are set to increase at the same time