Waterford-Limerick Junction gets a shoutout

[dowlingm]

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/jan/29/10-europes-best-rural-train-rail-journeys-branch-lines
Travel by train around Ireland and you’ll eventually end up changing trains at Limerick Junction. However, only a handful of people change on to the train that rattles east along the branch line to Waterford. In a country blessed with many wonderful railways, this rural route is one of the finest, following the beautiful Suir valley for much of its length, and concluding with a dramatic entry into Waterford. Water meadows, castles and a medley of attractive towns make this the perfect diversion.
• €5.29 one-way, 56 miles, 1 hour 50 minutes, twice daily (not Sundays), transportforireland.ie

[Traincustomer]

Good to see the line receiving a mention but not sure where the "branch line" terminology emanated from - perhaps from the "via the Waterford branch line." wording on the IÉ Dublin to Tipp fares page (https://www.irishrail.ie/rail-fares-and-tickets/fares-info/dublin-tipperary)? Either way it's a misnomer.

[berneyarms]

It’s a two train per day service that feeds into/out of Dublin/Cork.

I think it’s perfectly reasonable to describe it as a branch line given the operating pattern.

Were it a higher frequency service doing more than that then maybe it could be called something else.

[ACustomer]

A friend was staying in Clonmel hotel and enquired about directions to the railway station. Answer: "what railway station?": - they were unaware the town had a train service.

Maybe if Irish Rail let people know they existed, then demand might increase: there might even be enough to justify more than the present skeleton service.

Of course if there were a closure announcement then air would be full of cries from local politicians about how the town would die if the line were to close.

[Traincustomer]

It’s a two train per day service that feeds into/out of Dublin/Cork.

I think it’s perfectly reasonable to describe it as a branch line given the operating pattern.

Were it a higher frequency service doing more than that then maybe it could be called something else.

It is those things because of the lack of ambition and vision, in my view, on both the part of IÉ and the NTA.

It ought to be a key cross-country corridor.

[Goods]

Yes this could be a very valuable connecting line between East and west one of the few and extending to Limerick and onto Galway and with ambition onto Sligo via the western rail corridor. The running down of the service is a template that is applied to justify a line closure at some point. First the service is allowed decline, then the passenger numbers fall and then it is pointed out that the line is unused at which point the case is made for closing. This was the formula used to close a similar line further south between Mallow and Waterford.
Unless locals demand a proper service and use the railway then the low passenger numbers will eventually lead to closure because of an absence of public goodwill towards the line. Waterford Ferrybank port is an important container terminal so the line could easily shift road freight containers onto rail to Waterford via the Clonmel route.

[berneyarms]

It is those things because of the lack of ambition and vision, in my view, on both the part of IÉ and the NTA.

It ought to be a key cross-country corridor.

What it “ought” to be and what it is are two different things.

Right now it is operated as a branch line off the Dublin/Cork line, which is what the article quite correctly describes it as.

[berneyarms]

A friend was staying in Clonmel hotel and enquired about directions to the railway station. Answer: "what railway station?": - they were unaware the town had a train service.

Maybe if Irish Rail let people know they existed, then demand might increase: there might even be enough to justify more than the present skeleton service.

Of course if there were a closure announcement then air would be full of cries from local politicians about how the town would die if the line were to close.

That’s more a failing of the hotel let’s be honest. I’d expect a hotel to know local public transport options. Information on the service (limited in nature as the service is) is hardly hidden away on the IE website.

Let’s be honest though, it reflects the reality that we are a car-focussed country.

[Sealink]

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