Rail demand rising
Article in the Indo today showing that over 45m journeys on rail in most recent figures and a 6% increase continuing, proving the point that the public will use rail if the service is adequate and good value. We had been told for years that IE was unsuitable for rail as it didnt have the volume of passengers to make it viable. Thankfully not all lines were ripped up and we still have a potential rail service in place. There are still options to link the likes of Navan into Dublin and use semi idle lines to shift rail traffic from the busy lines and begin a double track to Mullingar. These and reopening the Tuam and Claremorris line in the west will have positive knock on effect in providing commuter options elsewhere including into traffic blocked Galway.
Reopening the Phoenix park tunnel has increased options around Dublin and IE rail had to be dragged screaming to the table to accept the inevitable on that vital city transport asset. Time for IE rail to start thinking big and meet the public demand.
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