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Unread 16-05-2007, 08:26   #11
newbahn
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Dublin
Posts: 3
Talking Rosslare, Waterford Line

Hi All,

Long time reader, first time poster here.

I have been reading this thread and am very disappointed by what I read. I am originally from Wellington Bridge and I know that a lot of people use the morning train to get to Waterford for college and work etc. The Wellington Bridge area has in the last few years expanded and a lot of housing estates have been built and a lot of people from these estates now work in Waterford commuting on the train to avail of the cheap housing.

With a travel time of 40 minutes between Wellington Bridge and Waterford the train is by far the quickest and most reliable way of getting into Waterford from south Wexford even with the current slow travel time on the line.

In short, more local people do not use the line because of the way the line is currently run and because of the way it has been run for as long as I can remember. There is no promotion of the line locally within Wexford and I could almost guarantee you that most local people in south Wexford do not realise the number of connections and possibilities that would be available to them via a change in Waterford if there was a regular service on the line. Currently anyone living south Wexford or even along this line in Campile, Ballycullane or even Wellington Bridge areas all take the bus or drive if they are going to Dublin because there is no connection to any main line rail service from the line that actually is competitive to road transport. Most local’s never even see a train service operate on the line.

Also the current timetable on the line is also not favorable with one service a day in both directions. How does Irish Rail expect the line to be viable with such a level or service? Even if both of these services were at maximum capacity there would still be no hope of the line ever being viable with such a timetable.

Finally, yes the sugar beet is now gone from the line, but doesn't this mean that there are now opportunities to be exploited on the line? Given that this is probably one of the best lines in the country for connections to other services along the route from Rosslare to Limerick shouldn't we at least give the line a fighting chance?

I firmly believe that a Waterford, Wexford, Enniscorthy service of some sort that was marketed correctly and that had a thought out timetable with good connections and travel time that was reliable would do very well.

Finally just a note on the quality of the rail service that Wexford has being receiving from Irish Rail in the last few years on both the Dublin Rosslare line and the Rosslare Waterford line. Irish Rail has in effect killed off both lines, weekend summer closures, bus transfers, late and early running of trains, bad timetables, slow journey time, lack of decent station information, delays, breakdowns, lack of marketing of the connections and possible options for connections for customer, unfriendly staff and finally poor planning and management of the line not to mention those commuter trains has meant that the local people have been lining up to take the bus to both Dublin and Waterford and to be honest is sickens me but then again who can blame them. If the bus is reliable, frequent, clean and on time.

I know I have ranting on here but just one final thing...... Bus Eireann manages 5 direct services a day from Rosslare to Waterford via Wexford with a further two more possible via a connection so there is obviously a demand for a greater service on the Rosslare Waterford route than what is currently being served by Irish Rail.

Ok that’s the lot, apologies for the long post.
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