Western rail corridor (WRC) - Capital Plan

[Goods]

https://irishrailwaydevelopments.wor...-capital-plan/

Good to see that the Capital Plan includes rail infrastructure for the future. Existing rail infrastructure could not be put in place today because of cost so we should develop what we have inherited, connect it up and allow rail to be a part of Ireland's commitment to the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

[Goods]

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/co...-36206695.html

CIE tend to run down a service firstly, making it unattractive then claim that the low passenger numbers show that it is a failed line and recommend closing. If the service and price was good rail would be used more often. In Europe at weekends there is often a half price offer to attract families and fill trains at off peak times.

[ACustomer]

Not the dreaded WRC again!. We have just had the opening of a €500 million stretch of Motorway right alongside the Ennis-Athenry route. This is at a time when Dublin's inadequate transport infrastructure arguably adds to Dublin's housing problems. I would spend money on DART underground (and not the mickey-mouse scaled back version proposed a couple of years ago).

Also Brexit will require reorientation of traffic away from UK ports as a way to Europe, and hence places like Rosslare should play a vital role, so we will need better links to the South-East, not the North West. (Sorry if this touches the F-word!)

Do we have a transport minister or is he too busy trying to be justice minister?

[Inniskeen]

I would be enthusiastic about DART underground if I I thought it would yield anything approaching the benefits claimed for it. Simply connecting the Docklands to Pearse station and sending all Maynooth and Newbridge trains to/via Docklands would be just as effective at a fraction of the cost. As for the WRC there are regional and strategic reasons to extend to Tuam and Claremorris. Galway in particular, is a rapidly growing city and would benefit from improved rail links.

[Goods]

I dont think that we should be exclusive in our thinking in that rail works best when well connected. I agree that Rosslare now becomes more important w Brexit but the NW would also benefit if Sligo, Tuam etc were linked via Limerick to Rosslare. Linking a line to the airport is well overdue whichever way it happens.

[Mark Gleeson]

WRC doesn't meet the financial case to be supported, it doesn't work with the cost benefit analysis. The cost to subside is way to much and the passenger numbers on the Ennis Athenry section today are driven mainly by aggressive fare discounting so the overall revenue isn't increasing as the yield is being sacrificed to make the passenger numbers look better.

Much better spend the money on Athenry Galway and close the rest, focus on actual demand and local development and keeping the distances reasonably short to maximise efficiency and to immediately make a clear statement that rural sprawl will not be rewarded, if you want a train live near major cities.

DART underground would result in a reduction in subsidy in Dublin due the economy of scale and volume, it actually can make a surplus

There isn't the population density to support the WRC and the last thing we want to do is to in any way to encourage people in Ennis to commute to Galway, or even worse Claremorris to Galway, thats a crazy idea and giving in to those kind of requests have massively increased costs in Dublin as places like Longford, Gorey Athlone which are 80 odd miles from Dublin are afforded commuter services which cost a fortune to operate.