Primetime running feature on Limerick-Galway in a few minutes

[Traincustomer]

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0117/blo...primetime.html

(I don't think this has already been mentioned on the forum)

[Destructix]

Totally agree with Colm McCarty and Moore McDowell that it was a waste of money. Average of 8 users per rail-car is a disgrace. Luke Flanagan blames the fact they use 2700 rail-cars and have no catering as an excuse that nobody uses it :/

Iarnród Éireann for well over a year were offering €10 fares from Limerick so the excuses about the line not be promoted are untrue.

[on the move]

The line is not profitable, but very few lines in this country are. We still need a rail service. There are ways to get and encourage more people onto trains instead of cars and buses, but neither CIE or the Government have the will to implement them.

However, it's not the public's fault that the country is broke, nor is it their fault that a bunch of jokers and wasters gambled all their money on failed pyramid schemes and toxic banks. They shouldn't have to pay for it further by having more rail lines closed.

[Mark Gleeson]

True all rail lines lose money its a question of how much of a loss is too much

The WRC was built despite all professional opinion, reports and advice saying no. Basically the cabinet of the then FF/Green government willingly and knowingly signed off on a project which they had been told would be loss making and did not meet the minimums required for funding.

The best thing Irish Rail could do is close Ennis - Athenry to put an end to the madness, its faster and cheaper by bus. To make Limerick Galway by rail competitive would cost 600 million as its basically a new line via Shannon and even then the cost benefit is less than the current woeful WRC

You could probably get close to profit on a Galway Athenry commuter service, which of course is what is what a proper country would have done first

The Waterford Rosslare line managed a load factor of 30-50 per train 6 days a week, it was closed more or less to plug the funding gap the WRC introduced

[jacko]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

True all rail lines lose money its a question of how much of a loss is too much

The WRC was built despite all professional opinion, reports and advice saying no. Basically the cabinet of the then FF/Green government willingly and knowingly signed off on a project which they had been told would be loss making and did not meet the minimums required for funding.

The best thing Irish Rail could do is close Ennis - Athenry to put an end to the madness, its faster and cheaper by bus. To make Limerick Galway by rail competitive would cost 600 million as its basically a new line via Shannon and even then the cost benefit is less than the current woeful WRC

You could probably get close to profit on a Galway Athenry commuter service, which of course is what is what a proper country would have done first

The Waterford Rosslare line managed a load factor of 30-50 per train 6 days a week, it was closed more or less to plug the funding gap the WRC introduced

Is there any logic in running Waterford - Clonmel - Limerick - Ennis - Galway

[comcor]

I suspect that service would spend a good deal of time getting delayed in Limerick Junction.

What might be useful would be to run trains through to Limerick Junction as this would reduce times and changes for both Ennis/Sixmilebridge-Dublin and Galway-Cork passengers.

I can't see any real operational reasons not to run through to Limerick Junction.

If the connections were sorted, Galway-Cork should be possible in 3h 20, which is 25 minutes faster than Citylink and over an hour faster than Bus Eireann, so at least the WRC could beat something timewise.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by jacko

Is there any logic in running Waterford - Clonmel - Limerick - Ennis - Galway

There is. It would reduce the number of connections needed, which costs the passenger time, effort and comfort and the train company passengers and income.

The most important factor would be getting the connections at Waterford, Limerick Junction, Limerick and Athenry/Galway right such that it operates as a true network.

It would be a long trip without a dining car / trolley, but that could be sorted by having a trolley join the train at some point, e.g.Limerick-Limerick Junction and then swapping to another train in the other direction.

[on the move]

Originally Posted by KSW

I'm going to sound very harsh now but 100million on a new line with only 8passengers onboard on every journey is stupid. Iarnrod Eireann can predict passenger numbers doesn't mean the line will exactly do that. Depends on frequency of trains,Are they fast,Connecting to other trains & Comfortable.

That's my option

It's not 8 passengers onboard on every journey, it's an "average" taken over total journeys, not based on on-peak, off-peak factors, special events, bank holidays or other variables like that. An average highlighted for specific effect.

There's more than the profit and loss figures to rail transport, it's a vital connection across cities and countries. The tramlines in Dublin were torn up in the fifties, because those in power thought they weren't needed. Instead, it took 9 years and billions of Euro to plan, construct, and relaunch the city's current tram network, for which Dublin simply couldn't cope without, and it took 34 years and billions more Euro to reopen this line.

I recognise that the line is unprofitable at the present time, but I cannot support the call for raillines to be closed in any form. I wouldn't do it in countries like Greece, so I'm certainly not going to in this country, given it is such a relatively short network. To that extent, I am happy with the news that it will continue to remain open. There are ways of making it more profitable, some of which have been suggested in this thread, the will has to be there though to implement them, from a capable and competent administrative body.

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...310808880.html

Crusheen rail station delayed amid talks with developer
GORDON DEEGAN

THE WESTERN Rail Corridor project has stalled again as Iarnród Éireann continues to negotiate with a third-party developer, it has emerged. Planning permission was granted for the new station at Crusheen along the Ennis to Athenry route last June, but work has yet to commence.

In a written Dáil reply to Timmy Dooley (FF), Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said Iarnród Éireann was “negotiating with a third party over funding contributions. On the conclusion of these negotiations the procurement process for Crusheen will commence.”

Yesterday, Iarnród Éireann said the Crusheen station has contributions from the company’s capital programme, Clare County Council and a third-party developer.

A spokesman said: “We are in discussions with the third party at present, so we must await the outcome of these to determine when the project will proceed, though it is our aspiration to commence works this summer.”

The delay in providing the Crusheen stop comes against the background of Iarnród Éireann conceding the passenger numbers on the WCR are lower than forecast in the business sector. Figures from Iarnród Éireann show 34,461 passengers used the restored Ennis to Athenry link last year. This compares to 66,390 using the Ennis-Limerick route and 123,315 the Athenry-Galway route.

A breakdown of the figures shows the line is busiest in summer, with 4,486 passengers over a four-week period going down to 2,060 in November.

A spokesman for Iarnród Éireann said: “The business case obviously did not provide for the calamitous recession, which has impacted on demand for all transport, due to reduced economic activity. It has also completely brought to a halt development, so the envisaged regional development has not materialised.”