[Article] WRC opening March 30th

[Mark Gleeson]

Thats being worked on. Once the new signalling goes live the running costs will reduce further while punctuality and reliability are set to increase at the same time

[dowlingm]

LIT would be far better served if Longpavement halt was built - it would be 2km away but doable for most students over the trip into town and 3km trip back across the river, as well as match days for the Gaelic Grounds and Thomond Park. However, this likely stop won't get built while there is no money to regenerate the surrounding area.

Similarly, the problem with commuting to UL by rail from Nenagh is not arrival in town but the lack of a connector from Castleconnell or another new halt between there and Killonan.

I thought Sixmilebridge wouldn't be open for another while yet because of signalling changes needed - did they fix that while the line was closed by the floods or was that never an issue?

[dowlingm]

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0319/rail.html

Fresh call for 'western corridor' funds

Friday, 19 March 2010 13:10
There has been a fresh call on the Government to commit funds to the next stage of the 'western rail corridor' and the restoration of train services between Limerick and Sligo.

The first phase of the line between Limerick and Athenry, which has been restored at a cost of over €100m, will be re-opened in 10 days.

The latest demand for a firm Government commitment to continue with re-opening the entire Limerick-Sligo line has come from the mayors of eight cities and counties on the west coast and from four Catholic bishops.

They say the decision to restore services between Galway and Limerick from Monday week is a major step forward for the entire region.
They say it is now imperative that the next section from Athenry to Claremorris be pressed ahead as rapidly as possible.

It has been 30 years since passenger trains operated between Galway and Limerick.

In a separate development today, the South-East Regional Authority has come out strongly against proposals by Iarnród Éireann and CIÉ to close or downgrade any part of the region's rail network.

The statement comes after Iarnród Éireann said it was considering closing the Rosslare-Waterford line, which has been in operation for 104 years.

[markpb]

Originally Posted by dowlingm

The latest demand for a firm Government commitment to continue with re-opening the entire Limerick-Sligo line has come from the mayors of eight cities and counties on the west coast and from four Catholic bishops.

I wonder would it be possible to come to an agreement whereby the government commits to funding the extension if the councils in those eight "cities" agree to cover any loss made by the present and future WRC. If the line is successful, there should be no loss.

[dowlingm]

Originally Posted by markpb

I wonder would it be possible to come to an agreement whereby the government commits to funding the extension if the councils in those eight "cities" agree to cover any loss made by the present and future WRC. If the line is successful, there should be no loss.

My view is that Irish Rail should be obliged to publish boardings from each station annually, and the bottom 10% be told that unless x monthly or annual tickets are bought within six months, no more station for you.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Irish Independent

Galway to Limerick rail route to run at €2.4m loss

By Paul Melia
Thursday March 25 2010
JUST 320 passengers a day will use the €110m Galway-Limerick train service which opens for business next week.

And it will take longer to travel by rail than by road, with 30 minutes added to the journey time of commuters who choose to go green and leave the car at home.

The Irish Independent has learnt Iarnrod Eireann expects to lose €2.4m a year running the service, with just 100,000 passengers expected to make the switch from road to rail in the first five years.

Even by 2015 when passenger numbers are expected to double to 640 people a day, trains will run at less than 40pc capacity, an independent review of the state rail company's business reveals.

The first stage of the controversial Western Rail Corridor, the Limerick to Galway service opens next Tuesday.

It will serve Galway, Athenry, Craughwell, Ardrahan, Gort, Ennis, Sixmilebridge and Limerick -- linking the cities in just under two hours.

However, the journey by road takes just 90 minutes and is expected to be even shorter when the Gort--Crusheen dual carriageway opens next year.

The faster journey time means Iarnrod Eireann will face an uphill struggle to convince people to change to trains.

"The key issue will be the ability of the service to generate patronage in the context of a much improved road network and increasing bus competition," the company's business case says.

"A major element of risk associated with this project relates to the impact of the Transport 21 Atlantic Road Corridor and increasing car ownership levels. The business case suggests that the justification for the project is on grounds of its contribution to regional development."

It has also emerged:

Five trains will run in each direction per day, two fewer than promised when the line was being planned.
The interval between trains was to have been no more than three hours. For some services, however, it is almost four.
A day return will cost €20, but fares will meet only €1m of operating costs per year, meaning the taxpayer will have to subvent the line by €2.4m.
The maximum speed on the line is less than 100kmh.
Approved

But Iarnrod Eireann said it was confident it could increase passenger numbers, and that the service would be developed over time.

Spokesman Barry Kenny added the project was prepared under Department of Transport guidelines for capital funding, and approved. "This will be a deliverable and reliable city-to-city journey time."

Fine Gael Transport spokes- man Fergus O'Dowd said it would be "difficult" to make the project work. "It seems a very expensive operation," he said.

There are two phases left to complete on the Western Rail Corridor. Phase two will link Athenry to Tuam, and phase three will reopen the Tuam to Claremorris line.

However, both are dependent on capital funding, and a decision has not been made on when the rest of the project will proceed.

Rail passengers lobby group, Rail Users Ireland, criticised the lack of services, saying that people would not use the rail network unless frequent services were provided.

- Paul Melia

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...s-2110771.html

[Colm Moore]

JUST 320 passengers a day will use the €110m Galway-Limerick train service which opens for business next week.

And it will take longer to travel by rail than by road, with 30 minutes added to the journey time of commuters who choose to go green and leave the car at home.

The Irish Independent has learnt Iarnrod Eireann expects to lose €2.4m a year running the service, with just 100,000 passengers expected to make the switch from road to rail in the first five years.

Even by 2015 when passenger numbers are expected to double to 640 people a day, trains will run at less than 40pc capacity, an independent review of the state rail company's business reveals.

The middle bit is slightly unfair. 320 per day = 116,800 (presumably the 100,000 mentioned). Doubling that would mean 876,000 over the five years.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by dowlingm

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0319/rail.html

if you dont ask you will not get, however, we now live in a world where to safe one million euro the government will close the helecopter service in the South East.

just a sobering thought.

[James Howard]

If you are talking 320 people per day and that means 160 each way, and assume two people per car, you are looking at removing 160 car journeys and replacing them with 10 train journeys.

Depending on whether they are 2 or 4 car trains, I would seriously doubt that the total amount of fuel consumed would be less. Especially when you add in the fuel used by staff to get into work.

In fact you can probably assume that you are removing less than 100 car journeys because a lot of passengers would have either taken the bus or wouldn't have traveled at all because they are out for a jaunt on the free travel.

I am not saying that there is no social need for the service, but you can forget about arguing for it based on green credentials.

What they really need to do with these services is go all out in providing commuter services which means at least 4 trains to land you at the city ends between 07:30 and 09:00. And then the same again to get you home. Then don't bother with paid parking for at least the first few years and fill the trains up with daily commuters. I guess you would need to be using single car trains to provide this level of frequency given the population densities.

Blowing 100 million quid and then ending up serving 320 people per day is just stupid. If you were commuting on the system in effect, they would have just invested 300 grand to get you into work. It would have been cheaper and greener to just buy you a house near where you work.

[Mark Gleeson]

We will issue a statement on Monday. Whats done is done, there is no going back. No one was willing to listen to sense and numbers.

On one level the biggest problem is the fact Irish Rail are running it, take a look at the timetable its the classic eccentric disjoint mess. You really wonder what kind of thought process is involved, sounds more like throwing darts blindfolded and looking at what options got hit.

Now if Translink was running it, I would be confident that it would be more realistic in the operation, not to forget they understand the concept of 'customer'

[Colm Moore]

Ah, the wonderful BÉ route 343 Limerick - Shannon Airport http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1264783132-343.pdf Three services to Sixmilebridge in one direction and 5 the other. Only marginally worse than what the train service will be (nothing on Sunday).