Waterford Rosslare to close

[Alan French]

I would actually say the closure is not really a matter of profit and loss. Comparing income and revenue for one part of the system is misleading, because it doesn't take into account the inter-dependence of all parts of the rail network.

If IR were really commercially competent, they would run a more frequent service on the whole corridor from Rosslare to Galway, so that each part would contribute connecting passengers to the radial lines from Dublin. That could well cover the fixed costs associated with running these lines.

It is sad to see that in 2010 there are still people who will quote income and revenue figures for separate parts of the system, and fool some people into thinking that taxpayers' money is being saved by the closure. This is deceptive, and should really be called fraudulent accounting.

Here's a thought. If an independent company gets to run the line, they will presumably run trains to suit connections with IR trains at Waterford (for both lines). IR will benefit, whether they like it or not!

[corktina]

i don't think thwere will be many (and less in the future) passengers willing to take a stopping train in the wrong direction only to stand on a cold platform waiting for a connection when they could stay in their cars and get there quicker AND cheaper. The Motorway Age will be a big problem for many Irish Rail lines.

[iknowwhereiamgoing]

If there is a decent and frequent timetable, proper connections to the rest of the network then people will use the line. Just because there are motorways that does not mean that everyone will dersert the railways. If however, there is a sparse timetable, trains that run at times that are not convenient for the traveller and poor conections then that sort of thing will drive passengers to their cars. We must not give up on this line or the railways in general. If they are Properly run and managed thet will prove their worth. These lines survived the 1970's and 80's when railways were not in vogue and were unappreciated by many people. I can't believe that lines are being closed in this so called green age. No one has made any real effort to run or promote this line properly. Not only is the line a vital part of the network but also very scenic, think tourism, think a regular steam hauled special like that run in the Highlands of Scotland. To agument the regular service. Also the amount of frieght carried on the network is an absolue discrace.

[corktina]

Freight: well, what flows would you suggest there might be over this line?

As far as I can see , freight works best with a bulk haul over a long distance.Ireland has neither of these as being an island the distance to the nearest port is very small and the capital is roughly half way up the country.With the rapidly improving roads, Trucks are becoming even more likely to be used instead of Rail.

Passenger: the flows that Rail does best are Commuter services (mostly Dublin with limited scope in Cork and maybe elsewhere) and InterCity, which in Ireland means Dublin to Cork and Belfast and a limited scope for Dublin to Galway Limerick Waterford and Sligo .Limited? well yes, with single track you are never going to compete with Motorways;even Cork and Belfast services won't match them

[ccos]

Lots of people don't have cars (or may have their car unavailable) and have to use a train no matter how good the road is.
People who want to drink can't (shouldn't) drive and would like a train bring them home.
Cities and towns have finite car space, if everybody drives there they wont all fit in.
Its nice to go on holidays without the expense of airport parking
Tourists dont always hire cars.

There are many reasons why people have to use railways.

Railways are not in competition with motorways.
Countries with better motorways than Ireland typically have have better railways.
Some African countries have a policy of not improving roads parrallell to major railroutes (Trans-Gabon and the Dakar-Bamako railway spring to mind) this has not detered people that have cars from driving or led to a fantasic rail service.

A frequent well timetabled route with good onward connections is what makes a railway work.

When IE announced said they were withdrawing passenger services on the route my feeling was they already had as 6 return Trains per week does not constitute a service.

[James Howard]

From the perspective of somebody who practically lives on the Sligo line, but who has never used the Rosslare - Waterford line, it does appear to me that Irish Rail have basically willfully wound this service up and have been building the business case since the beet trains ended.

Freight is now a red herring - it doesn't exist in any meaningful quantity anymore apart from the odd bulk service.

If you look at the Sligo line, what has made a massive difference is the two-hour service. 10 or 15 years ago, it was the default choice to drive to Dublin city centre from Longford, but this is no longer true. We now have a service every 2 hours and in the morning and evening peaks, the gap is less than an hour. Irish Rail were very clever over the last couple of years with the attention grabbing 10 euro day returns which got people onto the trains. Once people get into the habit, they will quite willingly pay the normal 25 euro day return and sit down with a paper and a cup of coffee.

If you compare the Waterford/Rosslare service, it appears to me that the same strategy would at least have been worth a try. Yes, Waterford station is in an awkward place, but Dublin Connolly isn't exactly convenient for the hospitals or south city centre shopping districts which are the main destinations for day trippers. Irish Rail have obviously decided the (relatively) high-frequency approach works given that they have adopted the same idea on the WRC.

But to test this approach woudl have required getting the operational costs of the line in order. Irish Rail have concluded (correctly in my opinion) that the only way to keep the service running is to automate signalling and level crossings and get the staffing levels down. This is what is happening on the Sligo line.

Now if it had been three or four years ago, it would have been a simple matter to go an ask the Brians to get the checkbook out. But this is out of the question now. The writing is on the wall for all infrastructural investment beyond keeping the lights on and there is no way that anybody is going to start investing millions into a service with a proven revenue base barely stretching into six figures. There was also the matter of the fact that a lot of the line needed renewing.

So this year, rightly or wrongly, the Irish Rail subsidy was cut and they needed to find a few million to keep the system running. So they shut down the lowest revenue and highest cost part of the system.

It is a sad end and one hopes that they will maintain it to the extent that it can be started up again in a few years if there is a few quid to spend. It would certainly be have been preferable to invest in the rail service than building a white elephant of a motorway to Waterford where the traffic level is so low that it isn't economically viable to man a toll booth. But the money is spent now and what's done is done.

Those of us who depend on the Sligo can count our lucky stars that the bulk of the automation work is done because if the Sligo service was still performing the same as it was back in the early 90's, we would have been waving goodbye to it as well.

[corktina]

Railways sure as eggs ARE in competition with Motorwyas and if they donbt buck up their ideas and improve their services they are going to be on a downward spiral.

[iknowwhereiamgoing]

Whilst very few freight operations would be possible without a subsidy. Remember Railways have a disadvantage of having to maintain their infrastructure whilst lorries do not. A subsidy helps to close this disadvantage. There are many reasons why it is better to move freight from the roads to the railways. Air polution, congestion and for green issues. One freight train takes many lorry loads off the roads. It was mentioned that the single track limits train movements & limits the scope for expansion. Better timetabling and investments in passing loops and dualing the busier sections would partly aleviate this problem. If some of the vast amounts of money that was spent on these motorways had been spent on the rail network then it would have been in much better shape to compete

[dowlingm]

Originally Posted by iknowwhereiamgoing

One freight train takes many lorry loads off the roads.

Only if going from one railhead to another, only if it's okay that it all go at once, and only if it's okay to delay it in transit to allow priority to passenger traffic. Even semistates like An Post and Bord na Mona which you would think could be leaned on no longer use mainline freight rail.