Does Waterford-Limerick have passenger potential?

[comcor]

This document shows the origin of Irish commuters, albeit from the 2011 census

https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j...E4Ncg g6vDcWg

The answer would appear to be that there are some from Tipperary, but not from Cahir.

It is 60km to Cahir. Only really Dublin, and to a fractional extent Cork, have commuter belts that extend out that far.

[Goods]

Closing any link that connects a port like Rosslare where freight is shipped is backwards.Rail at night should be used to move freight so that usage of the lines is I erased and cost reduced. The fact that the passenger trains at Rosslare were not timed to meet the ferry was simply a way of running down the service. This has been a CIE method, run down the service and then show its not used.

[Thomas Morelli]

Does anyone know if the section between Cahir and Limerick Junction has any bad gradients?

[ACustomer]

No: gradients are quite moderate, especially after the first 3 miles or so beyond Cahir.

[Traincustomer]

Originally Posted by Jamie2k9

40 is a good number, by any chance were some of those part of a Rail Tours Ireland group? (likely they were)

Some time ago I was on the 16.25 out of Waterford and counted 50 something passengers in the course of walking through to the leading carriage several minutes prior to departure. All individuals or small family groups and no folks on a tour apparent on that particular occasion.

[Traincustomer]

A well-written piece appears in the current Tipperary Star:

At the end of August, the railways between Limerick Junction and Waterford and Limerick and Ballybrophy were in the news again as a result of the latest Irish Rail (IR) negotiations with the unions in the Labour Court over pay claims.

Documents deposited by IR highlighted that both routes could close unless the company is adequately funded.

Media, led by the Irish Independent and RTE, focused on the alleged €761 per passenger subsidy for the Nenagh line, instead of investigating the root causes behind the under-performance of these lines.

These lines serve eight large towns and despite the millions of euro in infrastructural investment in the last decade, little attempt has been made to run a service which is more than marginally relevant to the requirements of the communities they serve. It’s akin to opening a supermarket without stocking the shelves.

The full article can be read at source:
http://www.tipperarystar.ie/news/new...-services.html

[Underground]

Originally Posted by Goods

Closing any link that connects a port like Rosslare where freight is shipped is backwards.Rail at night should be used to move freight so that usage of the lines is I erased and cost reduced.

Would most rail freight in the South East not go via Belview in Waterford?

[Goods]

The Limerick Waterford line is the link from the West coast to the ferry port and if properly used at night could easily connect Sligo Galway Kerry Etc to the container port. Using the lines at night to shift freight would reduce the costs associated with rail. Another heavy load traveling on the roads daily from all parts of Ireland is the recycled waste, huge over laden truck. Surely at different pick up points on rail this could be transferred as freight by night.

[Mark Gleeson]

This is a forum for passenger issues only.

We have no interest in freight, it doesn't exist and pays only marginal cost as it is not subsidised so basically gets a free ride.

Please return to the topic on hand "Does Waterford-Limerick have passenger potential?"

[Goods]

Surely rail users implies that the discussion is about rail. Survival of rail is about viability. Rail use around the world is not confined to passenger only which is one of the reasons why rail is successful elsewhere. I think it would be a mistake not to include all dimensions in the discussion rather than the narrow view

[Mark Gleeson]

Final warning

We have no remit concern freight