Proposals for extra train services in North Tipperary...

[Mark Gleeson]

It's impossible to hide in the siding in Nenagh, as you would have to wait for the other train to either reach Roscrea or Birdhill, before the signaling system would release the staff. The bodged signaling solution allows for a train to split only (and only if it originated in Birdhill). So looking at a very long wait. Siding is off limits to in service passenger trains as well

The second platform is Roscrea is still registered as a available and has been used for passengers in recent years.

[dowlingm]

Originally Posted by doherty jack

all we need is a footbridge at roascrea and possibliy birdhill

An accessible bridge if not currently present. Ching ching!

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by doherty jack

all we need is a footbridge at roascrea and possibliy birdhill

(Footbridge + 2 stairs + 2 lifts) x 2

You are unlikely to have change out of €500,000.

[Destructix]

They could take them ugly old footbridges from Thurles and Templemore and reuse them. Modern stations but footbridges from the 1840s still remain.

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Is it Virginia O'Dowd or Alan Kelly putting these mad promises of the impossible into peoples heads?

[dowlingm]

I've only passed through Birdhill once on a Limerick-Ballybrophy service and that was more years than I care to remember so I don't know if this would even work - is it legal to open a second entrance to a station to a remote platform, stick a TVM on it, and deem that platform legal without a bridge or tunnel to the other platform?

[Mark Gleeson]

Any footbridge installed has to be accessible under the regulations in force

[Mark Gleeson]

Well the truth is Irish Rail have made NO request as this time to apply for a timetable change

[Inniskeen]

Originally Posted by Colm Moore

(Footbridge + 2 stairs + 2 lifts) x 2

You are unlikely to have change out of €500,000.

Lets get real here. Why the hell do you need a footbridge in either Roscrea or Birdhill. What is wrong with a Luas style walkway linking the platforms at one end, directly under the supervision of the signalman.

This arrangement applied for years at Newry, whereby a gate was opened by station staff and passengers with luggage or those unable to negotiate the footbridge were conducted across the line when safe to do so.

Such an arrangement at Roscrea and Birdhill would probably be safer than a footbridge given that the risk of being hit by a train is probably much less than that of tripping on the steps of a footbridge.

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by Inniskeen

Lets get real here. Why the hell do you need a footbridge in either Roscrea or Birdhill. What is wrong with a Luas style walkway linking the platforms at one end, directly under the supervision of the signalman.

New arrangements like this are not allowed under relevant safety legislation. Existing arrangements are grandfathered.

[dowlingm]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Any footbridge installed has to be accessible under the regulations in force

Right, but what if you had two platforms with two separate entrances, i.e. no bridge? Are IE required to connect both platforms together? I realise it is a ridiculous way to run a railroad where you essentially have two halts across the track from each other but the alternative is spending a six figure sum...

[Mark Gleeson]

A separate entrance is acceptable provided it is accessible.

When we drew up a plan for the line years ago, we managed to get away without needing a second platform at any station, the Kilmastulla headhunt could be cheaply turned into a loop thus avoiding the hassle

The UK solution is for a long platform with the loop half way down so two trains use the same platform

[dowlingm]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

When we drew up a plan for the line years ago, we managed to get away without needing a second platform at any station, the Kilmastulla headhunt could be cheaply turned into a loop thus avoiding the hassle

The UK solution is for a long platform with the loop half way down so two trains use the same platform

Interesting! I wonder how much extra capacity could be generated on congested single track sections like Maynooth-Longford, Athlone-Portarlington or Waterford-Athy with that sort of ingenuity, maybe Sixmilebridge too. It's unfortunate how many stations are compromised from platform extensions by overbridges nearby and the like.

[Inniskeen]

Originally Posted by Thomas Ralph

New arrangements like this are not allowed under relevant safety legislation. Existing arrangements are grandfathered.

Luas is realtively new, there are literally thousands of Luas movements through similar crossings daily.

In any event neither Birdhill or Roscrea could be described as new !

This type of rubbish costs a lot of money. Access the risk, take appropriate mitigation and bobs your uncle, job done.

If the RSC has a problem, then maybe the RSC is the problem.

[dowlingm]

Originally Posted by Inniskeen

In any event neither Birdhill or Roscrea could be described as new !

But if the 2nd platform was signed out of use it might as well have been bulldozed, yes?

[Inniskeen]

Both platforms at Roscrea and Birdhill are entirely intact. The second platform at Nenagh is also intact although the track serving it is long gone.

[doherty jack]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Well the truth is Irish Rail have made NO request as this time to apply for a timetable change

an application has been the timetable is drawen up and the services are coming in on the 5th march!

[doherty jack]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

It's impossible to hide in the siding in Nenagh, as you would have to wait for the other train to either reach Roscrea or Birdhill, before the signaling system would release the staff. The bodged signaling solution allows for a train to split only (and only if it originated in Birdhill). So looking at a very long wait. Siding is off limits to in service passenger trains as well

The second platform is Roscrea is still registered as a available and has been used for passengers in recent years.

trains can cross at nenagh , engieering trains have done it!i know the signalmen at roscrea very well and it is posssible , but the ICR has sat in nenagh for a while in 2007 ....

roscrea platform is useable ...but there is no means to acess it without walking across the line! and trains are scheuled to cross at roscrea at18.40pm when the service comes in !

roscrea the birr platform ,has not been used since the 1980s for passenger transactions , passenger trains have pulled in but you are not let out of the train !

[Mark Gleeson]

YOU CANNOT put a passenger train with passengers onboard in the siding in Nenagh, its not allowed under the signaling rules.

YOU HAVE to wait until the other train reaches Roscrea or Birdhill before the train can be unlocked out of the siding, so unless you fancy a 40 minute layover its not a workable solution

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by Inniskeen

Luas is realtively new, there are literally thousands of Luas movements through similar crossings daily.

Different rules for light and heavy railways. Luas crossings are fully flat and there is a speed limit of I think 30km/h going through, plus all Luas trams are all-stops.

[brompton7]

FYI -

'Boost for local rail service. Deputy Noel Coonan has welcomed Iarnrod Eireann’s proposal to the National Transport Authority to provide an early morning service from Limerick to Dublin via Nenagh and Roscrea. Under the new Spring/Summer schedule, Iarnrod Eireann is planning to expand its service which will be of very welcome news to those living in the environs of Roscrea and Nenagh said Deputy Coonan.
He said: “I have been informed that Iarnrod Eireann is proposing a number of additional services on the Nenagh/Roscrea rail line, one extra service in the morning and two in the evening which will improve the number of services from four to seven.” said Noel. He added: “This early morning service is planned to stop in Roscrea at 6:38am and arrive in Dublin at 8:20 without having to change trains. This should be a very appealing options to commuters in the North Tipperary and South Offaly area.”'

The Nenagh Guardian, 18 February 2012, p. 3, accessed 17 Feb 12 via http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Oli...enaghGuardian/
Am I to infer from this that existing commuter times are to be preserved? 'Extra' being the operative word?