Is there rail in their Masterplan?

dowlingm · 24-01-2008, 18:36

I see Shannon is getting a Masterplan. [cue trumpets!]

Courtesy of Ennis County Council yet. Not a word in the PR and News coverage of a link to Limerick by rail, but they are defo getting 1500 underground parking spaces, which is nice.

We can't expect too much of course, with Sixmilebridge not even done yet. Who takes Kyoto targets seriously anyway?

Mark Gleeson · 27-01-2008, 17:32

There won't be a train to Shannon in the plan, members area has the numbers and details

http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=3629

No surprise really

Tadhg17 · 28-01-2008, 20:02

There is no need for a rail link to Shannon Airport, it's too expensive and the population is not there to justify a rail link.

In the last 2-3 years the roads into Shannon have been improved enormously(dual carriageway almost into the Airport), Shannon town has been by-passed. The roads are now quality, traffic isnt even bad at rush hour now.

Also the bus services into Shannon Airport and town have improved hugely in the last year or two.. Bus Eireann's Cork-Limerick-Galway route (Route 51) now goes into Shannon Airport every hour with 14 departures each way daily.

Shannon Airport and Town also has a local service to Limerick City every hour off peak, every half hour peak(Route 343)
There is also a local Bus Eireann Shannon Airport and Town-Ennis bus service, every hour, more frequent at peak(Route 344)

Citylink-http://www.citylink.ie/ also have 5 return bus services each way from Shannon Airport to Galway daily.

Also in the future if they do build a rail link to Shannon, they should build it to connect with the Limerick-Ennis railway just past setrights in Cratloe. The Ennis-Limerick rail line runs alongside the dual-carriageway at that point. Better than running it to Sixmilebridge as was touted a while back.

dowlingm · 31-01-2008, 05:29

tadgh - I'm not saying the airport justifies it by itself, and I agree with your assessment of where the link should be planned for. What I'm saying is that Shannon should have been a decent size town years ago with people using rail to commute from Limerick to jobs there if not from Ennis via a continuation of the Limerick spur through to Sixmilebridge.

What I am saying is that Clare CC have been scared into action now that they can see that their inexplicable stranglehold over Irish aviation policy and the consequent propping up of their area by Aer Lingus coming to an end, their planners might have to work for a living, having left the first planned town in the State moulder in obscurity for decades. Having done so, they show no sign of having learned from the experience of other local authorities who put forward car-dependent plans years ago and are now paying for it.

Tadhg17 · 12-02-2008, 00:30

Shannon should have been planned whereby the majority of people would have lived and worked in Shannon and not commuting by car from West Clare, Limerick, Ennis and even Tipperary. I think housing was last on the list back in the day after the Airport and the Shannon free Zone when they started to build in Shannon which meant people were already travelling to work by car in Shannon. When they did start to build housing in Shannon it was council estates and flats(up by the airport on the left) and alot of people moved to Shannon from the North during the troubles and later from problem estates in Limerick city. Alot of workers became snobbish towards Shannon Town and preferred to commute by car from elsewhere in Clare or Limerick. This has continued to this day. I went to secondary school in Shannon and recently some of my mates moved into a new apartment block beside Shannon Town centre-all the other residents of that apartment block are Eastern European immigrants. Not a Clare accent to be heard.

Living and working in Shannon should have been encouraged from the start not twenty years later with proper rail and road infrastructure in Shannon and connecting to Limerick/Ennis.

24-01-2008, 18:36	#1
dowlingm Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,371	Is there rail in their Masterplan? I see Shannon is getting a Masterplan. [cue trumpets!] Courtesy of Ennis County Council yet. Not a word in the PR and News coverage of a link to Limerick by rail, but they are defo getting 1500 underground parking spaces, which is nice. We can't expect too much of course, with Sixmilebridge not even done yet. Who takes Kyoto targets seriously anyway?

27-01-2008, 17:32	#2
Mark Gleeson Technical Officer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coach C, Seat 33 Posts: 12,669	There won't be a train to Shannon in the plan, members area has the numbers and details http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=3629 No surprise really __________________ Unhappy with new timetable - let us know

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28-01-2008, 20:02	#3
Tadhg17 Regular Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 49	There is no need for a rail link to Shannon Airport, it's too expensive and the population is not there to justify a rail link. In the last 2-3 years the roads into Shannon have been improved enormously(dual carriageway almost into the Airport), Shannon town has been by-passed. The roads are now quality, traffic isnt even bad at rush hour now. Also the bus services into Shannon Airport and town have improved hugely in the last year or two.. Bus Eireann's Cork-Limerick-Galway route (Route 51) now goes into Shannon Airport every hour with 14 departures each way daily. Shannon Airport and Town also has a local service to Limerick City every hour off peak, every half hour peak(Route 343) There is also a local Bus Eireann Shannon Airport and Town-Ennis bus service, every hour, more frequent at peak(Route 344) Citylink-http://www.citylink.ie/ also have 5 return bus services each way from Shannon Airport to Galway daily. Also in the future if they do build a rail link to Shannon, they should build it to connect with the Limerick-Ennis railway just past setrights in Cratloe. The Ennis-Limerick rail line runs alongside the dual-carriageway at that point. Better than running it to Sixmilebridge as was touted a while back.

31-01-2008, 05:29	#4
dowlingm Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,371	tadgh - I'm not saying the airport justifies it by itself, and I agree with your assessment of where the link should be planned for. What I'm saying is that Shannon should have been a decent size town years ago with people using rail to commute from Limerick to jobs there if not from Ennis via a continuation of the Limerick spur through to Sixmilebridge. What I am saying is that Clare CC have been scared into action now that they can see that their inexplicable stranglehold over Irish aviation policy and the consequent propping up of their area by Aer Lingus coming to an end, their planners might have to work for a living, having left the first planned town in the State moulder in obscurity for decades. Having done so, they show no sign of having learned from the experience of other local authorities who put forward car-dependent plans years ago and are now paying for it.

12-02-2008, 00:30	#5
Tadhg17 Regular Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 49	Shannon should have been planned whereby the majority of people would have lived and worked in Shannon and not commuting by car from West Clare, Limerick, Ennis and even Tipperary. I think housing was last on the list back in the day after the Airport and the Shannon free Zone when they started to build in Shannon which meant people were already travelling to work by car in Shannon. When they did start to build housing in Shannon it was council estates and flats(up by the airport on the left) and alot of people moved to Shannon from the North during the troubles and later from problem estates in Limerick city. Alot of workers became snobbish towards Shannon Town and preferred to commute by car from elsewhere in Clare or Limerick. This has continued to this day. I went to secondary school in Shannon and recently some of my mates moved into a new apartment block beside Shannon Town centre-all the other residents of that apartment block are Eastern European immigrants. Not a Clare accent to be heard. Living and working in Shannon should have been encouraged from the start not twenty years later with proper rail and road infrastructure in Shannon and connecting to Limerick/Ennis.