[Article] WRC opening March 30th

[plant43]

Limerick to Galway line: full services commence 30th March 2010 by Corporate Communications

Iarnród Éireann has announced that rail services between Limerick and Galway are set to commence next month.

The €106.5 million new route will be officially launched on 29th March 2010, following the completion of the rebuilding of the Ennis to Athenry line, and the receding of recent flooding between Limerick and Ennis, and full schedules will operate from 30th March.

Major infrastructure works were completed towards the end of last year, and driver training is well underway.

OVERVIEW OF PROJECT

After a gap of over 30 years since the last scheduled services on the line, the Ennis to Athenry renewal will:

- Deliver direct Galway to Limerick services, timed to meet commuter needs

- Serve Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway; and new stations at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan, Craughwell

- Expand commuter links to Limerick and Galway

- Promote balanced regional development, in line with National Spatial Strategy objectives, by linking two Gateways – Limerick and Galway – and serving the hub of Ennis



The investment project delivered by Iarnród Éireann involves:

- renewal of 36 miles of track, including all necessary fencing and drainage and installation of points and crossings at Gort and Ennis.

- a 90m platform with furniture, signage, shelter, Automatic Ticket Vending Machine, lighting, car park, PA, Customer Information Systems, help point and CCTV provision at Sixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell. These stations will also be accessible to the mobility impaired

- At Ennis and Athenry stations, PA, Customer Information Systems, help point and CCTV has been provided

- Repair and improvement work has been undertaken on bridges on the route to allow rail services to operate

- modernised signalling systems

- improvement to level crossings, and elimination where practicable

The service will commence with five services each way daily (Monday to Saturday), and four services each way on Sundays.

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/...ew&news_id=639

[Mark Gleeson]

timed to meet commuter needs

Single peak hour service and the usual nothing after 6:30pm

[James Howard]

And closed for 6 weeks a year due to flooding

[dowlingm]

4 services to Galway on Sundays, 0 services to Waterford...

[finnyus]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Single peak hour service and the usual nothing after 6:30pm

Arrival time into Galway @ 08:25 does not meet the needs of all commuters, if you live south of Athenry and/or your place of employment/etc is not in the vicinity of Galway Station.

Arrival time into Limerick @ 08:39 from stations north of Ennis is no good at all! All you need to do is look at the 07:20 "commuter" service from Nenagh to Limerick, with its arrival time of 08:42... very handy for people that might work at the station or work in shops close by, but what about students commuting to UL or LIT? or what about workers working in Limerick city centre or out in the big industrial estate or anywhere else?

The timetable is a big disappointment for people that want to commute to work/college/etc... from any new station between Ennis and Athenry.

Midleton line has recently been deemed a success in a Cork newspaper. I don't know facts and figures on how they came to this conclusion, but any time I have travelled on it there have been a lot of passengers. The timetable M-S allows for an arrival into Cork at 07:08 and a departure from Cork at 22:15. During the day there is an hourly clockface timetable in place - people know the timetable: xx:15 from Cork, xx:45 to Cork (Midleton people).

It's very simple, yet I do not understand:
Money is tight at the moment! Very tight! There is all talk about certain services are making next to nothing due to poor loadings: Rosslare - Waterford, Waterford - Limerick Junction, Ballybrophy - Limerick. The only timetable of these 3 that allows commuters to travel is the Waterford - Rosslare timetable! Into Waterford @ 08:20, departure from Waterford @ 17:20. Don't get me wrong, it could be well improved, but take a look at the other ones:

Limerick Junction - Waterford:
Earliest arrival into Waterford is 10:15!
Latest departure from Waterford is 16:15! (Who the hell is finished work at that stage or school/college for that matter!)

Dublin commuter services then is a different kettle of fish! I'm sure there are other people who can rant (like I just did) about the services in our capital!

Rant over!

[Mark Gleeson]

We didn't just spend 100 million on the Rosslare-Limerick Junction stretch. I counted close on 60 onboard last time I traveled Limerick Junction - Waterford, for such a poor frequency the numbers are actually quite impressive. Having spoken to others such numbers are not unusual

It should be noted that engineering works on the Nenagh line and the Waterford-Limerick Junction line to upgrade the line and reduce journey times were deferred to allow for the WRC, I'd put good money that the works at Limerick Junction also suffered.

Journey time is below par and will only get worse when Oranmore opens, the lack of through services from Galway to Limerick Junction and Waterford significantly reduces the attractiveness of the service

Midleton has been a success due in no small part to there being sufficient frequency and sufficient demand, it a commuter service and it actually generates significant revenues such that it could actually be profitable in coming years.

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Midleton has been a success due in no small part to there being sufficient frequency and sufficient demand, it a commuter service and it actually generates significant revenues such that it could actually be profitable in coming years.

That's surprising in the context of the amount of fare evasion there.

[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).

[dowlingm]

The sweet spot is Athenry commuter. Going from 9 to 14 weekday services, with an 0825 arrival in Galway and 17.38 departure more commuter friendly when supplementing the existing 0807, 1818. Question is - is there enough car parking in Athenry to take advantage should the locals decide to take them up on it?