How should we develop Ireland's railways - North and South

[Hairy-Joe]

As I've said elsewhere, timetables and connected services are what's needed. Why isn't there park and ride outside Dublin, Cork, Limerick etc where people can park and get trains/buses into the city centre. Why isn't there connected bus and rail? Why can't the rural bus routes start/finish at train stations in smaller towns (eg Mallow, Killarney, Nenagh,etc) then taking in the nearby towns & villages?

Using public transport here is a bit of a joke. I'd have to get two buses for me to get to work taking almost 3 hours with a layover of almost an hour. It's a 25 minute drive.

[Del.Monte]

As I've said elsewhere, timetables and connected services are what's needed. Why isn't there park and ride outside Dublin, Cork, Limerick etc where people can park and get trains/buses into the city centre. Why isn't there connected bus and rail? Why can't the rural bus routes start/finish at train stations in smaller towns (eg Mallow, Killarney, Nenagh,etc) then taking in the nearby towns & villages?

Using public transport here is a bit of a joke. I'd have to get two buses for me to get to work taking almost 3 hours with a layover of almost an hour. It's a 25 minute drive.

Lol. We used to have all of the above - in the private era - then along came CIE and the politicians.

[Del.Monte]

Sadly the one hope for the railways was the Greens, but they have zero knowledge about the railways and, indeed, they were part of the government that presided over the closure of the Waterford/Rosslare route

[Hairy-Joe]

Lol. We used to have all of the above - in the private era - then along came CIE and the politicians.

Ya, I know. I'm in cloud cookoo land thinking something sensible wlii happen.....

[artybike]

Let's put this thread back on track, so to speak.

The NTA's Connecting Ireland consultation on their proposals around provincial bus frequencies is ongoing. Forgive me for being naive here but is it right that the NTA should completely ignore the rail service and particularly where the current service is beyond inadequate?

The Ballybrophy-Nenagh-Limerick line is currently closed for relaying of track, yet the timetable served up by IÉ is beyond a joke, as is the current Limerick Junction to Waterford service. Shouldn't these be part of the Connecting Ireland review?

The reasons they shouldn't ignore rail are;
1) It's the most disabled friendly form of public transport, no question
2) It's the most bike friendly which covers the last few miles of the journey
3) Folk simply don't ditch their car for the bus, but they do for rail.... our citys & towns are chocking with cars
4) Developers & builders do look at rail as a factor in where they're going to invest & build. I think this is better for sustainable planning.

[Del.Monte]

This latest nonsense on the Limerick/Ballybrophy line is another example of why nothing positive will ever come of the Irish railway system for as long as CIE are in charge: https://www.tipperarylive.ie/news/local ... um=twitter

[artybike]

Delighted to see Sligo are pro- WRC. I'm not sure how I missed that. Perhaps because I've been listening to too many 'rip up rail' advocates lately

https://westernpeople.ie/2022/01/11/cll ... -corridor/

Just adding this in the edit, a compelling argument for rail for (& from) Sligo
https://www.oceanfm.ie/2022/01/12/rail- ... o_DAZ2R2PY

[Del.Monte]

Today (18/1/22) Andrea Gilligan "Lunchtime Live" will be featuring calls by some for a railway link to Donegal to be included in the Strategic Rail Review. Given the knowledge, quality and bias of Newstalk on this issue, it will be a non-event.

[95438756]

^^^^^ YES: there is POWERFUL SUPPORT from the National Union of Secondary school students. So this body has a history of "moving mountains".

Didn't know that.

[Del.Monte]

And indeed the "Lunchtime Live" railway segment was very poor and squeezed in at the end despite being repeatedly promoted from the start of the programme - typical of many items on the station.

[Crusty Burke]

And indeed the "Lunchtime Live" railway segment was very poor and squeezed in at the end despite being repeatedly promoted from the start of the programme - typical of many items on the station.

I heard that Shane Coleman delivered an anti rail rant at the end of the segment. Is this the same Shane Coleman who ranted against the Luas while it was being built via his Sunday Tribune columns?

[Del.Monte]

Don't remember his Sunday Tribune column but he has been anti-rail for years and regularly used to trot out the infamous quote from a CIE head honcho about how it would be cheaper to provide taxis rather than trains for people on the Limerick Jn/Waterford route.

[Fratello]

Deadline for submission is today at 5pm.

Only takes a few minutes.

https://strategicrailreview.com/feedback/

[Del.Monte]

I 'think' I filled out the really incisive form previously but can't be bothered to again as it will have zero effect on any decisions made.

[artybike]

I'm delighted that cyclist.ie submitted for the rail review. It illustrates what I've long suspected about those that call for old rail alignments that should be re-opened as rail, to be used for greenways, they have no interest in cycling beyond a tourist product to make money. Actual cycle advocates would like more rail... it's cycle friendly & removes the need for more cars

https://cyclist.ie/2022/01/strategic-ra ... ubmission/

[Fratello]

The cyclist.ie submission was written by real cyclists not politicians who haven't a clue.

[Del.Monte]

I'm delighted that cyclist.ie submitted for the rail review. It illustrates what I've long suspected about those that call for old rail alignments that should be re-opened as rail, to be used for greenways, they have no interest in cycling beyond a tourist product to make money. Actual cycle advocates would like more rail... it's cycle friendly & removes the need for more cars

https://cyclist.ie/2022/01/strategic-ra ... ubmission/

That is staggering, mind blowing stuff and there's more sense in that short submission than in all the worthless, expensive consultants reports that I have read over the years. I bet https://cyclist.ie/ didn't employ anybody do the submission either but I miss all the bar charts, meaningless reams of statistics etc.etc. but sadly it will end up in the same place as my submission about the Waterford/Rosslare route.

[Hairy-Joe]

Yep, a group making a lot of sense. If course they'll be ignored as it doesn't fit their narrative......

[Fratello]

The report of the Stragetic Rail Review is due out shortly. Leaks so far indicated that the Wexford to Waterford line will not be dismantled but opened again, this is good.

Some crap about freight between Claremorris and Galway. I would have thought the lack of freight generally would need to be addressed before focusing on putting freight on a closed line .

There was an Irish Times article on it on Saturday but had a few errors. One was that it sounded like Midelton to Youghal was a choice to become a greenway when it is almost completed. The map had a few mistakes as well.

There might be some good out of it.

[Del.Monte]

Will it ever be published? There's a powerful lobby in the South East that can't wait to pull up the Waterford/Rosslare Strand line.

[Fratello]

It's not to be turned into a greenway according to in the Waterford County development plan so there's two reports that include its retention.

[Del.Monte]

But, but what about the young wan that's depending on the greenway to boost her sales of sticky buns?