Restoring railways in the west and wasting public money

eejoynt

there was an attempt some years ago by the GSRPS to restore the Tralee Fenit line.
It all came to nothing and most of the stock at Mallow was scrapped- a few badly vandalised coaches and railcars survive, as does a dismantled loco 131.

however there was a lot of public money wnt into this through FAS labour and corporate sponsorship through westinghouse.

the only thing that ever turned a wheel was a single inspection car trip.

Given this waste of public money was there ever an enquiry?
Was GSRPS held accountable?

Might any poster be able to enlighten us?

foggy_lad

Can you give more detail of dates etc like did this waste happen in the last 10-20years?

eejoynt

it was the eighties when the country was nearly as broke as it is now. maybe the early nineties

the support came through a FAS scheme which paid people about £100 per week to stay off the dole. On a twenty person scheme - which most outdoor construction schemes were at the time -that would give you a wages bill of 2000 a week with about 40% for supervision and materials which would bring it up to 2800 a week

then there are the seperate issues of corporate sponsorship and members' money

all in all nearly 3000 POUNDS or €4000 - adjusted for inflation is a large weekly sum

there must be someone out there who could enlighten us

highlydebased

http://eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/F/Fenit/slides/Fenit%20branch%20%287%29.html - That I wonder? 1987 that says.

foggy_lad

eejoynt wrote: »

it was the eighties when the country was nearly as broke as it is now. maybe the early nineties

the support came through a FAS scheme which paid people about £100 per week to stay off the dole. On a twenty person scheme - which most outdoor construction schemes were at the time -that would give you a wages bill of 2000 a week with about 40% for supervision and materials which would bring it up to 2800 a week

then there are the seperate issues of corporate sponsorship and members' money

all in all nearly 3000 POUNDS or €4000 - adjusted for inflation is a large weekly sum

there must be someone out there who could enlighten us

sounds more like this was a FAS training course where those involved would have recieved a training allowance instead of dole although the allowance was more than the dole to cater for lunches and travel to work. also i notice this rail line is now described as a cycle track so was this built by FAS?

eejoynt

i think the cycle track was installed after the failure of the preservation scheme.

at least you can use the cycle track

after all the FAS money the railway preservation scheme imploded

what happened?

foggy_lad

The preservation was part of the cycle/greenway track as some bridges had to have Decking replaced to allow the public access. Much of this restoration work was done by cIe but there was more done by fas as part of stonework courses afaik

corktina

i thought this was another WRC thread....:D