When is the train line to shannon opening

rinasha

hi all was wondering when the construction for the shannon rail line will start

Shn99

Don't worry, I'm sure we'll all be in our graves by then......

colm_mcm

I think they want to see how the next ice age goes first.

http://clarecourier.ie/transport-minister-rules-rail-spur-shannon-airport/

end of the road

hi op.
there are no plans to construct a rail line to shannon.

dr.fuzzenstein

We'll see it when Buckaroo Banzai Part 2 comes out

cgcsb

To answer your question OP Shannon handled 1.7million passengers in 2016, Dublin airport handled 30million passengers in 2017 and will probably never be rail connected within our lifetime.

colm_mcm

cgcsb wrote: »

To answer your question OP Shannon handled 1.7million passengers in 2016, Dublin airport handled 30million passengers in 2017 and will probably never be rail connected within our lifetime.

Bit of a difference in land value and disruption between them though.

Irish Steve

Difference in land values, yes, but in terms of disruption, a rail link at Dublin might cause some disruption, it would depend on if it's surface or underground, and what route is taken. A surface line from the airport to connect to the main line near Clare Hall would not be a massive issue, as there's a corridor of relatively undeveloped land that has been kept that way because it's under the flight path of the runway.

Having said that, to get back to the thread subject, the reality is that justifying a rail link to Shannon at the moment would take a massive stretch of imagination, there is nowhere near the volume of passengers to make such a route viable, given that much of the catchment area of Shannon has very little or no rail network serving the areas to provide the connections that would then generate the passengers to use the rail link.

Carawaystick

Which section of the WRC that is closed because it rained, would the line from Shannon connect to?

cgcsb

colm_mcm wrote: »

Bit of a difference in land value and disruption between them though.

Lower land values and also lower(way lower) population density that would support the service.

coylemj

cgcsb wrote: »

Lower land values and also lower(way lower) population density that would support the service.

+1 lower land values means cheap parking at or near the airport which also undermines the case for a rail link because lots of people would still drive to the airport unless they lived very close to a railway station serving the route. But even if they live right beside the station, the train schedule may not suit the outward or return flight and they might decide to drive anyway in case the return flight gets delayed and they have to spend a bomb on a taxi home.

CarlosHarpic

rinasha wrote: »

hi all was wondering when the construction for the shannon rail line will start

The Shannon Rail Link was a scam by a property developer to get farmland zoned for apartments.

Was never real to begin with. Like the Foynes railfrieght reopening.

Evil-1

Expected completion date , 31th January 2371.

XPS_Zero

Evil-1 wrote: »

Expected completion date , 31th January 2371.

The day after the spirit of Martin Cullen announces Metro for the 475th time.

JCX BXC

A line to Shannon would never work at any sort of sensible cost. I'd love to see it, but it would just be a bizzare waste of money.

Firstly, you'd have to basically rebuild the line all the way from Cratloe to Clarecastle at an enormous cost, and built a new station in Shannon (possibly 2, one in town and one near the airport. The sheer cost of CPO's and building then infastructure around it would be scary. It would likely run over a billion euro. You'd then have to run the trains at a higher frequency than they do now, which would also eat at the cash with running costs, and the fact that the single track could not handle this.

You then have sixmilebridge left without a service, something that wouldn't go down well at all. You could not realistically build a spur from Sixmilebridge for very good reasons:
1). If you have every train going via Shannon, it would add an enormous amount of journey time, effectively rendering the line unviable and allowing it to be completely shut.
2). You can't run shuttle services to connect with the train at sixmilebridge as it would be an operational nightmare, a poor experience for passengers and an enormous waste of money to serve 3 or 4 passengers per run.

You also cannot build a spur and operate services just to Limerick as the line would simply not be able to handle the capacity. It's not double tracked and there's no sidings between sixmilebridge and Shannon so trains simply would not have the gaps to operate.

There's no realistic way in which this could be done, unless Shannon explodes in population and the airport becomes an international hub. Fat chance

Mutant z

There's not even a railway line to Dublin airport ffs which is located in Irelands capital city and you're talking about building a connection to Shannon airport.

dermo888

Its called crayonism. There is a tendency for that sometimes.

dermo888

Its called crayonism. There is a tendency for that sometimes.

Dravokivich

dermo888 wrote: »

Its called crayonism. There is a tendency for that sometimes.

Yeah well in fairness, we're not worried about people colouring outside the lines. :pac:

Matebator

A lot of negativity . We need to embrace a more positive outlook ......" Build it and they will come " ..... "Or Go big or go home" . ...With the negativity reflected here Dubai would never have happened ...... Think big , think different ...... Good infrastructure helps attract investment and aids economic development. With regard to the comment that ...."There's not even a railway line to Dublin airport ffs"..... . not the first time Shannon has led Dublin . Shannon has been associated with innovation since its inception . Shannon Airport was founded before Dublin Airport , First Duty Free Zone , Friost Duty Free Shop . Ireland's Longest Runaway ,First to implement preclearance for USA travel, First , Irish Coffee invented in Foynes - Shannon's original base .Good connectivity between Shannon and the region is very important . We need to embrace the spirit and can do attitude of one of Shannon's greatest hero's ... Brendan O'Reagan - make it happen .

JCX BXC

It's very difficult to see how you could functionally do it without essentially rebuilding the Ennis Limerick line on a completely different alignment, which is beyond pointless. Don't just build infrastructure for the sake of it.

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846501#Comment_120846501

Well yes OK but right now the planning system is wedged with transport projects that should have been completed 30 years ago. And after they are completed we have the issue that we have an antiquated railway system that has had no investment for 100 years. It will require another 20 billion euro and 30 more years of effort to replicate a minimal usable rail service available elsewhere in the developed world including more double, tripple and quad tracking, electrification etc.

And then we can probably look at new lines and then Shannon Airport will still be low in the pecking order, there's greater need to serve places like Navan, the large towns in West Cork, Letterkenny to Derry, a new Drogheda to Dublin route, a commuter rail service in Limerick etc. We'll be dead in any case

john boye

let's build a train line to a regional airport because Irish coffees were invented nearby? Have you had a couple today?

brianc89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846546#Comment_120846546

Surely double tracking and closure of level crossings could increase line speed between Ennis and Limerick by at least 30%. A new alignment is unnecessary

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847030#Comment_120847030

Nearby is a stretch at that.

Its not even the second busiest airport and its decades of blaming something, anything for not doing very well are going to run out - it is no longer Dublin or COVIDs fault. Even the history is revisionism - Shannon is many years younger than Dublin. It cannot claim Foynes heritage, that is a different airport on a different side of a large estuary.

If Cork had a longer runway and less fog, Shannon would have zero long haul flights and would basically just be Limerick Regional Airport with a few props a day to the UK.

JCX BXC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848167#Comment_120848167

Yeah it is of course unnecessary in order to improve the speed and quality of the line. But that wouldn't attach Shannon Airport to the line!

brianc89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120851264#Comment_120851264

Well, obviously not. But people dismiss the possibility of connecting the airport to mainline on the assumption the mainline is too slow. Which is fair.