Limerick - Nenagh - Ballybrophy railway

OisinCooke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127943#Comment_121127943

Very late to the party but still couldn’t agree more, the Waterford-Limerick line, Galway-Limerick line and ofc the Nenagh branch all need the same kinds of investment. A passing loop at a halfway point to facilitate a pre-09:00 arrival and a post-17:30 departure at both ends of the lines is a must as well as better middle-of-the-day frequency to serve leisure and business commuters. There is really no excuse not to do this, and in all 3 lines’ cases there is very much a possibility to upgrade line speeds a little without too much work. I can never understand why aside from two services crossing in the morning and evening peak, the same single unit can’t just shuttle back and forth throughout the day. And I also think that there is not necessarily a need for a direct Dublin service or a direct curve serving Portlaoise, just more frequency and better more competitive linespeeds

Paddico

Is there any discussion about increasing the train speed on this line in the future

Still incredible slow even after the relatively recent upgrade.

scrabtom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122581856#Comment_122581856

I couldn't agree more. These lines could be so much more useful if there was any kind of sensible timetable put in place, and say 120km/h line speeds.

It's very difficult for instance to travel from Galway to Waterford using public transport, with the best possible time that can be ever achieved being 4 hours, and that is only when you get lucky with services lining up perfectly so you can transfer straight from a Waterford - Dublin train to a Dublin Galway train in Kildare. Usually it takes 5 hours.

Surely if there were decent line speeds and a synchronised timetable you could cut this down to 3 hours using the Western Rail Corridor. I know there'd be plenty of students going up and down from college that would avail of it, even just going from Waterford to Limerick.

The same could definitely be said of students travelling up to Limerick or Galway from Nenagh or Roscrea.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122585481#Comment_122585481

not that i am aware.

Deedsie

The main problem is the gate keeper crossings. They need to be automated and then it will be much easier to make changes to the timetable. Introducing additional services, more than one train on Sundays, public holidays etc. The manned gates are the main obstacle to positive changes now.

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122591557#Comment_122591557

But there are loads of 30 mph restrictions on user-worked farm crossings. On other lines trains can do up to 3 times that speed at similar crossings. Why?

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122591575#Comment_122591575

Poor sightlines or other safety issues. Every crossing on the network is assessed individually from a safety perspective and an appropriate speed limit set.

The user worked crossings need to be eliminated, and the rest of the crossings automated.

Deedsie

Personally it feels like Irish Rail don't see the point making any changes to this line until the gate keeper obstacle is removed and all of these manned gates have been automated. It feels like managing gate keepers has been such a headache for them it discourages any attempt to look at the line. And until the NTA instruct them to add an extra service they absolutely won't be advocating for it.

There is also a section between Nenagh and Birdhill along the Kilmastulla river that will always have a restricted speed limit. There are I think 4 unmanned crossings on public roads along here. Sight lines are poor etc etc. It's not a long stretch just an section not much could ever be done to increase speeds.

Deedsie

Additional problem is how do you go about getting ring fenced funding to automate these manned gates. How many million euros would it be to automate 12 gate keeper crossings? You could get a lot of bike sheds for that scratch.

goingnowhere

You are at 1million+ each if you go for automated 4 barrier CCTV with ongoing costs to maintain. Bridge over/under is cheaper if possible.

Any such upgrade will be likely tied to a signalling upgrade as any crossing near a station would need to be tied into the signalling system

Deedsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122594297#Comment_122594297

There are 13 gate keeper crossings on the line. 10 of them are between Birdhill and Killonan Junction and I think the elevation around there would preclude a bridge as an option. 2 of the 10 have some degree of automation in place already as far as I know but for whatever reason gate keepers are still required at both of these gates. So it's a lot of gate keepers along a relatively short section of the line that is the biggest obstacle to any real improvements for the timetable on this line. The other 3 gate keepers are 1 shortly after Cloughjordan(this one could possibly be closed with a new section of road. One just after Roscrea could be automated and one near Borris in Ossory. Automation the obvious solution here.

Deedsie

I don't think anyone is expecting the NTA to announce that all level crossing will be automated asap. But a project to begin the process of automation. 2 or 3 per year and the line would start to look much more appealing before the end of the decade.