Tension over future of Rosslare-Waterford rail route

Yellow_Fern

https://www.rte.ie/news/leinster/2023/0212/1356196-tensions-over-future-of-rosslare-waterford-rail-route/

GandhiwasfromBallyfermot

I think I read somewhere that because the line is technically only dormant, and not out of commission yet, it is still regularly maintained and kept to an operable standard. So I don't think it would cost that much money to open it back up. Not for freight anyway because you wouldn't need to invest in the stations which have been let slip unfortunately.

BBM77

Reopening the Waterford City – Rosslare line is an absolute no brainer. Not only for freight but passengers also. There should at a minimum be a properly scheduled Waterford – Limerick – Galway passenger service. It’s absurd to talk about reducing the number of cars while having a line like this not used.

Glaceon

Greenways are a great way to preserve and make use of lines that were abandoned but I'd never support lifting an existing line to accommodate one.

CramCycle

Plenty walking it as is but it would be great to have it up and running again. Biggest issue is that the line doesn't run into the port itself anymore, which might be work and IR sold up that bit. A straight run through to Waterford should be a no brainer. What would it be with a straight run, 50 minutes excluding on and off loading.

fits

Much harder to build a railway line than a greenway. They should keep the railway.

Wanderer78

yup, the only way to reduce cars is to increase rail, greenways are a great addition, but we have to rapidly expand rail, or we re fcuked!

Ubbquittious

Would be great if they reopened it. The cynic in me thinks these greenways are an easy option so they don't have to bother reinstating the train service

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235344#Comment_120235344

i can understand this cynicism, but i think our governments dont really want to accept our reality, cause it means heavily borrowing in order to get done what urgently needs to be done

blue note

As regards a passenger service, wasn't the usage on it tiny before it closed? And has anything changed in the meantime to suggest that it would now attract more passengers? Surely a bus is a far more efficient mode of public transport for that route now.

And for freight, it seems a tiny distance to Waterford for a freight service. How would you get the goods to rosslare station? Truck I suppose, and then load them onto the train? And then do the reverse when you get to Waterford and the trucks will bring the goods to their end point?

A greenway sounds more useful to me.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235531#Comment_120235531

In my opinion it was only lightly loaded because the timetable was terrible, a classic example of a timetable to suit the staff rather than the passengers. Historically it was ran as a through service from Limerick but had been cut back to Waterford in more recent years. If it were reinstated as a full Limerick to Rosslare service then I think it has a chance.

Dunmoreroader

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235531#Comment_120235531

Kinda missing the point; reconnecting Rosslare to Waterford reconnects Rosslare to the rest of the country bar the pre-existing Dublin connection.

Anyway, I thought they were looking into incorporating a Greenway beside an operational railway line? I thought the debate had moved on to arguing about which side of the track should the Greenway be laid? Did I miss something?

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235650#Comment_120235650

dual use makes great sense to me, we have to expand rail

Cabaal

Ideally we should aim to do both, do a greenway and have the railline, if they go side-by-side in places then so be it. But if we are serious about getting people out of cars we must give them alternative options and cycling and public transport are the way to go.

With the greater pickup of ebikes a 5-10mile journey on a bike is perfectly do-able so anything that gets people to stop driving in that radius of places is a plus.

hardybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235531#Comment_120235531

In addition to the points made there about the horrendous timetable that was there before, working patterns have changed dramatically in the last couple of years. More people are tempted to move to rural locations and commute to the workplace a couple of days a week.

Also, greater numbers of students in colleges are being tempted/forced to live at home in light of the increased cost of living and the greater provision of remote learning.

Interesting that the likes of the Minister for Transport actually wants the line reopened.

CramCycle

One issue is that the rail line doesn't run directly into the port anymore. I think IR claimed terrorism potential (I only remember because I nearly fell off my seat laughing), rather than just there was money to be made in the short term.

I commute up and down from Rosslare strand to Dublin every day, I've seen and avoided jobs in Waterford due to public transport not being great (BE have disappointed me too many times). I love the train, clear my emails, and then I can hit the ground running when I get to Dublin and I'm far more efficient. Loads of students would choose Waterford and go back/forth every day but the timetable needs to be better. At least two arriving before 9am. The report at the time showed very little uptake but the timetable was poor. If the Dublin one didn't suit me I'd be on the train or finding work elsewhere.

Tempted to take my MTB over to Waterford by the rail line one of the days, just to see what it's like (I know it's not allowed). Not sure why a green line couldn't run parallel. Would be cheaper than pulling up the tracks.

south

The Barrow rail bridge might be the problem there.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120237937#Comment_120237937

I thought that would be one of the cooler features and down under the field for a bit.

MartyMcFly84

Since the independence of the state Iarnród Éireann has destroyed the Irish railway system. In the 1920s we had over 5,600km of operational railway in Ireland, now we have less than 2,000km and some of that is not even operational. We should not remove any more rail in Ireland and work to improve what we have so that it is functional.

Yellow_Fern

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235531#Comment_120235531

Yes a lot has changed. Rosslare port is booming due to Brexit. Lorry freight jumped  371 per cent from 2020 to 2021. Massive expansion.

Gardner

I'd say if this line opened up again the passenger capacity would be about 20%. It simply doesn't make sense to open up this line. We should utilizing funds on case studies for light rail within the City. Prime example would be light rail system from Ballygunner to The Mall - The Mall to Carriganore

GandhiwasfromBallyfermot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239006#Comment_120239006

Waterford Area Rapid Transport, aka the WART!

jelutong

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239396#Comment_120239396

Copyright that name.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239396#Comment_120239396

definitely copyright!

BBM77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239006#Comment_120239006

Honestly can't tell if you are serious or trolling.

black & white

I remember reading when they were considering stopping the service that it would be cheaper to send each passenger to Rosslare by taxi and pay for lunch on route than to continue the service. No idea of the figures but that stat really resonated with me at the time.

Ubbquittious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120240161#Comment_120240161

that was after successive attempts at worsening the timetable to reduce passenger numbers in order to make the case for closing the line. Also back then things weren't nearly as busy generally as they are now

Cabaal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239006#Comment_120239006

Now that is a amusing suggestion that would never fly.

But imagine if it did. If you thought people bitched and moaned about the reduction of lanes on the quays they;d bitch even more if any sort of tram/rail system even got installed around the city. People are not good with change and certainly not good with anything that isn't car centric.

914

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239006#Comment_120239006

Why divert funds from something else and why a light rail line? This could easily be achieved with an E-bus.

Dunmore road the whole way to Lombard st becomes one way, that way one side of the road is for the E-bus that just goes in and out all day long.

All it costs is white paint, an E-bus and the majority of town losing its absolute mind.

Light rail system in Waterford we can't even get support for a stand alone Uni, you must be trolling with a light rail system for Waterford

Yellow_Fern

The Irish population has grown about 600,000 since the line closed. A city light rail would be great but would cost more.

Cabaal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120241529#Comment_120241529

This,

Instead of space for a railline just create bus lanes and install lots of bus lane cameras to catch idiots who try drive in them. Buses can now beat the traffic created by cars and it can be done at a fraction of the price.