Limerick-Foynes Rail Line

Just design obstacles, not a reason not to do it. There are more design obstacles to a high quality bus network

There are lots of options but won't go into it now as it's off topic

Irish Rail applied for conventional planning for the new stations on Ennis Athenry. They did not go for a railway order. Track replacement doesn't need it but new structures etc do

A bus is vastly cheaper and more flexible than a railcar for low passenger volumes. There would need to be a concerted effort at development along the line to bring a viable passenger base.

it's not cheaper, vastly or otherwise if done properly.

the usual nonsense of sticking a bit of paint on the road and calling it a bus lane is no longer acceptable for modern public transport operation, you need dediccated and segregated infrastructure in the absence of car banns in the cities, which should, but won't happen.

we don't know that the line would have low passenger volumes because the places it specifically passes through are not the whole story, and even if it did, it's less motor traffic on the roads.

Point is the direct curve is still there, largely unimpeded.

If they were to reopen the line to passengers this would be an obvious part of it.

Not sure why people are saying trains would need to detour a kilometre and reverse.

How many potential passengers from Adare actually would want to get to Colbert? I'd say not enough to justify even the cost of designing the new curve, nevermind building it.

I am not sure where some posters get a hard on for rail transport. Just say that in theory that the track was reinstated to Colbert station and that it provided some dirt of service from Foynes to Limerick picking up Askeaton ( old station half a mile outside the town) Rathkeale ( new station required and track is a distance outside the town) Adare (new station requires), Patrickswell station a half mile outside the village.

The rail line would only be suitable for people working in the city center with maybe a new stop being possible around the Crescent shopping center. Population covered by this new line would not be much with 10k giving demand at 3-5% maybe 2-600 passengers a days. Investment would probably be double the present requirement or another 80 million for a service that would have 1-2 scheduled services each way a day. This in turn wound impact demand.

There is little in Limerick city center that suggests a train service is viable. While Mary I and the Limerick senior college are just about walkable along with the city center itself there is little worker demand.

Would there in reality be twenty people per urban area using the service per schedule per day. I would very much doubt it.

The reason they wound only run 2-3 services is because of demand. You cannot conjure up demand. The Galway to Limerick line is an example. From Ennis into Limerick has a much larger population base than Foynes to Limerick. Yet at best ( the and it's a through service from Galway) they have 6 services a day each way yet only one arriving into Limerick at approximately working hours and that is really only suitable for people starting at 9 .30 pm.

If they cannot do commuter from Ennis they cannot on this rail line with a much lower population base. You need hundreds on a train service not ten's

Usual backwards idea of growing the towns and then thinking about facilities. Surely you build the facilities to grow the towns.

Someone above mentioned the Patrickswell station is outside of town. Limerick desperately needs houses so why not build them around the station like happens in many other places.

Also whoever said "station near the Crescent" conveniently left out that the station would be at the back of Raheen Industrial Estate and very close to University Hospital Limerick.

There isn't an explicit requirement for Shannon Foynes to be connected by rail. By Ten-T, a new connection should be electrified but that isn't happening.

Shannon Foynes was only added to Ten-T relatively recently due to Brexit, the only rail corridor on this island up to then was Cork - Dublin. SFPC had commissioned Irish Rail to carry out preliminary assessments and design work rather than government.

The government are now spending taxpayers money (instead of having to finance investments themselves unlike many semi-state companies) so it is absolutely open to investigation by the PAC.

there is nothing to investigate anyway, a clear case was put forward and successfully argued to reinstate the line and it is being so.

people can cry about it and cry foul all they like but any arguments they could have put forward against it were obviously felt to not be valid.