Cross-border review of rail network officially launched

The only thing that's ever been on a serious pathway to delivery from it was Navan. Nothing else was.

edit: the Pace<>Navan line is even on the baseline map as something expected to be delivered.

it's a report, it'll be added to all the others on the shelf.

I've reviewed it and I'm not sure any part has been announced before, perhaps DART Underground which is only vaguely mentioned, and the airport spur, but that was never an actual project. It was stated before that long term policy was to increase speeds to 200kmh, close level crossings and decarbonise but there has not been a plan as specific as this before.

The new report is the old one, plus two more recommendations (inclusion and access; and a recommendation to do another review in 10 years), and a section on public feedback. It also lists the changes made since that draft, as follows:

The following amendments have been included in this final Report to take account of feedback from responses received from the public consultation.
  • A specific new recommendation to continue to invest in improving accessibility on the rail network, including rolling out step-free access more widely. The Review also commits to undertake Equality Impact Assessments when schemes are taken forward for future development.
  • A new recommendation for both jurisdictions to undertake a refresh of this Review once a decade.
  • The report has been amended to clarify that the proposed new railway between Derry~Londonderry and Portadown should be designed to accommodate line speeds up to 200km/h / 125mph, where this is found in further study to be beneficial, as was intended in the Draft Final Report.
  • The Report has been amended to reflect plans to improve connectivity to the South East – as outlined in the latest Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy – to include the extension of the DART network to Wicklow.
  • The timeline for delivery has been adjusted to bring forward the reinstatement of the North Midlands railway between Portadown and Armagh from a long-term to a medium-term horizon.
  • Maps have been amended to include a proposed new station at Craigavon.
  • Some technical wording has been adjusted to ensure it reflects the “highlevel” nature of the Review (for example, by removing references to in-cab signalling).
  • A reference has been added to the Executive Summary to emphasise the need to safeguard alignments for future railways and stations.

The local papers already covered it as such - most people who use the line are OK with it if it improves services, but rail enthusiasts who like the idea of going down the DSER in one go are horrified.

We don't build our network for enthusiasts. This is why even this report doesn't recommend reopening Claremorris to Colooney!

This is the same report with minor amends to the one that was published last year. It isn't policy and it isn't funded. Just another shiny report to sit on a shelf in government.

Just as a comparison to one of our nearest neighbors, France plans to invest 100 billion euros in rail infrastructure by 2040 , on top of what they have got already.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-plans-invest-100-billion-euros-rail-infrastructure-by-2040-2023-02-24/

I clearly said it had minor amends, very minor by the looks of it. I would expect more changes based on public feedback. Why bother having a public consultation period if nothing is really changing 12 months after that consultation? Just a box ticking exercise.

So then the all Ireland rail strategy is very ambitious in comparison considering France having 10 times the population and all.

Just happened to be listening to a podcast earlier today which touched on this issue. UK government finances are not in a good state and generous funding for NI won't be popular in England, Scotland and Wales where Labour actually contest elections. We've already seen them implement a benefits cut in England and Wales.

Indeed but let's be realistic. We've had 100 years of managed decline of the railway and the state is only wealthy around 20 years, non consecutively. France has ran an empire that extracts resources from the rest of the world since the railway was invented.

I fully expect them to have better trains and spend way more than us.

I wouldn't be getting too worried about actual French spending compared to how much we say this plan will cost though because plenty of this will never happen. It's like a catwalk dress.

Would push the Antrim line and possible airport station well up the agenda for urgent attention though.