Irish Railway Record Society
TRACK
Athlone-Westport-Ballina
Re-laying with standard UIC 54
kg/m continuously welded rail on concrete sleepers (CWR) between Manulla
Junction and Westport resumed in January. Beginning on Monday 7 January, the
line was completely closed from 08.30 until 15.00 the following Friday. On
weekdays from Monday 21 January until Saturday 27 April, all trains operated
except the 08.05 Dublin Heuston-Westport and 13.15 Westport-Dublin. Substitute
buses operated to and from Claremorris. Sunday trains operated normally. Weekday
Ballina branch trains continued to operate per schedule but skipped the Manulla
Junction stop and ran directly to and from Claremorris. From Monday 11 February,
the 11.35 Manulla Junction - Ballina and 13.05 Ballina - Manulla Junction were
also replaced by bus to and from Claremorris. Track re-laid has been from MP1531/4-1565/8,
and MP159-1603/4.
Cherryville
Junction-Waterford
The main platform road through Carlow station was renewed in February/March.
There has also been considerable work on embankments in the Lavistown Junction
area.
Dublin
Heuston-Cork
During Saturday night / Sunday morning possessions, the up and down lines
through Portarlington station were re-laid with CWR between the facing crossover
at the Dublin end and the facing crossover at the Cork end. The old track panels
from the down line were re-used on the down siding. The platform roads were
excavated as part of the re-laying. When complete, this effectively removes the
last section of jointed track between Islandbridge Junction and Cork.
Cork-Cobh
Further track re-laying commenced on Monday 4 February and continued until
Sunday 3 March. During re-laying work, Cork-Cobh trains were suspended
completely between 09.00 and 16.00 Monday-Saturday, with substitute buses in
operation. On Sundays, the first train to operate was the 16.55 Cork-Cobh. On
Saturday 16 February, all trains after 09.25 were substituted by bus.
From
Monday 4 March until Thursday 14 March, a ‘temporary timetable’ was
introduced but was very similar to the normal weekday timetable, with the 14.25
and 15.25 Cork-Cobh amalgamated into a 15.00 Cork-Cobh. The corresponding up
14.55 and 15.55 Cobh-Cork were amalgamated into a 15.35 Cobh-Cork. There were
also some minor time changes to other trains, which allowed one track between
Cork and Cobh to be taken out of service for the work.
A
small gap in CWR at Myrtlehill (MP166-1661/2) has now been
closed on the down line.
Additional CWR has been laid on the down line from Little Island to beyond
Glounthaune (Cobh Junction). CWR is now in place continuously from Cork to MP1711/2.
CWR is also in place from MP175-1761/2 (Cobh)
on both roads. Investment in 2002 on the line amounts to €5.7 million, with a
target re-lay of 9 miles plus turnouts and crossovers.
Mallow-Tralee
Track re-laying
with CWR between Killarney and Tralee resulted in disruption to train services
from Monday 11 February to Saturday 27 April. With the exception of the St.
Patrick’s Day and Easter holiday periods, only the 07.00 Tralee-Dublin and
18.35 Dublin-Tralee operated throughout on weekdays. All other passenger trains
were substituted by bus between Tralee and Killarney. On Mondays, the 09.15
Tralee-Cork operated, while on Fridays the 13.35 and 17.30 Dublin-Tralee
operated throughout. On Saturdays, the 08.30 Dublin-Tralee, 12.45 Cork-Tralee,
13.48 Tralee-Dublin and 17.47 were substituted by bus between Killarney and
Tralee.
On
Sundays, all trains operated throughout. Regular weekday liner trains were
cancelled completely, although several operated on Saturdays. The Killarney-Tralee
line was closed completely from 10.00 on Monday 18 February until 17.00 on
Friday 22 February to allow OB105 to be renewed in addition to the re-laying
programme. There was also a similar full closure during the next three weeks.
Track
re-laid with CWR was from MP437/8-471/4,
MP533/4-551/8 and MP591/4-601/2.
In addition to track through stations, this leaves only just over 3 miles
remaining to be re-laid.
Dublin
Connolly-Rosslare Strand
Re-laying on the up line between Sandycove and
Dalkey continued using Saturday night / Sunday morning possessions during the
winter and spring (See JOURNAL 147). By mid-April, all the bullhead rail had
been re-laid with flat-bottomed jointed rail on hardwood timber sleepers and was
awaiting the replacement of the jointed rail with welded rail.
The
one-mile gap in CWR between Greystones and Wicklow (MP17-18) was also closed
during April. During the work, the weekdays 13.25 Dublin-Rosslare was
substituted by bus between these stations (See JOURNAL 147 for details). There
were also closures late on Saturday nights and early on Sunday mornings that
resulted in bus substitution of certain DARTs between Bray and Greystones.
The
‘Wicklow Sidings’ in Bray, derelict for many years, have been re-laid and
electrified. There are now three additional sidings, which are badly needed for
stabling DARTs. Associated new trap points and shunt signals were commissioned
on 5 May. A raised walkway is provided along one siding for drivers changing
ends
Waterford-Rosslare
Europort
Over the weekend of 23/24 February, the turnout
and level crossing at the Rosslare end of Wellingtonbridge were renewed.
Waterford-Rosslare Europort trains were substituted by bus on Saturday 23
February.
Re-laying
with CWR took place in the Rosslare Strand-Rosslare Europort section on weekdays
in April. The 07.20 Maynooth-Rosslare Europort and 14.45 Rosslare
Europort-Dublin Connolly operated to and from Rosslare Strand, with bus
substitution onwards. The section was closed completely from 07.40 Wednesday 3
April to 18.00 Thursday 4 April. The mileage re-laid was MP1121/4-1133/4,
thus completing CWR in the section.
Limerick-Ennis
The 11.20 Limerick-Ennis and 13.25 Ennis-Limerick
were substituted by bus on Monday to Thursday from Monday 14 January to
facilitate track repairs and improvements. Possessions were later extended to
include Saturdays. Embankment strengthening work was carried out in several
locations including between MP01/2-1 on the curve at Ennis
Junction and at Ballycar.