Irish Railway Record Society

Irish Railway News  - Journal 155

METRO

It is now expected that the alignment of the proposed metro line linking Dublin airport with St Stephen’s Green will serve Tara Street station rather than Connolly. The RPA are understood to favour the Tara Street option, given its more central location. However, the move away from Connolly would mean that there would be no direct connection between mainline rail services and the metro, at least until the heavy rail inter-connector line is built

It is estimated that direct construction costs will amount to approximately €1.3 billion, with additional expenses for rolling stock and other services. It is understood the government will delay annual payments of about €200m until the system is operational. Phasing of the payment, with interest bringing the total up to €5 billion, over a longer term meant current taxpayers would not be saddled with the full burden of a system that will largely benefit future generations.

As of the end of August, the Minister for Transport had not brought proposals in respect of the metro system to the cabinet.

  CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CORK SUBURBAN

On Friday 21 May, the Minister for Transport, Mr. Séamus Brennan, announced approval for a series of public transport investments in the Cork area to a value of €90m, including the provision of rolling stock. The investments included the re-opening of the line from Glounthaune (Cobh Junction) to Midleton on the Youghal line. The plans for the Midleton line include a train every 15 minutes during peak times, 30 minutes off peak and a projected jour-ney time of 25 minutes from Cork to Midleton. There will also be an intermediate station and crossing loop at Carrigtwohill. The line from Cork to Midleton will be re-signalled. The new line will cost €56 million to develop. The last passenger train on the line was in 1988.

The Minister also announced approval for construction of new stations in the Cork area and new commuter rail services. The stations will be at Blarney and Kilbarry (between Cork and Mallow) and at Dunkettle (between Cork and Little Island on the Cobh line). Cobh-Cork services will increase from hourly to half-hourly, with trains extended through to Mallow. It is envisaged that the new services and re-opened line will be available by 2007. More than €24m will be invested in new railcars for these services. Extensive Park & Ride facilities will be constructed at the new railway stations at Dunkettle (750 spaces), Blarney (200) Carrigtwohill (450) and Midleton (600).

Passenger trips on the entire Cork suburban rail network, including the existing and expand-ing Cobh service, are projected at 3.8 million or almost 16,000 per working day in the first year of operation, doubling to 32,000 a day by 2020.

The Minister said 'This decision heralds a new era of growth and the revitalisation of the railways… I can assure you today that the decades of closures and the downgrading of lines and services can now be consigned to the past. The future of the railway is all about growth in customers and expansion of services’. The Minister said the project would be funded by the Department of Transport and the EU, with contributions from Cork City Council and Cork County Council. The stations will be built with money from the private sector. Significant industrial and residential developments are already planned for the region and the population of some towns along the line is expected to more than triple by 2020.

Minister Brennan said a comprehensive study of the project for IÉ and CASP (Cork Area Strategic Plan) by international transport consultants Faber Maunsell estimates the revenue support required for the new services over the first 6 years of operation at €5.5 million in total. It is estimated that no revenue support will be required after 2013 at the latest. IÉ will be expected to operate the service within its current subvention level.

The Faber Maunsell report (See JOURNAL 151) concluded that the strategic transport modelling work undertaken as part of the CASP study indicated that investment in the rail network would provide good value for money in the context of the very significant increases in population and employment that are envisaged.

These include population growth to 2020 of:

Employment in Cork City Centre is expected to grow by 34% by 2020.

IÉ welcomed the announcement by the Minister. Speaking at the announcement, IÉ Managing Director Joe Meagher said that the investment, which will be developed in tandem with the Cork Area Strategic Plan for land use, transportation, social and environmental policies would ‘see Cork take the lead in sustainable planning in this country, and deliver a system which will benefit generations to come in Cork and in the Munster region’.

WESTERN RAIL CORRIDOR

On 6 May, the Minister for Transport, announced the composition of the Expert Working Group established to examine in detail the potential of the Western Rail Corridor as part of the rail link that would connect Sligo , Galway , Limerick and Cork .

The Working Group will be chaired by Mr. Pat McCann, Chief Executive of Jurys Doyle Hotel Group plc, the country’s largest hotel group. Other members of the Group are County Managers , the Directors of Regional Authorities, representatives of Galway County Development Board, the Western Development Commission, the Inter County Rail Committee, West on Track, IÉ, the Railway Procurement Agency and the Department of Transport.

The Minister said ‘the Western Rail Corridor has the potential to play a vital strategic role in the eventual rebalancing of the West coast with the East coast, a policy I am strongly committed to as part of the implementation of the National Spatial Strategy. The Strategic Rail Review did not include the Corridor in its recommended investment strategy but I declined to accept that finding as final. After meeting with a number of groups advocating the re-opening of the Corridor and making an extensive tour of the rail route I agreed that the proposal should be carefully evaluated and its potential examined from all relevant perspectives’.

‘The Working Group will be charged with examining all the possibilities, including the costs and benefits of the proposal, the travel demand that gives rise to the proposal, how the proposal might be funded, and where the Corridor stands in the context of the findings of the National Spatial Strategy, the Strategic Rail Review, the Regional Planning Guidelines, relevant County and City Development Plan, the submissions put forwards in its favour and the current and proposed road investment programmes’.

On 14 June, the Minister spoke at the inaugural meeting of the Group. He said 'the phased re-opening of the Western Rail Corridor could only be achieved if the aspirations of those involved are backed up by rigorous assessment of the project and the delivery of a convincing case that would justify the long term investment of taxpayers' money --- it is time for realism, honesty and straight-talking'.

He said the possible re-opening of sections of the western railway line must be rigorously assessed and justified in the context of the whole motorway development. He said that over €1 billion would be spent in the region in the next four years on road projects. Mr Brennan also said that if the line were to re-open, it would happen in stages, and not all at once.

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 155, published October 2004.

Copyright © 2005 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: January 11, 2005 .