Irish Railway Record Society

Journal 169 - Infrastructure

CLONSILLA-NAVAN

Clonsilla-Pace Work on the Clonsilla-Pace has commenced and earthmovers have cleared the line. Work then started on bridges:

·  UB284 at 610m Royal Canal – preparatory work for a new bridge span

·  OB286 at 1,689m Barnhill Road Bridge -Containment/strengthening measures only. The road across the bridge was closed and a new temporary road was brought into use directly across the trackbed. Cable trunking was laid in the approach ramps to the bridge

·  OB286a at 2,450m Hilltown Stud Accommodation Bridge – a new private crossing bridge was under construction

·  OB287 at 3,050m Stirling Road Bridge - replace deck and provide containment. The road was closed and traffic diverted.

On 21 May, the Taoiseach said ‘Irish Rail is making good progress constructing the Clonsilla to Dunboyne section and it remains on target to open for services in autumn next year’.

Pace-Navan The Taoiseach said: ‘Irish Rail recently submitted the feasibility study to Government. It examined two possible routes in great detail - an option A which runs along the original railway alignment and an option B which is a new route to the east of Dunshaughlin. On the basis of the detailed analysis carried out by Irish Rail the preferred option has emerged as option A or the original railway alignment’.

‘The chosen option A of the original railway alignment had a number of advantages as it: provides a better economic rate of return for the State's investment; can be provided at significantly lower cost; was the preferred option from the public consultation carried out by Irish Rail - with over 80% indicating a preference for option A; has a shorter journey time to Dublin of 59 minutes as opposed to 62 minutes for option B.

 ‘On the basis of this analysis we will now be asking Irish Rail to proceed with the necessary preparations for a Railway Order application’.

CORK - MIDLETON / COBH

All track has now been laid between Glounthaune and Midleton. Concrete sleepers were delivered by road and laid using road-rail equipment. Long Welded Rail (LWR) trains operated from Portlaoise and most were hauled by 147+162. They visited the line on Friday 9 January and on a snowy Tuesday 3 February they dropped rail for the section between Waterrock level crossing and Midleton. The final LWR train on Thursday 17 February dropped rail for the ‘dynamic loop’ at Carrigtwohill. Ballast tamper 741 commenced working on the line on Monday 9 March. Four-barrier CCTV type level crossings were in place by March at Waterrock and Mill Rd.

Station work also progressed well. Platforms and fittings have been largely completed. Disability access footbridges have been installed in Midleton and Carrigtwohill. Of particular note is the fine job of restoring the former signalbox at Midleton.

A new €5m bridge OB409A at 166 miles 150 yards Cork-Cobh to replace level crossing XC241 was craned into place during a line closure from 20:00 Holy Thursday 9 April to 10:00 on Holy Saturday (See JOURNAL 168). The new bridge is a ‘Bow String’ type made of steel with a concrete deck. It is 30m long and weighs 240 tonnes. It was designed by Roughan O'Donovan Consulting and was pre-fabricated by Thompsons of Carlow. The crane used was 600-tonne capacity and was situated on the main N8 road, which was also closed. The crane took 16 hours to assemble using other cranes.

Signalling work continues on both Glounthaune-Midleton and Cork-Cobh lines. Signals on the Glounthaune-Midleton line were lit but not in use by end of April. New equipment buildings have been installed in Glounthaune and Cobh Stations to house signalling equipment. Signal numbers on both lines will be prefixed CE (Cork East).

KILDARE ROUTE PROJECT

The project nears completion with most work still taking place without interruptions to services. Train cancellations were largely confined to late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning trains as described in previous JOURNALS. Commissioning of the new track and new signalling from Inchicore to Kildare is expected to take place over a 6-month period, commencing this summer.

Ballast tamper / dynamic track stabiliser 741 finished its work on the two new tracks and was removed by temporarily slewing track at the Dublin end. It went to the Glounthaune-Midleton line in March. The connections to existing up line at both Inchicore and Hazelhatch ends were ready for installation and this will be done in conjunction with commissioning of the new signalling.

The new Newcastle-Celbridge Rd Bridge OB25 was opened and double track wide OB23 east of Hazelhatch & Celbridge station was demolished in February. It was replaced by a new 4-track wide steel footbridge, which was lifted in to position on Wednesday 8 April. This permitted the final sections of track to be laid east of the station. West of the station, the new up fast and up slow tracks are laid on standard ballast but over a concrete slab as it is a boggy area. In early May, track was again temporarily slewed to allow tamper 743 access the new track and it went to work in the Hazelhatch & Celbridge station area.

Hazelhatch & Celbridge station itself was complete with new footbridge and booking office in use in April. It was officially opened on Friday 8 May by the Minister for Transport.

The newly re-built Cloverhill Rd Bridge OB11 at Clondalkin re-opened on 15 April.

Most signals are in place to Cherryville Junction. Signals numbers are prefixed HK for Heuston-Kildare line.

WESTERN RAIL CORRIDOR (WRC)

Ennis-Athenry Track Re-laying continued throughout the winter and spring. All track had been laid by April, with the exception of a section between Tubber station and nearby Gortavogher level crossing where pile driving was taking place during April. Welding of rail had also just commenced. Track consists of UIC54 rail on concrete sleepers.

Engineering trains have been routed via Ennis. Ennis yard was used as a base, but trains were also based in the Ennis-Athenry section near the work site as required. A ballast train of 15 wagons and two plough vans operated out of Crusheen using locomotive 171 in March and 152 in April.

The main and loop platforms tracks in Gort station were in place and lined by Easter. Expansion joints were also in place.

Craughwell Station The 4-car long platform is just to the south of the former station buildings at MP55. It features a single ‘bus shelter’, a concrete equipment room at one end and a car park. The station was substantially complete by Easter, with the exception of surfacing of the car park, lighting and CCTV security cameras.

Ardrahan Station The 4-car long platform is about 100m to the south of the former station and has a new entrance from a different road. Its facilities are the same as Craughwell, but it was effectively complete by Easter.

Gort Station Following granting of planning permission, work commenced in earnest on building a new station immediately to the north of the former station. Two new platforms were under construction. The former signal cabin has been demolished and the water tower structure was being re-built back from the track. New concrete equipment rooms have been constructed at the north end.

Ennis-Athenry Signalling Alterations took place at Athenry on 25 January to facilitate future passenger train operation to/from the WRC. Both Dublin-Galway line down main and loop starting signals were changed to a three-aspect red-yellow-green signal with a new position 1 route indicator to read towards Ennis. Both locally controlled trap points installed on the Ennis line during the Galway line Mini-CTC scheme were removed. A new advance starter reading towards Ennis was installed, but only displays a red aspect and a ‘Stop and Obtain Instructions from the Per Way Inspector’ sign until final signalling commissioning in future. The branch down direction is from Limerick towards Athenry. Three-aspect red-yellow-green down branch outer home and home signals and a two-aspect down branch distant are provided. Shunt signals read to/from the former cement siding and a new set of trap points is installed on the siding.

Changes have also been made to remove ‘approach control’ for trains arriving in the station in both directions on the Dublin-Galway line. This involved lowering the overall speed limit through the station to 50-mph, with a 40-mph speed limit applying on diverging routes. The down outer home signal reading from Dublin was changed from a three-aspect to a four-aspect signal. The up distant signal reading from Galway was changed to a three aspect yellow-green-yellow signal. Thus a train can get a clear run into a platform with the driver seeing a double yellow on the distant, a yellow on the home and a red on the platform starter.

All above changes were made to the Galway line SSI (Solid State Interlocking). By March, the SSI and ECP (Emergency Control Panel) had been moved from Athlone relay room at the former MGWR station to Athlone Level Crossing Control Centre at the existing Athlone station. A new SSI has been added and the two SSIs making up the Galway Line SSI are now designated as BEGY (Ballinasloe-Galway) and LKGT (Limerick-Gort). However, the system is seen as a single system to the signalman. These were under test in March.

Colour light signals are in place at the new loop in Gort, in Ennis and at level crossings. Radio masts and associated equipment rooms were also in place at stations and along the line, including a new mast was at MP33¹/₂.

On Sunday 26 April, all semaphore signals in Ennis were removed and new motorised points and colour-light signalling were commissioned. New turnouts were installed at both north and south ends of the loop and also to connect the yard.

From that date the new SSI and Galway line ECP in Athlone were permanently switched in and control Athlone-Galway, as well as Ennis station. The signalman in Ennis now issues and collects the Ennis-Limerick staff from trains. He has a Starting Signal Control Lock key, released from the staff instrument when the staff is withdrawn. Gort station signals and points were also fully tested in preparation for commission at a later date. The previous day, 141 operated as a signal test locomotive at Gort. It operated to/from Athenry. On the Sunday, 152 operated as a signal test locomotive at Ennis.

Full details will be in a future JOURNAL.

Ennis-Athenry Level Crossings To facilitate upgrading of Kiltartan level crossing (XE136) at 44 miles 1,320 yards from Automatic Half Barrier (AHB) to 4-barrier CCTV type, the main Limerick-Galway N18 road was closed at nights between Sunday 1 and Monday 16 February. Traffic was diverted over the ‘old road’, which has a narrow bridge over the line and a Stop-Go system was used. The new barrier crossing was commissioned on Tuesday 24 February and is locally operated.

Similarly, the N18 was closed at Ardrahan (XE156) at night from Tuesday 17 February to Tuesday 3 March to allow conversion of the AHB to 4-barrier CCTV type. Traffic diversions were also required. The new barrier crossing was commissioned on Tuesday 10 March and is also locally operated for now.

Other unattended crossings have been converted to 4-barrier CCTV type but were not commissioned. These are Castletown (XE131) just south of Kiltartan at 44 miles 350 yards, Gortavogher (XE98) at 36 miles 183 yards south of Tubber and Chipfield (XE71) at 30 miles 520 yards and Curravorin (XE61) at 25 miles 1,555 yards near Ennis.

Signals and equipment room were in place at Craughwell AHB (XE194) on the main Dublin-Galway N6 route, but it had not received its 4-barriers by mid April.

Ennis-Athenry Bridges Significant work has taken place to many overbridges. This includes pointing as required and raising abutments. New anti-slip road surfaces have been installed as have crash barriers on approaches on both sides. In April, IÉ applied for planning permission to erect a new overbridge to allow closure of level crossings XE74 and XE75 at Cloonagowan, Crusheen. Underbridge renewal has been complete for some time.

Limerick-Ennis Atterbury bridge, the single-track stone-arch overbridge at the Limerick end of the former Sixmilebridge station, was partially demolished over the weekend of 27 March. The top part of the arch was replaced with new concrete sections with increased vertical clearance above rail height. This will facilitate the construction of a new platform at the station. The Clare Champion reported that IÉ plan an unmanned station with a platform, CCTV, a ticket machine, station furniture, ‘signalling and additional trackwork’.

Copyright © 2009 by Irish Railway Record Society Ltd.
Revised: July 11, 2009 .