Irish Railway Record Society
Journal 170 - Infrastructure
CLONSILLA-NAVAN
Clonsilla-Pace
Construction work is moving rapidly. By end of July steel structures were in
place at both Dunboyne and Pace stations. A new arched bridge deck had been
installed at Stirling Rd Bridge (OB287, 3,050m) and reinforcing work was well
advanced at Barnhill Rd Bridge (OB286, 1,689m) and in Dunboyne (OB290,
4,888m). At the latter location one carriageway of the road had been
temporarily diverted across the former trackbed. A new overbridge is under
construction at Hansfield station and a new accommodation bridge (OB286A,
2,450m) is under construction at Hilltown Stud. A new reinforced concrete
bridge (UB296, 6,748m) had been constructed over the River Tolka north of
Dunboyne and culvert UB292 at 6,100m upgraded. A new skewed steel span over
the Royal Canal (UB284, 610m) at Clonsilla was lifted into place on 24 August.
Drainage work under the track sub bed had been completed and the trackbed was
compacted. High palisade fencing has also been installed along several
sections of agricultural land. In August, ballast was being laid with a view
to commencing track-laying by the end of September. Work is on schedule for a
line opening in September 2010.
Completion
of this project and commencement of service is described in the article at
page 520.
KILDARE
ROUTE PROJECT
A
very disruptive possession was taken to allow installation of two new
crossovers at Sallins with a complete line closure between 20:00 Friday 19
June and 13:00 Sunday 21 June. Both crossovers are constructed using concrete
bearers (sleepers) and points blades were not installed. The new facing
crossover is installed on the Dublin side of the existing crossover north of
the station while the new trailing crossover is installed south of the station
near the location of the former junction for the Tullow branch. This new
arrangement will allow southbound trains to turnback in the up platform.
Dublin-Cork/Tralee/Limerick services were substituted by bus to/from Kildare.
A 2-hourly Cork service operated on the Saturday. Dublin-Waterford services
were substituted by bus to/from Newbridge and Dublin-Galway/Mayo services were
substituted by bus to/from Portarlington.
Commissioning
of the first stage of the project took place on Sunday 19 July. New three
aspect signals and axle counters replaced signals and track circuits between
Cherryville Junction (exclusive) and Newbridge (exclusive) i.e. the Kildare
interlocking. There were no track alterations. All signals, including the
route indicators, are LED type. They are designated HK (Heuston-Kildare) and
are controlled from Mainline CTC in Connolly with emergency control and the
interlocking located in the Heuston Signal Equipment Room.
Work
on commissioning CAWS took place in the week following commissioning of the
signalling with the 21:45 Heuston-Kildare and later local Kildare trains
substituted by bus. This arrangement lasted for some weeks.
On
Sunday 2 August Newbridge interlocking was similarly replaced, with
re-instatement of CAWS the following week. All track circuits were replaced
with axle counters and signals were replaced with 3-aspect LED type and
re-designated HK. The former 2-aspect Newbridge-Kildare up intermediate signal
has been converted to 4-aspect as has the former down caution (distant)
signal.
In
August, the loop in Sallins was temporarily taken out of use to allow renewal
of points. Plain track between the new crossovers in Sallins station was also
re-laid.
WESTERN
RAIL CORRIDOR (WRC)
Ennis-Athenry
With pile driving completed between Tubber station and nearby
Gortavogher level crossing the final section of track has been laid and work
continued on welding rail between Ennis and Athenry throughout the summer. A
ballast train continued to operate from Tubber and Ardrahan, using locomotives
141, 152 and 171 at various times. In August, IÉ said that opening of the WRC
had been delayed by diverting ballast tampers to carry out emergency work on
the Dublin-Sligo line but that services were expected to start in December.
IÉ
has applied for planning permission to demolish the overbridge next to
Kiltartan level crossing and extinguish the public right of way. The bridge is
on a minor road parallel to the N18. IÉ said that clearance under the bridge
does not comply with current railway standards. Local residents objected on
the grounds that the closure of the bridge would create a cul-de-sac, which
would be used as a halting site by travellers and encourage dumping.
Closure
of crossings used by farmers continues. IÉ applied for planning permission to
construct a new bridge and associated roads to allow closure of XE77/78 near
Crusheen. IÉ also applied for planning permission to construct a new bridge
and associated roads for farm use in order to close level crossings XE165/6
near Ardrahan.
The
main Dublin-Galway road N6 was temporarily re-aligned in order to upgrade the
level crossing at Craughwell from Monday 31 August to Monday 26 October.
OB130
(Coolfin Rd) and OB135 (Ardrahan-Kinvara Rd) were renewed in June. A new deck
was installed on OB158 between Craughwell and Athenry on Friday 21 August.
Crusheen
Station Local
newspapers reported that the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht
Affairs, Mr Éamon O'Cuiv had
indicated
that funding would be available from his department for a new station at
Crusheen. However, IÉ said that no official confirmation of funding had been
received but that should the funding be confirmed, they would be in a position
to immediately begin planning construction work at Crusheen and ensure that a
station would be ‘fast-tracked’.
Sixmilebridge
Station The new
station was effectively finished by August, except for the construction of a car
park. It is a basic unmanned station consisting of a single platform with a
‘bus shelter’, seats, CCTV security equipment and an equipment room. It is
located at MP13 on the Ennis side of the former station building.
TRACK
Dublin-Cork
Rehabilitation of the line is now taking place, with new rail and new
sleepers being installed and ballast cleaning being done in several sections.
One mile of the up line between Portlaoise and Portarlington and the up line
through Portlaoise station has been re-laid with UIC 60 rail on new concrete
sleepers. Ballast has also been renewed and drainage improved. A gang from the
New Works section is busy at work between Kildare and Newbridge replacing broken
sleepers, re-railing, improving drainage and installing a geo-textile membrane.
The membrane is Geosand, which is a layer of sand sandwiched between two layers
of geo-textile material. This work is intended to allow restoration of full line
speed later in the year from the 75-mph limit imposed in March.
Between
Monday 18 - Thursday 21 and on Saturday 23 May re-laying in the Limerick
Junction-Charleville section resulted in the substitution by bus between Mallow
and Thurles of the 21:00 Dublin-Cork and 20:30 Cork-Dublin. Limerick connections
operated to/from Thurles. On Sunday 24 May the 08:30 Cork-Dublin started from
Limerick Junction, with a bus connection from Cork.
Ballast
cleaning MP1195/8-1197/8
up line and work on OB283 resulted in the substitution of the 21:00 Dublin-Cork
on Saturday 27 and the 08:30 Cork-Dublin on Sunday 28 June by bus south of
Limerick Junction.
Beam
re-laying Mallow-Rathpeacon between Monday 6 and Thursday 9 July resulted in the
19:00, 20:00 and 21:00 Dublin-Cork and 19:15 and 21:15 Tralee-Cork being
substituted by bus between Mallow and Cork.
The
facing points at the south end of Ballybrophy station were renewed using
concrete bearers on Saturday 15 August. The 15:25 Dublin-Limerick, 22006 +
22021, was diverted via the Nenagh branch, as was the 17:25 Dublin-Limerick,
22034. Other trains were substituted by bus from 15:00 on the Saturday. The
trailing points from the loop have also been renewed in concrete.
Portarlington-Athlone
A new replacement turnout
was installed at the Dublin end of Geashill on Sunday 9 August.
Limerick-Ballybrophy
Re-laying with CWR on concrete sleepers took place in June and July working east
from Kilmastulla. During Monday-Friday possessions the 10:10
Ballybrophy-Limerick was substituted by bus. As re-laying progressed the points
for Silvermines Junction were removed and replaced by plain track from 31 July.
Associated ground frame (released by ETS) and signals BH121 and BH121R
controlled by Birdhill were also removed. The Silvermines branch has not been
used in recent years, its last use being the storage of freight wagons. CWR had
reached MP351/2
by August. Over one third of the line has now been re-laid with CWR.
Limerick-Waterford
In July and August,
re-laying with CWR on concrete sleepers took place between MP70-71
and MP723/4-733/4
with a view to closing gaps in CWR between MP70 and Dunkitt Viaduct. About
three-quarters of the Limerick Junction-Waterford line has now been re-laid with
CWR.
Waterford
On 9 August the relatively new and unused manganese turnout to the
New Ross branch at Abbey Junction was taken out for use elsewhere. Abbey
Junction ground frame was also taken out of use. The branch is now disconnected.
The connection to Gouldings sidings at Waterford West was also removed on 9
August.
Dublin-Rosslare
Another full line closure for work on the re-development of Lansdowne Rd stadium
took place on Sunday 17 May. All trains between Connolly and Dún Laoghaire were
cancelled, with Rosslare trains operating to/from Greystones. A second closure
took place the following weekend.
Considerable
work has taken place on cuttings and embankments in the Dublin suburban area.
Amongst items being checked are loose rocks or other items that could fall onto
the track.
Drogheda-Navan
Used concrete sleeper track panels removed from the Dublin-Cork line
for use in future re-laying with CWR of further sections of the Drogheda-Navan
line are being stockpiled in Platin.
Electrification
Remedial work on DART OHLE re-commenced on 10 August and was
advertised to continue until mid-September (See JOURNAL 169).
Procurement
IÉ has placed a 24-month contract for the disposal of creosoted
timber sleepers in line with EU Directives 76-769 and 94-60 with Trackwork Ltd,
Doncaster. Contract value was €120,000
including 21.5%
VAT.
IÉ
has placed an order with Wabtec Rail Ltd of Doncaster for 24 High Output ballast
wagons for delivery in 2010. They will be capable of being operated by radio
remote control when spreading ballast. During the past 10 years, Wabtec has
built more than 250 of these wagons for the UK. The wagons will include
components from Wabtec subsidiaries Becorit, POLI-MZT and Standard Car Truck.
Wabtec said the contract was worth €6m.
IÉ
has placed a contract with Lloyd Sersa Dublin and Breffni/GPX Limited, Rathoath,
Co. Meath, ‘to provide personnel skilled in the welding of rails in-situ,
using the thermit welding process, under SmW-F format or approved equivalent.
The work will take place at various locations throughout the Irish Rail Network
on day and night shifts’.
Sperry
Rail has been awarded a contract for ‘The provision of rail flaw detection
services, to detect both internal and rolling contact surface defects, using
ultrasonic / eddy current equipment mounted on a rail vehicle, which can be
either powered or towed’.
SIGNALLING
Hot
Axle Box Detectors New detectors were commissioned on 26 June at MP51
Mageney, Athy-Carlow, and at MP14 near Straffan on both up and down Dublin-Cork
lines.
Equipment Rooms A new Equipment
Room for the city centre re-signalling scheme is under construction in the
Boston Sidings south of Pearse Station.
Cabins
The disused Rosslare Strand cabin was demolished in July.
Cork-Cobh
All trains after 21:30 on
Cobh and Midleton lines were cancelled Monday-Friday between 15 June and 4
September to allow installation of signalling equipment for the Cobh line
re-signalling.
Limerick
Junction Semaphore signal 38A, mid platform 2 (Limerick bay), reading
towards Limerick, was replaced by a 3-aspect colour light signal on Sunday 19
July. It is controlled from the North Cabin and will only display yellow or red
aspects. Semaphore Disc 38(S) was replaced by a position light shunt signal.
Galway Line The Athenry-Galway
section has been split by the addition of mid-section signals from Sunday 30
August. The new two-aspect distant and stop signals also protect the pair of
level crossings at Healy’s (XG161, 120 miles 90 yards) and Frenchfort (XG162,
120 miles 515 yards). A new nominal station called ‘Healy’s has been set up
and the sections are now Athenry-Healy’s and Healy’s-Galway. The crossings
were converted to four-barrier CCTV type from Automatic Open Crossings. The
signals are under the control of the Galway Line signalman who is based in
Athlone Level Crossing Control Centre (LCCC) and the crossings are operated by
the Crossing Controller in Athlone LCCC. This level crossing conversion leaves
the 5-mph crossing at Wexford Slaney Bridge as the sole remaining AOC on the IÉ
passenger network.
BRIDGES
AND TUNNELS
The
new replacement pedestrian overbridge at Seapoint was installed over the weekend
of Sunday 24 May, during the line closure for Lansdowne Rd stadium upgrading.
The
new concrete deck for a pedestrian plaza over the cutting between Dún Laoghaire
and Sandycove between 6 miles 115 yards and 6 miles 268 yards was in place in
August.
The
old station footbridge at Hazelhatch (OB24 at 10 miles 43 yards) was removed on
the 26 April for repairs and painting and was then re-erected at the Dublin end
of the station on Saturday 20 June.
Repairs
were carried out to UB157 near Greystones and to UB120 on the Limerick-Ennis
line at Gort in June and July. Major repairs are still being carried out to
UB106 (White Bridge over River Shannon in Athlone) and also to UB7 at 0 miles
630 yards Connolly-Ossory Road Junction in preparation for the deck renewal in
2010.
LEVEL
CROSSINGS
Barriers Edermine level crossing
(XR140, Enniscorthy-Wexford) was converted to 4-barrier CCTV type on Tuesday 11
August and Ballymanus (XR035 Wicklow-Rathdrum) was similarly concerted on
Saturday 15 August. Control of both was transferred to Mallow LCCC from 20
August. As a result there are now no traditional manned level crossings between
Dublin and Wexford.
On
Thursday 13 August, the two pairs of gates at Lavistown (XW090), one pair on the
Dublin-Kilkenny line and the other on the Waterford-Kilkenny line, were replaced
by a single set of 4-barriers that operate similar to a double track line.
Control using CCTV was transferred to Athlone LCCC on 18 August.
Planning Clash West is the sole
remaining traditional level crossing (CX type) on the Mallow-Tralee line as all
others have been upgraded to four-barrier CCTV monitored type, monitored from
Mallow LCCC. In July, IÉ supplied revised plans to the local authority related
to their application for permission to demolish the crossing house.
Closures A new underbridge No. 717A
was installed at 105 miles 751 yards Roscommon-Castlerea between 11:00 on
Tuesday 30 June and 13:00 on Wednesday 1 July to permit closure of level
crossings XM102/3. Passenger trains were substituted by bus Roscommon-Castlerea.
In
June, An Bord Pleanála granted IÉ permission to close Bishopswood level
crossing XC128 at 98 miles 410 yards Dublin-Cork and replace it with a new 569m
long road connecting to the nearby Thurles-Dundrum road. Bishopswood is the
first controlled level crossing after leaving Dublin that is still open and when
closed will leave Grange AHB at 103 miles 1,380 yards as the first crossing.
Procurement In June, IÉ advertised
for the supply of rubber modular level crossing panels.
‘Each panel should be 900mm wide for farm crossings and 600mm wide for
operated crossings’. The enquiry specified that 56 crossings are to be
upgraded immediately on the Ennis-Athenry line and all crossings are 3.65m wide.
‘After this project the panels will be used throughout the Irish rail network
on an ad hoc basis’.
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The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 170, published October 2009. |
