The IRRS Journal contains a wealth of news covering all aspects of Railways in Ireland.

	Operations
	Stations
	Infrastructure
	Rolling Stock
	Motive Power
	Northern Ireland Railways - Translink
	LUAS

IARNRÓD ÉIREANN

WATERFORD-ROSSLARE STRAND

IÉ have indicated that they wished to withdraw passenger services from the Waterford–Rosslare line to save money, which effectively closes the line. The line opened in 1906 and is part of the Fishguard & Rosslare Railways & Harbours Company, a joint operation between CIÉ and Stena Line (successors to British Rail). The line has one passenger train each way per day Monday-Saturday formed by a 2-car 2700-class railcar. IÉ said that the cost of the line was disproportionate relative to the revenue from the line. Costs on the line are high due to the number of attended level crossings and the cost of maintaining the Barrow Bridge.

On 7 April, Dr John Lynch, CIÉ Chairman told the Oireacthas Transport Committee “We have, however, now a situation where subvention has been reduced further. The Rosslare-Waterford route was one of a number of routes identified in the McCarthy report which should be examined in light of low patronage. Whereas Iarnród Éireann is maintaining services on the other routes identified, and is seeking to lower the cost of operations on these, we cannot ignore the situation on the Rosslare-Waterford route, which is unsustainable.”

“The line, which sees one train operate each way daily, has experienced very low patronage for many years (currently approximately 25 passengers travel), with revenue at only 2% of operating costs. In addition, the sugar beet freight business, which sustained the viability of the line, ceased in 2006 following the cessation of the sugar beet business in Ireland. We have endeavoured to develop the service, but an offering of a Wexford to Waterford connection for over 12 months had minimal uptake, always in single digits.”

Local public opposition to the closure highlighted the absence of services and the poor timetabling of the evening departure from Waterford (17:20). A public meeting was held in Wellingtonbridge and a Facebook campaign was set up.

The Minister for Transport, Mr Noel Dempsey TD, told the Dáil: “Decisions in relation to the provision and development of rail services and the preparation of business cases in relation to such decisions are a matter for Irish Rail in conjunction, where appropriate, with the National Transport Authority in relation to public service obligation services.”

On 21 May, CIÉ published a notice “Pursuant to section 19 of the Transport Act, 1958, the Board of Córas Iompair Éireann hereby gives notice that:-

On the 21st day of July 2010.

	All week-day Iarnród Éireann services of trains for ordinary passenger traffic and for merchandise customarily carried by such services operating on the railway line between Waterford and Rosslare will be terminated.
	As an alternative for passengers in the affected area, Bus Éireann on behalf of the Board will provide on week-days the new and existing road passenger services...
	Iarnród Éireann requires a contractual approval for this termination of service from the National Transport Authority pursuant to the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009. The Authority is considering that application at present.”

Proposed bus services showed extended journey times over the existing train.

A local councillor said that IÉ lodged an application to the NTA on 26 March to withdraw services. "I have been advised that the NTA is to withhold making a decision on the future of the Rosslare-Waterford rail line until they have received the report that the Southern and Eastern Regional Authority. The closing date for receipt of tenders is 25 May and after that the report will be compiled with a view of draft submission by mid-Summer and final submission later.”

GOVERNMENT & REGULATION

EU COMMISSION

Details of the EU Reasoned Opinions (Commission Decision of 8 October 2009) related to Directives 1991/440/EEC and 2001/14/EC “implementation of the first railway package” have been published. For Ireland they were:

	Infrastructure charges not related to costs
	Insufficient incentives for Infrastructure Manager to reduce costs and level of access charges
	Absence of performance scheme to encourage Railway Undertakings and the Infrastructure Manager to minimise disruption and improve the performance of the railway network

The same document also published figures for the ‘Evolution of rail transport performance 1990-2007 (Freight transport volumes in 1,000 Mt-km)’:

	IÉ	EU27	EU15	EU12
1990	0.59	527	257	270
1995	0.60	386	223	163
2000	0.49	404	257	147
2005	0.30	414	263	151
2006	0.21	435	281	154
2007	0.13	447	291	156
%change 06/07	-31.7	+2.8	+3.7	+1.1

In March, the European Commission Representative in Ireland announced further grants totalling €64m were available under the Marco Polo fund aimed at moving freight from roads to more environmentally friendly transport forms such as rail or short-sea crossings. IÉ said anything which would help make it cost-effective for commercial customers to use rail freight would be looked at, and it would be looking at the Marco Polo fund. This support is available during the high-risk start-up phase of projects and is €2 per 500 tonne-kilometres moved off roads.

 

EUROPEAN VEHICLE NUMBERING (EVN)

The EVN system is now being implemented in Ireland as well as throughout the rest of the EU on all vehicles. It consists of a 12-digit UIC number and existing vehicle numbers are to be incorporated into the 12 digits. The full EVN is displayed on the side of the vehicle, while digits 5 – 11 are displayed on the cab front. The UIC code for Ireland 60 is also incorporated into the number. For example, single car railcar 2751 bears this number on front and rear in large black letters, preceded by 03 and followed by 0 in smaller white lettering.  It displays the full EVN 95 60 0327510-7 low down on the side of the vehicle, with 2751 in larger digits than the remainder.

RAILWAY PROCUREMENT AGENCY (METRO NORTH)

RAILWAY ORDER

The An Bord Pleanála oral hearing into the RPA’s application for a railway order concluded on Wednesday 10 March 2010.

 

EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK LOAN

At its meeting on 10 May the European Investment Bank Board (representing the 27 European Union member states) approved a loan of up to €500m for Metro North. Accepting the recommendation of its Management Committee, the EIB noted that the project, due to the nature of the works and their location, might be expected to have minor negative impacts on the environment during construction, the impacts during operation are expected to be positive. The EIB also noted that the RPA had undertaken a full Environmental Impact Assessment and had provided the Bank with the Environmental Impact Study, including the Non Technical Summary. The procurement procedures adopted by the RPA are suitable for the project and are acceptable to the EIB.

Mr. Plutarchos Sakellaris, EIB Vice President responsible for Ireland said: "The Metro North project represents a significant contribution to sustainable urban transport in the greater Dublin area and will be the backbone for a future integrated public transport network in the Irish capital".

Welcoming the EIB's decision, the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD, said that it represented "an important signal of confidence in this priority public transport project for Dublin". He added that the An Bord Pleanála decision on the RPA's application for a light railway order is anticipated this summer.

Under the Public Private Partnership, the RPA will appoint an infrastructure contractor to design, build, finance and maintain the Metro. The RPA will separately appoint an operator for the project and the operation element of the project is not included in the European Investment Bank defined project.

 

TENDERS

Utility Diversions The RPA released the first major tender package for Metro North on 12 May. This covered the diversion of utilities in the St Stephen's Green area.

 

RAILWAY PROCUREMENT AGENCY (INTEGRATED TICKETING)

TENDERS

Hosting Services The contract for the 'back office system' of the Integrated Ticketing Scheme (ITS) was awarded to IBM in 2008 (see JOURNAL 168). The central clearing system consists of two parts: a production system and a pre-production system, each of which provides resilience for the other and which need to be housed in two suitable locations that offer 'state-of-the-art' facilities. The RPA decided to procure an external supplier to provide hosting services for the ITS central production and central pre-production systems, including the Key Management Function equipment. Following the tender process, the contract was awarded to Eircom Ltd, initially for 5 years, but with the RPA having the option to extend the term of the contract for a further period.

ITS Operation The RPA has announced that the contract for the operation of the ITS has been awarded to Hewlett-Packard Ireland. HP Ireland will be responsible for the provision of a number of key services required for the operation and administration of the scheme, such as customer support services, including provision of a telephone customer support helpdesk, back office business processing, an ITS website, and the supply of smart cards. The company will also be responsible for the provision and management of a smart card point-of-sale network so customers can buy smart cards, top them up, and buy a range of products in retail outlets. The re-usable smart cards will provide a pay-as-you-go ticket options as well as holding weekly, monthly and annual tickets for regular commuters on services operated by Luas, the CIÉ Group companies and private companies. The point-of-sale service is being provided by Payzone as a sub-contractor to HP Ireland and will be available at over 400 retail outlets across Dublin. The scheme is undergoing rigorous testing this year, which, in addition to staff trialling the systems, will involve an intensive testing program in a 'live' customer environment.

 

 

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 172, published June 2010.