Iarnród Éireann Funding Shortage Crisis

[NH2060]

€600M+ in funding needed to keep system in a state of good repair and without line closures. One of the lines at risk of being shut down is the Ennis-Athenry segment of the Western Corridor:

A number of rail lines may be forced to close as Iarnród Éireann is threatened with insolvency, a confidential report has warned.
The draft report given to Minister for Transport Shane Ross shows the country’s rail infrastructure has deteriorated to such a degree due to funding shortages that there are now increased safety risks. It states the rail network needs more than €600 million investment over the next five years.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/tran ... -1.2840355" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[philipmartin]

These two posts, "Scotrail" and "Iarnrod Eireann" are in a way complimentary. One argues for nationalization to form a better company, and the other is about a nationalized railway that is in "crisis" it says.
My own employer, NJ Transit, part of the state government of New Jersey since 1983, but operated like a private company, is getting a lot of negative publicity in the media right now. I'm not sure how much of it is accurate.
That Irish post includes a very pleasant video of the train.

[dowlingm]

The Nenagh branch - Killonan Junction near Limerick to Ballybrophy - should be idled immediately. A shocking amount of money has been thrown at it for no effect both in relaying and in promotion to no effect. It lasted this long because the local TD (Alan Kelly) was a minister - it even had a direct service to Dublin for a while which was a disaster and cancelled - but that excuse remains no longer. I would argue that Limerick Junction-Waterford could do better but is hobbled by the minimal staffing of the manual signals and gates which means no Sunday service and only a few weekday services possible.

Some parts of the network are doing well and IE are trialling freight services over 36 TEU (yes, that's a lot in Ireland because of the length of our passing loops) but big decisions need to be made and the buses who compete with the network will never have to worry about funding for the roads they run on.

[dowlingm]

That Irish post includes a very pleasant video of the train.

The problem with the line that train runs on is four fold:
one - it's prone to flooding, particularly south of Ennis, and neither the Office of Public Works or the railway want to take responsibility for finding the funding to remediate it.
two - the 106m Euro investment was really a bare minimum and subsequent works probably push the actual figure for reopening well north of that anyway, but speeds are still slow in places. Part of that money was thrown away on stations at Craughwell and Ardrahan which should have been paused until actual demand was demonstrated, but those villages had halts in the old days so...
three - the line northbound has an awkward east turn at Athenry and reversal towards Galway, whereas the road alternative has a shorter, more direct path. But moving the line towards Oranmore would have split the precious "western corridor" so would have been unacceptable to the campaigners.
four - the bus companies, including the operations of Bus Eireann, which shares a corporate parent with IE, ramped up just as the new rail service opened.

[philipmartin]

Here's the Wiki article on Iarnrod Eireann: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iarnr%C3%B3d_%C3%89ireann" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dowlingm]

Apparently there is now a proposal to go to Rotem and ask for 41 middle cars to bulk out the 100mph DMU sets.
https://www.boards.ie/b/thread/2057679208" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;