hurricanemk1c

Day 5 of my Dutch February trip was mainly a trip around Amsterdam, including trips on the Metro and a walk around the city. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 4 of my Dutch adventure in February was a simple transfer from Amersfoort to Amsterdam, to be in the capital for an incredible evening of music from Epica, Amaranthe and Charlotte Wessels. Of course, I could hop on any of the direct services and be in Amsterdam in half an hour or so, but instead I went via Rotterdam and Breda. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 3 of my February Dutch trip had a German flavour, visiting Mönchengladbach on a long round trip from Amersfoort. The plan was to see if there was any Br101 hauled services covering for Eurobahn (as I had noticed photos of them on this route in the last couple of months). Alas FLIRTs operated both ways, but a welcome bonus was a Partyzug from Germany to Rotterdam, something I was completely unaware of until I saw some local enthusiasts gathering in Venlo. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 2 in the Netherlands saw me ride on the current hire-in Mat64 set between Amersfoort Centraal and Barneveld Zuid, along with a quick trip to Railpro Crailoo before a jaunt up to Leeuwarden, sneaking in a couple of trips on the unique Stadler WINK units before getting train IC666 back to Amersfoort. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Which itself is 3 years old ("back in April we got permission for an Irish Rail crew to operate No.131 light engine to Dundalk from Whitehead", which was 2023). So costs have only gone one way since then

February 2026 saw me in the Netherlands, as a birthday present to see Epica, Amaranthe and Charlotte Wessels play in the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. Plus plenty of rail travel across the country! Day 1 commenced with Schiphol-Amersfoort-Rotterdam-Amsersfoort, staying in Amersfoort for a few nights. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

5 years ago the OTMR equipment for Deltic 55019 alone was estimated at £18,000, and that has older TPWS already installed. So that'd be £36,000 for both locos without any ongoing certification work. For operating in Northern Ireland there'd be AWS and TPWS installation and certifications, plus train radio. In the Republic, requires a train radio (if it hasn't been removed) and ETCS Level 1 will be coming and that's something to be determined but is a very expensive bit of kit. I'd say £70,000 per loco is the bottom end estimate!

The end of December 2025 saw me visit family, but with a brief opportunity to go out around the East Midlands area, sampling the new Class 810 sets entering service with East Midlands Railway January 2026 was also a quiet month, with a few unusual moves As always, click on the photos to view them all Regards, Kieran

Something built 70 years ago does not provide context. I could for instance say there was a massive and quick building programme across Germany from January/February 1945, but it's wouldn't solve the housing issues here. The world has changed (sometimes better sometimes worse), whether you like it or not. Woodbrook has been built and opened just as development started opening up, the Green Line was extended to Bride's Glen when it was a field (and now very much is not), same with Saggart, so there are several cases where things have happened for the regular passenger. Woodbrook cost €24m as a guide. As I said, Adare is a different matter and funded in a different way. There's also Galway station, Oranmore loop, Cork Area Commuter Project, DART+, Metro - all which funding of €3m would help but (particularly for the latter) not make much of an impact. The €3m will more than likely be recouped through the significant footfall for the week across the country, which if you lobby your local TD could then go to public transport funding. Or other services that are needed. There's far more pressing concerns about public spending! You're entitled to your opinion, and I'll leave it at that.

The reality and truth is how things are funded. IÉ can do little if the Department for Transport restricts the budget, whereas something like Adare gets funding from other avenues (the Ryder Cup organisation itself for one is very much pushing public transport as an option, be it rail to Adare or Limerick, and park and ride services across the Limerick area). And there's been a lot of work in the background before public announcements so it's not "in haste". Get your local TD to push for additional rail and public transport funding. And opening a station in 1957 is hardly "in context".

The rest of my quick Finnish December trip is now online Day 2 was mainly in the Helsinki area, capturing the Valmet trams before they disappear and exploring the Metro system Day 3 was a long circular trip from Helsinki to Ylivieska, across to Iisalmi with the only booked Sr1 + Eif + Eifl working, and back to Helsinki via Kouvola Day 4 was another day around Helsinki before my flight back to Dublin, with the new Sm7 unit on trial contrasting with the pair of Sr1s on the evening sleeper Regards, Kieran

In December 2025 I paid my now traditional visit to Finland. Although a shorter trip than previous due to having used a fair bit of leave to go to Japan, still managed a fair bit! Day 1 saw me go from the airport into Helsinki, out to Kouvola, across to Riihimäki via Lahti (and a Sm2) and back to Helsinki to check into the hotel. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

RPSI have been a Railway Undertaking in the Republic for many years at this stage (at least since 19 December 2014). Northern operations were under Translink until recently.

November 2025 saw me start the month in London for the Arch Enemy / Eluvietie concert in The Apollo, along with a mix of Irish content including Steam Loco 171's first runs following overhaul. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

RIP Paddy And it should be remembered that the 141/181s weren't the first proper Irish diesel outline locos he developed, the Lima 201s too some 7 years before helping to kick start the market, along with previous commissions