226 Abhann na Suire

Here’s the full list :))

I do like the idea of Galway-Limerick-Waterford services however I feel that morning services should not be linked this way necessarily. Maybe a Galway-Waterford and vice versa morning route for a pre-9am arrival if feasible (although unfortunately I can’t see that it would be…) but in addition to individual Limerick-Galway and Waterford-Limerick (and vice versa respectively) pre-9am arrival services. Having the morning Waterford-Limerick services extend to a pre-9am Galway arrival allows passengers from Waterford to access Galway (a small number I’d imagine) and Limerick-Galway passengers too but would leave Waterford passengers for Limerick stranded in Limerick at 7am… and the same with Galway-Limerick passengers on a Galway-Waterford service… Maybe an idea would be simultaneous Waterford to Limerick and Limerick to Galway trains in the morning with pre-9am arrivals, (and the same in reverse for the evening rush) but then have the middle of the day trains, through run between Waterford and Galway…? I do agree wholeheartedly though about the need for throughout-the-day services, it is something which is not too common on the 3 branches (there is none on the Waterford Limerick line and barely any on the Nenagh branch) and something which is very needed. The draft timetable I included at the start of this thread was specifically for pre-9am arrivals at both ends but obviously throughout-the-day services are needed, otherwise communities are not linked and people outside of 9-5 workers are completely uncatered for. As a Waterford native with a beloved grandmother of whom I see far too little, living in Galway, I love the idea of direct Waterford and Galway services but I feel that the amount of day commuters between the two cities would be way too low to warrant a specific pre-9am arrival service to both. However I believe that a Waterford-Galway and a Galway-Waterford service should operate on Sundays and Friday evenings for getting college students between the 3 very large universities on the line and home. This would be a very useful opportunity for such a service I think

On a train out of Heuston just now and spotted the unmistakable shape of one of the new DART+ carriages being loaded onto the tracks in Inchicore depot!! Exciting times ahead! Does anyone know are they being currently placed on accommodation bogies for the time being, or have their special articulated bogies arrived yet?

I think the max operating speed of the 99s is only 120kmh so I think it’s safe to see that once the 201s and 071s have gracefully bowed out, Irish Rail see that being the end to loco hauled services on the island. EMU/BMU’s seem like the likely future for the Belfast and Cork services especially if 200kmh speeds are the plan! A sad end but really an inevitable move with the times. Any word on the new Enterprise tender by the way? Last I heard, they’d narrowed it down to 2 bidders…!

Credit where credit’s due for the dynamic passing loop though, really will help to slicken service passings at the station. Does anyone know what side the double track will be extending? My grandfather was the chief civil engineer in charge of the N67 Dual Carriageway bridge over the railway east of the current station and demanded that the bridge be built with space for a second track in the future, so I’m just curious if his efforts will be fruitful in this project!! Station plans look stunning, can’t wait to see this finally happen.

Not sure if a thread already exists for this line (if so I’m really sorry Mods and could you please move this post to that thread) but I thought no harm in having one! I’m just thinking out loud about what can be done to increase line capacity and usage. Ideally services would be expanded to Limerick Colbert rather than just the junction and a service would leave both Waterford and Limerick with a pre-09:00 arrival at each end and a similar post-17:30 departure in the evening (this, in my opinion, should be the standard for all lines in Ireland, branch and intercity included…) However how achievable is this? I did a mock timetable and it seems that with the addition of a passing loop and second platform at Cahir (or even just a loop outside of Cahir), the following can be achieved: A train would leave both Waterford and Limerick Colbert respectively at around 06:00 and the two trains can pass each other in Cahir. The trains would provide a connection at Limerick Junction for: Passengers from Waterford for Cork would join 07:00 Dublin to Cork (which calls at Limerick Jnct at 08:32) Passengers from Tipperary, Clonmel (etc) for Dublin would join the 07:00 Cork to Dublin (which calls at Limerick Junction at 08:01). Passengers from Limerick for Cork would join the 06:00 Dublin to Cork (which calls at Limerick Junction at 07:26) or would simply get the 06:55 Limerick - Limerick Jnct for a better connection time. Passengers from Cork for Limerick would join from the 07:00 Cork to Dublin (which calls at Limerick Junction at 08:01). These trains will arrive into the two cities respectively at around 8:30 each morning, before the beginning of the working day. In the evening, the story is much the same with trains leaving both cities at around 18:00 and once again passing one another at Cahir. Each train would provide connections in Limerick Jnct: Passengers from Cork for Waterford would join the Waterford train from the 17:25 Cork to Dublin (which calls at Limerick Junction at 18:23) Passengers from Dublin for Tipperary, Clonmel (etc) would join the Waterford train from the 17:00 Dublin to Cork (which calls at Limerick Junction at 18:27). Passengers from Cork for Limerick would join the Limerick train from the 18:25 Cork to Dublin (which calls at Limerick Junction at 19:26) Passengers from Limerick to Cork would join the 17:00 Dublin to Cork (which calls at Limerick Junction at 18:27). Both services would then reach Limerick and Waterford at around 20:20 or so each evening Let me know if anyone has any thoughts on this, if it seems feasible, etc. Opinions and criticism (constructive please…!) would also be much appreciated. Thanks all, Oisín :))

According to the video sent by @Der Rechtsanwalt that’s what the clearance work on the old collapsed roof was for…!

Great video! Didn’t know they were bothering to rebuild the roof… Hardly as a preemptive station project…? Overnight loco storage maybe? Will there be a run around facility built at Foynes from the outset or are they waiting until they can bring the railhead to the dock itselfv

The extra 5’3 rail in the compound to accommodate the Irish gauge locos is very interesting here…! You’d wonder is it still present!!

Anyone know what the scéal is about Kishogue opening on Monday…? Is there and official ceremony and first train…? (Obviously the first train will be the first train at 5 in the morning, but is there a ceremonial ‘first train’ happening…? Thinking of heading up and wondering if there’s something happening at the station over the course of the day

Still any word yet on what traffic will go over the line…? Or is it moreso being built in line with TEN-T recommendations and the Foynes port masterplan with no immediate use pencilled in but with big use planned in the future with the port’s explanation?

I actually think (again only from looking at Google Earth) that Strabane will be the easiest to reconnect, due to it being such a dense and contained town. A new alignment approaching from the south could travel north-northwest after Sion Mills before bending due north-northeast to follow the River Finn and have a train station after the Mourne river crossing slightly to the east of the service station on the Lifford Road. This would be very on the very edge of the town of Strabane while also being very close to Lifford (750 metres to both town centres from the proposed station site). The line could subsequently follow the A5 all the way to Waterside station with minimal interruption to any existing property save for a small housing estate on the outside of Derry and of course the old quay buildings… Could this work…? I am very much of the opinion that a largely new alignment will be required for all of the reasons mentioned above like electrification, need for double track, and suitability for new trains, plus of course meaning a more direct and faster route than the car. Finally would there be any benefit to a triangle junction at Portadown to allow express services form Dublin…?

You’d wonder would somewhere beyond Hazelhatch be viable…? Between there and Naas? Or even just north of Rush and Lusk? Although that latter location may face the same flooding risks of the Maynooth depot…

When you say the depot will not happen, does that mean at all…??? Are they looking into relocating it…? Surely the depot is a must for the whole project…

Been looking at it for the last 10 minutes, put us out of our misery @Niles!!