226 Abhann na Suire

All really really good points. I totally understand all of the obstacles, and the fact that we are all looking through this with coal-tinted glasses, but Navan could be a really perfect location for a heritage railway. The station would be an excellent base to operate a heritage railway out of. Proximity to Dublin is pretty good, and definitely there is enough draw to the town itself aside from a heritage railway, to further entice people to make the trip. It is also in the very centre of the town and would bring loads of business to the local area and to other businesses. The station site is huge. There is definitely space for low loaders to get in and out (although stock could just be hauled via the mainline connection instead), there is ample space for a simple second platform (the existing one is perfectly wide enough for a primary platform) and there is incredible storage potential, the existing locomotive shed being wide enough for two tracks and likely making a great workshop also, and the goods yard has plenty of extra space for more storage/maintenance (both covered and/or open). The station throat as well has loads of space to comfortably house the turnouts needed for a multitude of sidings. There is also the absolute beautiful structure of a station building which could be very easily and effectively made into your classic ticket office/cafe/museum building (on the museum note, the Dundalk station mini museum collection, being GNRI based, could be sold to Navan and rehoused there…? Maybe the signal box too - there would be space for it on the platform at Navan and it would make an excellent and accurate heritage attraction in of itself - but maybe that’s a stretch…). The line could run literally as far as Beauparc - roughly 5 kilometres east - which would also mean that there would be no extra trouble of needing to operate a level crossing, as if trains go no further than Beauparc, the crossing remains defunct. The question of a station at Beauparc depends on the private owners of the old station house, if they objected, the cost of building a station and run-around loop in a new site are likely too expensive, although a loop is not necessarily needed so this could be done at a halt-style location… The connection west to where presumably the new Navan IÉ station will go could also be maintained and the odd time for galas and so on, heritage trains could meet DARTs at Navan to collect passengers. The only other issues I see (aside from the aforementioned obvious cost, workforce, etc) is car parking at Navan. Space could be made at the station bundling for a car park but it wouldn’t be as big as you’d like. There is the larger car park right next door for the Louth and Navan Further Education and Training building and this could potentially be expanded slightly to the east to take the rest of the railways parking demand. The bottom line is, the success that a lot of the UK heritage lines have had (aside from the previously mentioned much larger market for this kind of thing) has been that the railway has moved in, as soon as British Rail have moved out, meaning they’ve been working with functional, if even well conditioned, track, signalling, infrastructure etc. something that no heritage project on this island has had before and something that the Navan line brings which is not to be overlooked I think. A mainline connection (either at Navan, or Drogheda, or both, if maintained), is also an incredible opportunity, for mainline charters, extra RPSI storage and/or potential use of Inchicore/Whitehead for larger rolling stock maintenance, removing the need (and cost!) for a complex facility in house for this, as well as the potential as a test track for rolling stock, and signalling even, for IÉ, further adds to the incredible appeal of the location. Just a few musings, I hadn’t thought of lots of this before I began typing this spiel, but the more I think about it, the more sense it actually makes… Any further thoughts…? Oisín

Saw pictures of bubble car 2751 being hauled up to Inchicore and have heard rumours of it being destined for Maam Cross… could it be true…??

New station on the four tracked line into Heuston at the Kylemore Road bridge serving Ballyfermot is also in development and plans are due to be revealed in the coming months. Will interchange with future Luas Lucan also, which is a great connection to have

Leaving Colbert the other day there was 6 cement bogie tankers lying on the side of the line, perpendicular to the tracks, being cut up with angle grinders. (Apologies for the low quality of the pictures) The wagons are the same as the ones line up in the Colbert ‘sound barrier’ in the sidings to the north of the station approach, and also in that stationary convoy are some Taras, a few of the old unrefurbished CPWs and some 42ft flats, so presumably these are destined for the cutters torch also…? Surely the CPWs might be saved? And does anyone know how the wagons were brought across the running lines and then lifted off the tracks to actually be cut up?

A 9 carriage ICR (6ICR + 3ICR) tore past me through Kildare the other day, looked to be on an ECS to Heuston. Longest I’ve seen in person

It’s always a mystery to me why when it was being built in the 90s, no one had the foresight to double the Dargan Bridge, it seems like an awful waste of resources. Does anyone know is the passing loop above Corporation Street actatlly used in daily service? Or does the block just run between the junction with the Bangor Line and York Street station? Seems like an obvious capacity hinderance which should be thought about being fixed… Excellent and unbelievably comprehensive list though @Darrman, I really could not agree more! IÉ definitely need to get a move on with Limerick-Limerick Jnct, Galway-Athenry, Athlone-Portarlington, and Bray Head Tunnel 4-Greystones Station (the only solution here is to double the whole 2km section between the tunnel and the station, it would make a hell of a difference

https://irishcycle.com/2024/11/13/images-an-in-depth-look-at-first-new-dart-train/ Unreal article here on IrishCycles about the first full new DART+ set that was unveiled in Inchicore today, a load of really good pics. I’m particularly impressed by the new PIS, wayyyy more informative than the current waste of money they’ve added to the 8600’s that only show the time and destination; these ones show next station, relative distance into the journey, which side the doors will open on, and even where in the train is least busy!! They will be nothing short of groundbreaking!

Very interesting… Was it operated by an NIR unit? And was it advertised as a Derry-Dublin service?? The first one in a very long time I should think!!

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…!