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DoctorPan

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Posts posted by DoctorPan

  1. 50 minutes ago, hurricanemk1c said:

    About the fifth loco I've heard to be converted!

    Ultimately new locos should be bought rather than messing around like this

    Is there anything to be said about doing another scheme to prevent the question of electrification of the rail freight corridors?

  2. 22 minutes ago, Darrman said:

    https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/news/project-development-for-navan-rail-line-to-begin

    Irish Rail press release today: RPS appointed as consultants, two years spent planning with a public consultation at some point in that, railway order application for 2027. Stations at Dunshaughlin and Kilmessan explicitly mentioned.

    Just speaking for myself, what's stopping them from reusing the pre-crash plans as opposed to going through planning again?

    Updated requirements and the information being out dated. 

  3. Speaking to Paddy, these aren't a solo project, Alstrom have asked him and provided CAD and the sort to help him produce this, hence why a 3D sample model of a full set appeared before real thing!

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    • Informative 4
  4. Winners of the recent Navan Line tender are due to be officially announced in the short term future, two main options to be invesitgated, the old D&M alignment or a diverision to bring it closer to Dunshaughlin. 

    10 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

    The issue seems to be the NTA, who in conjunction with the government hold all the cards. If and when there is enthusiasm within that body (e.g. re a new proposed cycle lane) it tends to get done, with or without local council funding. As far as rail is concerned, local authorities will doubtlessly be deterred by the colossal bill that the NTA would wave at them if they offered to fund something like this.

    This should not be, but it certainly would appear to be the case. Yes, Brexitstan and other countries are ahead of us on that point in some cases, but the NTA is often referred to as the "No Trains Authority"; their fascination with roads and motorways and buses is reminiscent of the UTA in the 1950s.

    In fairness to the NTA, it's not for lack of interest in building railways. Indeed Marcello the head of rail is very eager to push projects through and get shovels in the ground. Indeed he has butted heads with IÉ over they wanting to run services to suit the infrastructure while he wants IÉ to be looking to put the infrastructure in to support the desired services. The NTA of old was more interested in buses but since the change in personal there's a big change coming from their side of the field.

    It is the departments of finance and public expenditure that are pumping the breaks on projects and requesting increasing levels of reports to show financial benefits as the OPW debacale has spooked the civil service into being afraid of signing off on infrastructure. Cycle lanes are smaller and nimble projects that don't have to go through the same level of regulatorly financial red tape. It's also should be noted that rail infrastructure investment is new again to the island and the industry has taken time to get to grips with delivering these projects but there's been a lot of background enabling works going on that are starting to come on stream which will speed up other projects. 

    • Like 8
  5. 11 hours ago, Branchline121 said:

    You’d really think they’d just convert the 1.5 V DC on the DART to 25 kV AC instead of extending the redundant DC system when it could be AC from Greystones to Belfast.

    The talk addressed that. Currently 3% of the network is electrified. They could spend the money retrofitting the existing DART network to 25kV AC or use it to expand the electrification corridor. Makes sense to decarbonise more of the network. They do plan to retrofit 25kV AC along the DART corridor eventually and indeed, I can easily see the next gen of DART units being designed to be dual voltage to allow a phased switch over. 

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  6. 39 minutes ago, Wexford70 said:

    Does the fact there is an election coming influence the timing of the release of this aspirational plan?

    Without significant EU grants, I cannot see these coming to fruition given the level of national debt. (Statistics | NTMA)

     

    image.png.7f28e6a112977f9d7768209d13491613.png

    The timing of this report has nothing to do with an election. It's been held up for nearly two years because Stormont had no sitting government. 

    • Like 4
  7. As someone who works in the industry and indeed in a former life worked for Arup, the writers of the report, this is a change in policy from the Department of Transport, Finance and Public Expenditure. Ryan has pushed hard for a lot of behind the scenes changes in the departments and civil service and this is the result of it. All proposals in this report apparently have a benefits to cost ratio of 1:1 so they believe they will break even at minimum. A second factor that pushes the cost of these down is that it may be cheaper to build these then pay the fines to Europe for the breach of carbon emission limits. Thirdly, the European Investment Bank is involved to make monies available for this and indeed reviewing the plan to see which aspects can be deliveried quickly and most bang for buck. And finally another factor is this is being approached as how the motorway network was built in the 2000s and the investment that got. There's a load of movement and growth within the rail industry, hell Irish Rail and private consultants are constantly hiring engineering staff for rail projects.

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  8. 1 hour ago, 226 Abhann na Suire said:

    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… 

    Hazelhatch had two options considered and both were rejected for flood risk as well plus requiring removal of housing. There's not many locations within the existing study areas that fit the bill. Interesting times ahead.

  9. 15 minutes ago, 226 Abhann na Suire said:

    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…

    A new depot location will have to be found. Considering its less than 24 hours since the announcment and ruling, I'm sure a review for a suitable site will occur. And yes a dedicated depot is required. Maynooth was intended to be the EMU version of Laois Train Care with Fairview becoming a stabling point and Drogheda acting as depot outpost. The question now is where can they find a 2km long site for their requirements. 

    • Like 1
  10. 8 hours ago, Branchline121 said:

    I’m excited that Meath will finally get electric trains, even if it’s only Dunboyne and not as far as Navan like in the Strategic Railway Review, I wonder when that will happen, if it happens at all?

    Navan is currently out to tender for Phases 1 & 2, which does include OHLE design.

    • Like 1
  11. 2 hours ago, Mike 84C said:

    Dr Pan, looks like Nicky Cox used the Hornby James ?  Its very good and a much better starting point than the Bachmann one.

    461,one of my favourite engines, I'm hoping Accurascale  release a model of it for their Irish steam loco.  Lots of selling points going for it but I wont hold my breath!

     DJ Dangerous thank you for your comments very kind of you.  So many people on this site and on other site's have freely helped me over the years, so the right thing is to help others if you can.

     As an aside, I worked with a guy whose nickname was Dangerous Dave, Health & Safety what's that ? But he  kept our mill running well past its sell by date!  Your avtar? reminds me of him and I like that.  :tumbsup:

    Yeah it's a Hornby James chassis and tender as its starting point.

    • Thanks 1
  12. On 21/5/2024 at 11:22 AM, 226 Abhann na Suire said:

    Good location by the looks of it! Pretty close to a lot of amenities and also while I’m a pretty populated area, there’s space to the immediate sound and north of the line and beyond for transit oriented developments! Great to see more investment in the Limerick commuter system!

    Stations at Adare and the specially Dooradoyle on the newly built Foynes line seem to me like a huge missed opportunity, Dooradoyle being a highly populated area currently underserved by public transport.

    A park and ride station out by the N24/M7 junction by Castleroy was being floated a while ago too, is that still on the cards…? Moyross is definitely progress so hopefully we see more similar projects pop up around Limerick, in conjunction with doubling to Ennis and Limerick Junction!

    https://www.atkinsrealis.com/en/media/trade-releases/2024/2024-01-22#:~:text=AtkinsRéalis will develop station location,the Limerick to Ennis Line.

     

    Few projects on the go mentioned there along with the Limerick Double Track project aslo.

    • Like 1
  13. 3 hours ago, Galteemore said:

    @David Holmandid a turf train some time ago. Attracts great interest at UK shows. Yes, the turf trains ran from the west to supply a dump at Phoenix Park during the Emergency.

    IMG_1217.jpeg

     

    Indeed the inspiration behind my batch as a lock down project!

    • Funny 1
  14. If members in the Laois/Offaly area are talking about BnM preservation, I would suggest making contact with the Stradbally Woodland Railway as they have a collection of ex BnM rolling stock and it would be better to pool resources then attempting a solo run. Séan Cain is involved there and is quite the expert on BnM. 

    • Like 3
    • Agree 1
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