New Freight service- Ballina - Waterford

[Rob]

http://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2021/0929/1249615-freight-railway/

 

Good to see-  wondering are there any decent photos of the debut today?

[Noel]

4 hours ago, Rob said:

http://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2021/0929/1249615-freight-railway/

 

Good to see-  wondering are there any decent photos of the debut today?

Yes good to anything that gets NoX spewing diesel HGVs off our roads and motorways. Wonder if their future strategic plans might include Waterford - Rosslare port container traffic and get UK land bridge containers to dublin region from rosslare via waterford (Over barrow bridge)? 

[Sean Hogan]

Let's hope

[NIRCLASS80]

Any new freight movement by rail is a positive news story. 

[ttc0169]

8 hours ago, Rob said:

http://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2021/0929/1249615-freight-railway/

 

Good to see-  wondering are there any decent photos of the debut today?

Here you go Rob….

I was in Ballina freight yard to see the XPO liner arrive from Waterford and got took these photos before the rain started. 
It’s great to see another container freight flow alongside the existing IWT liner. 
 

[murphaph]

Yeah great to see it. Hopefully much more to come.

I wonder might we even see intermodal trailers being brought down to Rosslare as thanks to Brexit a lot more trailers are going unaccompanied anyway. Why not send them unaccompanied from a railhead instead of driving them down from the four provinces to the south east tip of the country.

Now that would be a fine sight.

[Rob]

5 hours ago, ttc0169 said:

Here you go Rob….

I was in Ballina freight yard to see the XPO liner arrive from Waterford and got took these photos before the rain started. 
It’s great to see another container freight flow alongside the existing IWT liner. 
 

Great shots-  good to capture the debut!

Nice to see the old reliable DANA tankers too at the start.

Thanks for the pics-  hope to see more in the future!!

[Bob229]

Great to see new Freight services hopefully more will develop with the soon to be announced strategic freight plan

[Galteemore]

Interesting article here…https://m.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/freight-is-on-right-track-40488826.html, particularly in its account of what IE freight was like in the past.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Galteemore

[Noel]

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Interesting article here…https://m.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/freight-is-on-right-track-40488826.html, particularly in its account of what IE freight was like in the past.

Wow the transition era from 2 axle manually loaded wagon vans to containers

[Mayner]

On 1/10/2021 at 3:59 AM, Galteemore said:

Interesting article here…https://m.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/freight-is-on-right-track-40488826.html, particularly in its account of what IE freight was like in the past.

Very well written an informative article about the "Indian Summer" of Sligo Line freight operations during the 1990s when for a short time IE was pro-actively pursuing new traffic including re-laying and re-opening the Sligo Quay traffic for Cold Con traffic, timber, grain, and less than train load such as Molasses and Cold Chon Bitumen.

There may be some truth in Tim Mulcahy's claims that railfreight was run-down to improve the return to the Exchequer (and Toll Road companies) for major road improvements and motorway construction that took place after 2000. The road transport industry is a huge source of revenue drivers income tax, vehicle registration and licensing fees and excise duty on fuel while the railways were seen as a drain running on green diesel and requiring a subsidy. Tim Mulcahy's comment about doing a lot of freight work as a 'less senior driver" was the root of the problem that lead to the ILDA dispute. Because of the seniority system a senior driver basically had to die or retire in order for a driver to progress from a freight to a passenger link, many of the less senior drivers who worked Liner Trains were almost continuously rostered on night work with little opportunity for shift rotation which can lead to physical and mental health problems. Unfortunately like the UK Miners Strike the ILDA dispute was ill timed and played into the hand of a government that had little confidence in CIE or IE management.

[jhb171achill]

This is what always strikes me when Barry Carse and I are going through his photos taken in the 1970-2000 period - the sheer variety of goods trains all over the place.

Where were Eamon Ryan and his green environmental friends back then?

[Colin R]

On 30/9/2021 at 9:45 AM, murphaph said:

Yeah great to see it. Hopefully much more to come.

I wonder might we even see intermodal trailers being brought down to Rosslare as thanks to Brexit a lot more trailers are going unaccompanied anyway. Why not send them unaccompanied from a railhead instead of driving them down from the four provinces to the south east tip of the country.

Now that would be a fine sight.

Hi  there is nothing new in this, the old Irish railway companies where sending stuff like this before most of us where born (I think) good to see some common sense coming out of all of this at last, maybe some one should say something to the guys who run Network rail here in the UK. 

[spudfan]

Ballina – Waterford service signals IÉ freight revival | News | Railway Gazette International

[Broithe]

Even more freight in the future - possibly.

https://www.irishrail.ie/Admin/getmedia/685e9919-f012-4018-879b-06618bb536af/IE_Rail-Freight-2040-Strategy_Public_Final_20210715.pdf

[Galteemore]

Let’s hope so - Sligo Goods and Foynes back on the map ?

[connollystn]

Thanks Broithe, had a very quick look at that document. It's pie in the sky. Reminds me of work, we set up committees to discuss issues, then more committees to discuss the findings of said committees. Spend so much time talking about it that nothing gets done.

[Garfield]

If only there was some way of getting freight from the 'Tactical Rail Freight Terminals' in Sligo and Galway to the Limerick Junction intermodal hub without having to go via Dublin...

[ttc0169]

30 minutes ago, Garfield said:

If only there was some way of getting freight from the 'Tactical Rail Freight Terminals' in Sligo and Galway to the Limerick Junction intermodal hub without having to go via Dublin...

It’s as plane as the nose on their faces….but they just won’t admit it

[murphaph]

Wait till B. Ogle hears about all this...

[StevieB]

Makes for interesting reading, but fails to mention two points:

1) Existing container traffic between Waterford and Ballina, and

2) Developing rail freight from Rosslare, currently only roll/off.

I also thought the two parts of Ireland were looking to consider the rail in the whole country rather than separately.

Stephen

 

[jhb171achill]

Sorry to be the spoiler.

This report and all that is in it, and all of what little behind it constitutes any sort of thinking beyond the plot of a novel, is utter drivel from start to finish, It is contrived by overpaid consultants to please other overpaid consultants, and contains not a jot of anything that is not either (a) blatantly obvious, (b) utter fantasy or (c) irrelevant.

Every word of this document consist of NOTHING but inane buzzwords and ZERO detail, let alone any sort of commitment beyond a "Dear Santa" list of pipe dreams. 

"Reconnect the port of Foynes", it says. Apart from this being old news, re-heated and trotted out by successive local gombeen men and politicians with no knowledge of railway operation, WHEN to reopen the port? How? How much will it cost? Who will do the work? When will it start? It will "drive growth"... blah blah. How? By what measurement? According to what research? With evidence of what proposed inward traffic? "Support opportunities with mining and offshore power generation in the region..."

What planet are these people on? Mining is supposed to be nasty to the environment. Are the Greens going to support a mine so that when its worked out they can put a cycleway in it? Support offshore power? How exactly does a land-based railway do that? Do they put all the wind power in boxes and manhandle them into "H" vans at Foynes, for onward distribution to Fiddown, Buttevant and Bangor West? WHAT power generation? According to what research results can the resurgence of the Foynes branch be deemed to link up with offshore wind power? Are they going to electrify it?

Marino Port - reconnection. Apart from the obvious question of why they ever disconnected it, when will this happen, how, at what cost, and for what traffic?

And so it goes.

I hear that consultancy report writing pays well....

To produce coloured tables of IE's management structure - who's paying for that, and for what purpose?

One new goods train - one. With 18 little wagons, which operates a couple of times a week. Big deal. See how impressed the Swiss or Americans might be when reading that. Yes, I know we're not the USA, and we haven't colossal volumes of Pennsylvania coal to move thousands of miles - but that's not the point. Even little Brexitland, a minnow by mainland European or North American standards, doesn't need to produce something like War & Peace to herald this.

100 new goods services? What happened the recent announcements and diagrams by colossally-paid consultants about a new freight terminal at Rosslare (with a nice picture showing it at the far end of the car park)? According to THIS one, Rosslare doesn't feature - but Athenry does!

Gawd save us.

"B Ogle", and for that matter, the tooth fairy, speak more sense than this.

Mr Meade should be well aware now that there is no appetite at government level, even with that wee lad Ryan making Leo Martin-Varadcar's tea, for investment in rail freight. Even if IE genuinely wanted to make a case for it, and the signs over the last 25 years have tended to be to the contrary most of the time, I suspect it would fall on deaf ears.

Let's be generous, though, to these over-fed consultants and whatever poor fool hired them. Say there ARE genuine plans for 100 new freight flows. It's reasonable to assume most or all will be containerised.

Let's assume that a serious attempt is made to have 25 or 30 wagon trains. We currently have three freight flows (yippee!). So that leaves 97.

Let's say that they mean 97 single trips, thus counting one "freight flow" as a single trip only; that makes about 49 return trips.

Let's say that each has two sets of wagons, one being loaded while the other is laden. Plus a few spares.

That's going to equate to several thousand wagons. OK, I hear you say, maybe one set will be used on many of these traffic flows; maybe some will be one train a fortnight. With 12 wagons.

I wouldn't open a paper bag to read about that, never mind a glossy report. 

And what of locomotives and crews? If the driver of the Waterford - Limerick junction railcar is off ill, they cancel the train. One driver on that route! Where are all these people coming from? Where will they get the locomotives?

Forgive my cynicism, but that report is sadly not worth the paper it's written on; it is pure Harry Potter stuff.

Rant over - for now.

Edited December 1, 2021 by jhb171achill

[connollystn]

The Irish Times [online] have just published an article about Iarrod Eireann seeking €500 to expand freight services by 2040.

[Broithe]

2 hours ago, connollystn said:

Thanks Broithe, had a very quick look at that document. It's pie in the sky. Reminds me of work, we set up committees to discuss issues, then more committees to discuss the findings of said committees. Spend so much time talking about it that nothing gets done.

There is a lot of words - it would be nice to think that something might actually happen as a result of writing all that...

When I had a proper job, I developed a fairly accurate way of assessing the future reality compared to the flashy predictions promised.

2040 is a long way away and the last two years, in particular, have shown how plans can easily go awry.

Time will tell, but the absence of the word 'Rosslare' makes you wonder how close to reality it all is.

[connollystn]

Correction! My last post should be €500 000 000.

Anyway, if they do get the go-ahead I won't be alive to witness it.

[Brack]

41 minutes ago, connollystn said:

Correction! My last post should be €500 000 000.

Anyway, if they do get the go-ahead I won't be alive to witness it.

That's a shame, they had half a chance of getting the €500!

[murphaph]

They could stick the €500 in prize bonds I suppose.

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Broithe said:

There is a lot of words - it would be nice to think that something might actually happen as a result of writing all that...

When I had a proper job, I developed a fairly accurate way of assessing the future reality compared to the flashy predictions promised.

2040 is a long way away and the last two years, in particular, have shown how plans can easily go awry.

Time will tell, but the absence of the word 'Rosslare' makes you wonder how close to reality it all is.

Light years from reality, I think....... just finished reading the whole thing in detail - I'd have been better informed about the REALITIES of future rail freight if I had read the Beano!

 

[flange lubricator]

I would imagine there will be more Freight transported in the boot of my saloon car between now and 2040 then will be generated for the railway as a result of this report .

[murphaph]

1 hour ago, Broithe said:

There is a lot of words - it would be nice to think that something might actually happen as a result of writing all that...

When I had a proper job, I developed a fairly accurate way of assessing the future reality compared to the flashy predictions promised.

2040 is a long way away and the last two years, in particular, have shown how plans can easily go awry.

Time will tell, but the absence of the word 'Rosslare' makes you wonder how close to reality it all is.

There has been acres of words in studies on various rail projects printed since the 70's. We've built what, 0 new miles of heavy rail? And reopened what, a dozen miles or something? (and closed more than that of course). We talk a good talk but we are still talking about stuff that was "about to start" when I left Ireland almost 15 years ago. Berlin, a broke ass city, has managed to build more new heavy (and indeed light) rail than us since I came to this part of the world, and we are supposedly a wealthy country.

[GSR 800]

Two things

1. As far as I can see, this isn't in programme for government, generally a tell that something will actually be seriously implemented (generally cuts the stuff they weren't serious about in manifesto) 

2. I see feck all of it costed. This is important for pretty obvious reasons, it means someone has actually figured out the cost and where that can be fitted into the budget, another good sign its not just nice words on a sheet. Someone can correct me on either of these if I'm overlooking something, I may well be.

100 trains is a nonsense, but any decent increase in freight traffic is a good thing in my books.

What comes to mind is what the US navy used to do before ww1. Congress would always shaft them in the budget, cutting down everything wherever possible, so the US navy drew up the biggest plans they possibly could so that after the mincing through Congress they'd still have something left to work with!

Edited December 1, 2021 by GSR 800

[airfixfan]

12 minutes ago, murphaph said:

They could stick the €500 in prize bonds I suppose.

Could always buy Irish Rail an A Class and a few wagons for 500 Euros to show kids in the future what freight trains used to be in the future!

[Barl]

2 hours ago, StevieB said:

I also thought the two parts of Ireland were looking to consider the rail in the whole country rather than separately.

Stephen

 

There is currently an all Ireland rail review being undertaken by ARUP. It would seem this is to be a detailed study of the network as a whole, rather than just freight.

I would imagine this will inform some of the strategies outlined in AECOM's report - a strategy report is always going to be high level and not overly detailed so criticising it for being simplistic is a little harsh - you wouldn't expect a county development plan to give details on individual planning applications before, during or after the duration of the plan.

I would imagine the target audience for this document isn't those who have a good understanding of the railway network and it's operations, but rather the normal person who would like to see how rail-freight could be used to reduce carbon emissions and provide other benefits and what IE's intentions are going forward.

[jhb171achill]

3 minutes ago, Barl said:

There is currently an all Ireland rail review being undertaken by ARUP. It would seem this is to be a detailed study of the network as a whole, rather than just freight.

I would imagine this will inform some of the strategies outlined in AECOM's report - a strategy report is always going to be high level and not overly detailed so criticising it for being simplistic is a little harsh - you wouldn't expect a county development plan to give details on individual planning applications before, during or after the duration of the plan.

I would imagine the target audience for this document isn't those who have a good understanding of the railway network and it's operations, but rather the normal person who would like to see how rail-freight could be used to reduce carbon emissions and provide other benefits and what IE's intentions are going forward.

Let's hope so! However, getting a cent out of one government, let alone several successive ones, seems as unrealistic as ever, unfortunately.

[Barl]

54 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Let's hope so! However, getting a cent out of one government, let alone several successive ones, seems as unrealistic as ever, unfortunately.

That's definitely true! One of the reasons these reports are 'simplified' with colourful charts or provided with non-technical summaries is so those who provide the funding can understand them easier.... Not sure if it makes much difference really though as you say