Direct rail services between Wexford and Dublin could face axe

[Rush and Lusk]

Interesting article below from today's Irish Times. Notwithstanding the predictable objections from local politicians, it is encouraging to see the exploration of options to optimise existing and future rail assets.

 

Direct rail services between Wexford and Dublin could face axe

TIM O’BRIEN

The National Transport Authority (NTA) is looking at plans to end direct rail services between Co Wexford and Dublin.

Two separate studies into capacity on the line are considering having passengers from the Rosslare line change from intercity trains to the Dart at either Wicklow or Greystones.

The move comes as passenger numbers on the line have grown in recent years, with daily boardings at Wexford station in 2022 more than twice what they were in 2013. Passenger numbers at Enniscorthy have also grown significantly, while in May 2022, Irish Rail introduced a new night-time service between Gorey and Connolly, to meet demand.

Rosslare port is also being rapidly expanded post-Brexit, with a new, €170 million facility for workers including gardaí, customs, HSE and Department of Agriculture personnel under construction since last September.

The port owner, Irish Rail, has said “the next five years will see historical investment and the largest ever developments at the port through a number of proposed projects” including an offshore renewable energy hub.

However, in an email to Co Wexford based Senator Malcolm Byrne, seen by The Irish Times, the deputy chief executive of the NTA Hugh Creegan said: “The current proposals under development envisage that train services from Rosslare/Gorey would terminate at either Wicklow or Greystones and passengers would interchange to the Dart service at that interchange point.”

Mr Creegan said “this would allow more frequent services to be provided by diesel trains operating between Rosslare and Wicklow/ Greystones, linking in with the frequent Dart services from that point northwards”.

Challenging

Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny said “delivering additional frequency on the Rosslare to Dublin line has always been challenging in the context of a high frequency Dart service from Bray to Dublin, and this challenge will increase with improvements in Greystones Dart frequency”.

The proposals were criticised by Mr Byrne who said “forcing passengers to have to change trains at Wicklow or Greystones will not encourage more passengers to use rail”.

The voluntary group Rail Users Ireland said changing trains would “kill” the Rosslare service.

“Who is going to get off an intercity train with a nice seat, to cross at Wicklow where there is no fully accessible access at present, and wait in the rain for a Dart train?” the group’s spokesman Mark Gleeson asked.

[jhb171achill]

This has got to be the single, solitary most stupid proposal ever put forward. It puts decisions like abandoning freight, selling goods yards, closing West Cork, Tramore, Harcourt St, the BCDR and the Derry Road into third place.

It’ll kill the line, already hamstrung by having filthy 29s on some services, and Castlegregory branch speeds over the entire route. 

Maybe that is what the No Trains Authority wants?

Edited April 4 by jhb171achill

[226 Abhann na Suire]

Not trying to be controversial at all guys but I’m just throwing out a few potential points. I don’t know all the facts at all and I am not myself a Wexfordian, and I really don’t want to annoy people by saying this, but I don’t think it’s outright the worst idea, on paper anyway… 

Wexford to Dublin is by far the worst intercity line in Ireland, numbers wise, infrastructure wise, and timetabling/line speed wise so a solution is needed quickly and it may need to be a drastic one. While the Rosslare to Greystones section is poor, the Greystones to Connolly section is obviously where the problem is capacity wise.

The option as proposed in the AIRR is to have intercity services from Wexford run via a heavily upgraded South Wexford and Waterford-Dublin line, which according to them, would be significantly faster than the current journey and the car, and simultaneously have an hourly Rosslare to Greystones commuter service where a morning and evening train from this would be extended directly to Connolly for commuters from Wicklow etc. I don’t think that this would be bad at all as commuters from everywhere along the line would have a direct and competitive service to Dublin in the morning and evening with Wexford maintaining that throughout the day and all other stations only requiring one change from a DART at Bray/Greystones.

Now this is a pretty drastic, and I personally think that a way better idea would be a serious upgrade of the entire line south of the Bray Head tunnels, with higher speeds, much more loops, station upgrades etc, so that the inevitable slowing down for the last 30km from Bray Head to Connolly will be offset by an otherwise much quicker route

Finally, I think stopping services (if that’s what they do) at Greystones and Wicklow makes not a lot of sense compared with Bray, which already has a terminating south-facing platform which could be used and space to add a second. This way DART services could all run as far as Bray where a cross-platform interchange to hourly Rosslare trains could be made much easier. I do think that just upgrading the line is the way better option though, for everyone on the line and maybe an eventual three/four tracking south of Connolly could improve things further. 

[StevieB]

What’s proposed above includes a brand new high speed railway from Dublin to Kildare. Therein lies the problem. Largescale improvements of existing infrastructure are much more likely than brand new.

Stephen

[Ironroad]

I probably do not know enough to offer a competent opinion on this issue but a couple of issues stand out for me.

Firstly, the journey time on the DART between Greystones and Connolly is effectively an hour something I could not believe when I experienced it (off peak) a few years ago. Not only is this pathetic for an electrified suburban system, it is nonsense to suggest that it be part of a so called "Intercity" service.

Secondly, will we even have a line to Greystones?  The cliff walk above the line was closed about two years ago because of rock falls and apparently the line itself is at serious risk (erosion) and expenditure in the order of about 250 million is apparently required to make it safe, is that a band aid? 

I cannot but suspect that we are really seeing a move towards the total closure of the line south of Bray.

[226 Abhann na Suire]

2 hours ago, StevieB said:

What’s proposed above includes a brand new high speed railway from Dublin to Kildare. Therein lies the problem. Largescale improvements of existing infrastructure are much more likely than brand new.

Stephen

Didn’t think about that actually Stephen, that’s my bad. Yeah no you’re  dead right like a huge upgrade is way more likely and by far the better option, but it was an interesting proposal put forward by the AIRR

[StevieB]

There was also a proposal for a new high speed line bypassing Portadown. Some really good stuff in the AIRR but we’ll have to wait and see. Something I learnt many years ago, it’s not how fast you go but how slow you go ie how many stops you make. 
 

Stephen

[jhb171achill]

The elephant in the room, of course - and it's a BIG one - is that our politicians north AND south have every incentive to think and plan short-term and zero incentive to think long-term; in fact, an absolute disincentive to think long term. Major railway projects of any sort in any country are never quick fixes - unless they are closures!

[Louth]

Interesting letter in last Tuesday's Irish Times. It sums up the overall issues very well.

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

Very well said indeed. The proposal is by far the stupidest thing ever devised; it clearly indicates the utterly moronic view of railways held within the NTA.

[Noel]

Short sighted. Commuters from wexford, gorey, Arklow, Wicklow encouraged to get off the roads and use public transport (ie rail), but the service is already too slow and now they want to axe it? Darwin!

[jhb171achill]

59 minutes ago, Noel said:

Short sighted. Commuters from wexford, gorey, Arklow, Wicklow encouraged to get off the roads and use public transport (ie rail), but the service is already too slow and now they want to axe it? Darwin!

Yes, you couldn’t make this up. This is West-Cork-ism; it’s as clear as day they want to close it, at least south of Gorey; quite possibly south of Wicklow.

Edited April 12 by jhb171achill

[226 Abhann na Suire]

The problem is that if they wanted to they could absolutely add at least 3 passing loops between Greystones and Dublin. Bray is an ideal place for Rosslare services to pass DART services with the third track down the middle so I think that DARTs and Intercities should pass there and commuters for the south of the city can change at Greystones for a DART northbound. Intercities then shouldn’t make any other stops on the way to Connolly, aside maybe from either Pearse or Dun Laoighre at the very most but preferably not even.

Passing loops can be very easily installed at Grand Canal Dock (just continue the line though Platform 2 out to far side of the station) and one could be added at Salthill and Monkstown. This would involve needing to build out onto the promenade coastal walk and involve a track being directly beside the Irish Sea. However the walk can be easily rerouted and that part of Irish Sea tends to be very calm anyway. If needs be another loop section of track could be added dug into the cliffside between Dalkey Tunnel and Killiney…?

These are my no means ideal solutions and probably not at all doable but better than the current proposal, and the kind of thing the NTA should at least be suggesting instead of seemingly giving up completely. Greystones to Connolly is just over 30 kilometres and yet takes Rosslare trains over an hour to traverse it, on top of the over two hours it already takes to travel the mere 130 or so kilometres between Rosslare and Greystones. Even if adding passing loops between Bray and Dublin isn’t viable, track, passing loop and linespeed improvements can definitely be made between Rosslare and Greystones to compensate. Over 3 hours to do what the car can do in 1hr 50? Not good enough

Edited April 12 by 226 Abhann na Suire

[jhb171achill]

Indeed; and therein lies the problem...."if they wanted to". Easy solution, but they seem determined to complete a fifty year long run-down of this route. Next it'll be like the Nenagh branch, with two trains a month, frequent closures, and speeds somewhat below what my grandson achieves on his pedal scooter.