End of the DFDS liners?

[Garfield]

Heard on the grapevine this morning that the Ballina-Waterford DFDS liners will cease at the end of June.

[Railer]

It's kind of being going that way for a while. Almost never see a fully loaded CPW train. Will that mean the DFDS service moving back to Dublin Port competing with the IWT, can't see that happening myself.

The way IE is going they may well disconnect Waterford Yard by lifting the line at Waterford station if the DFDS flow ends.

Edited May 17, 2018 by Railer

[Noel]

Did the trains run from Ballina to Kildare and then down to Waterford?

 

[Railer]

7 minutes ago, Noel said:

Did the trains run from Ballina to Kildare and then down to Waterford?

Yes the DFDS and Timber trains run around in Kildare.

 

[dave182]

Without getting into politics, has the new man at IE, Jim Meade, given any indications or opinions relating to rail freight and its long term viability? 

If The Port of Waterford becomes disconnected from the network, it doesn't bode well for any future Foynes development.

What ever happened to the biomass power plant that was being built on the Asahi site outside Ballina? That was going to generate a fright flow at one stage.

[StevieB]

I assume Jim Meade is David Franks’ successor as CEO of IE. Where’s he from?

Stephen

[Garfield]

A quick update on this...

It looks like the liners will be finishing up earlier than expected - possibly as soon as next Monday/Tuesday. 

[Railer]

Wow, that escalated quickly. Looks like half the CPW fleet will be going back into storage along with the rest at Limerick. 

There's going to be a big loco surplus now with almost all the 071s finished overhaul and the 201s along with 225 making a come back this year.

[201bhoy]

Was there any reason the CPWs were used on the Waterford route in particular?  Will be sad to see them go if the rumours are true!

[Warbonnet]

5 hours ago, StevieB said:

I assume Jim Meade is David Franks’ successor as CEO of IE. Where’s he from?

Stephen

Internal promotion. Jim has worked up through the ranks and has been acting CEO for a while I believe. 

[Railer]

9 minutes ago, 201bhoy said:

Was there any reason the CPWs were used on the Waterford route in particular?  Will be sad to see them go if the rumours are true!

 

Think there were clearance issues on the line with 9'6 high cube containers placed on standard LP or LX flats so they use the CPWs.

Edited May 21, 2018 by Railer

[Railer]

I believe tomorrow morning will be the last time the CPWs depart Sally Park yard until/if a new freight flow from the port is set up. So long DFDS after its come back only a few years ago. Think they are going to be sorry they removed alot of siding space at Limerick in recent time as they are going to need space to store all the CPWs. Think one is dumped in Northwall yard, the oddball CPW 003 with the yellow handrails at each end.

[thewanderer]

It was officially announced by DFDS that their container train between Ballina and Waterford's Belview Port is to cease running from Tuesday 5th June 2018. The press releases stated today (29th May) is the last train, but a Waterford to Ballina is scheduled to operate on the 30th May and the final train from Ballina to Waterford on the 5th June 2018. 

The penultimate train from Ballina, the 1105 Ballina - Waterford is pictured crossing the Commons Bridge at Portarlington with 081 in charge of a fully loaded train.

Click the image bellow to see the full sized image.

[thewanderer]

Wednesday 30th May 2018:

The final update for May features the final Waterford to Ballina DFDS Liner at Kildare with 083 and at Hybla with 079. 079 took over from 083 at Kildare. The freight flow has ceased due to traffic levels on the route being too low for DFDS to sustain.

Click http://goo.gl/xAAb1p to see the pictures of the Liner plus the passenger traffic passing Kildare at this time.

[ttc0169]

Monday 28/05/2018,

081 hauls the DFDS CPW liner across the Moy bridge on the Ballina branch just south of Foxford station in which was the second last week of its operation.

 

[StevieB]

You have to wonder how hard IE management tried to retain the business, or were there too many EU obstacles in the way?The one size fits all approach can have serious drawbacks for small countries like Ireland, or am I being too political?

Stephen

[josefstadt]

The final Ballina-Waterford DFDS liner operated on Tuesday 5 June. The train was composed of 12 fully laden CPWs, hauled by 079. The photos below show it at Hybla bridge (OBC 96) between Monasterevan and Cherryville Junction and at Athy, where it was to cross the 14:50 Waterford-Heuston passenger.

[Railer]

Reports are that the 12 CPWs used for the DFDS flow are to be stored in either Waterford or Northwall yard as Limerick is full. There are 10 stored at Limerick and 2 at Northwall as it is.

Yesterday around 7 of the 12 from Waterford were moved to Inchicore works leaving 5 in Sallypark yard. 

Edited June 20, 2018 by Railer