Inniskeen, I'm not privy to the workings of IE, bizarre as they seem to the outsider. However, I can only presume that the crossover removal was deemed to be some form of cost cutting. I also don't know why the DART runs more slowly to Greystones now than diesels did (although the benchmark year is surely 1995 rather than 1984) but I do observe that without an answer it's about as useful a discussion as reminiscing about how the Nenagh branch used to be good for 70mph which usually brings on a queasy feeling about the risk profile IE used to run pre-RSC. If I were to speculate perhaps a more conservative approach to Bray Head is being taken given the hazards from above and below or that it relates to ATP somehow.
As a company which runs at an annual loss in the hundreds of millions, it has no cash of its own to fund capital improvements so yes, if we want improvements to curve radii or grade separation of Merrion Gates or the many other deficiencies of the east coast line then government has to fund them.
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