[article] Iarnród Éireann may close rail service amid falling demand

[Mark Gleeson]

If Irish Rail try to close Limerick Junction - Waterford there will be serious interest from several foreign concerns. Its all about a big enough piece of pie to make it practical and sensible. Irish Rail have done the same maths and know that separately the three regional routes are nothing but combined they are a massive opportunity.

Problem is always how much subsidy will the operator get and any operation will only work if there is freight as well as passengers.

[Inniskeen]

Any route with unattractive and uncompetitive services will struggle to survive. The reasons this line is particularly vulnerable are as follows

1. Lack of through services to/from Dublin
   
2. Impracticality of commuting to Dublin given that the earliest possible arrival in Heuston from branch stations is 0950.
   
3. Uncompetive journey times
   
4. Poor frequency
   
5. Poor quality rolling stock
   
6. Idiotic junction arrangement at Ballybrophy
   
7. Ready availability of alternative services
   
8. Failure to restore previous line speeds on upgraded sections of track
   
9. Low usage (consequent on the preceding factors)
   
10. Run-down condition of the track between Nenagh and Ballybrophy
    
11. High operational costs associated with level crossings, particulary between Birdhill and Killonan
    

The truth of the matter is that Irish Rail have had no interest in this line since at least the mid-1980s and, as with the South Wexford line, allowed the service to degenerate to the point of virtual irrelevance.

Certainly if the line's future is to be detrmined by the expediencies of the moment, rather than by reference to a national transport materplan, then it is doomed. Surely tens of millions of euro wouldn't have been pumped into the route without some forward vision. If there is/was no plan then money has been scandalously squandered on track, bridge, fencing and other upgrades.

Can any of these factors be mitigated ? Is there even the ambition to address any of them ?

Irish Rail are facing a near perfect storm of declining subvention and declining patronage They have effectively walked away from freight and are now almost totally reliant on the passenger business to justify continued operations. To survive they need to build their business and relevance by leveraging value from the massive investment in infrastreucture and rolling stock that has taken place in the last ten years. If they don't there probably won't be very much railway left in another decade.