Great Western Coffee Shop

The current edition of a local newspaper, the Wexford People, reports that the line from Enniscorthy to Rosslare could be at risk of closure.

Extract from article below

Dark days in the Emerald Isle.

Isn't one of the problems that the trains no longer make good connections with the ferries at Rosslare?

Also I believe Rosslare to Waterford line is mothballed and Waterford to Limerick Junction OOU so there is no way by rail from the South West.

Waterford to Limerick Junction was, I recall, closed for a while but there are now 2 trains each way per day:
http://www.irishrail.ie/media/12-waterfordlimerick250920131.pdf?v=gc3u1co

Waterford to Rosslare has indeed been reduced to an engineer's siding.

Whereas connections at Fishguard to and from boats are good, a cynic might tell you that at Rosslare they're designed to fail.  I'm sure that's not quite the case, but I've certainly been put off travelling that route by the absence of a train connection off the afternoon boat from Fishguard to get me into Dublin in the late evening.  Reading more informed commentary here, I now understand that the issue is that Rosslare is on the very end of a long line south from Dublin which is very busy as you get closer to the city with single track capacity issues up there  between Greystones and Bray, and then there are long single track lengths further south too. "More important to look after daily commuters than those remaining ferryists who can't afford a car, and are too awkward to to fly" perhaps?

P.S.  I think it changed / good northbound evening connection for the high summer this year - just not advertised - or was I dreaming?

OK - it is better at the moment

Boat from Fishguard at 02:45, 06:15 to 07:20 at Rosslare, 10:15 into Dublin
Boat from Fishguard at 14:30, 18:00 to 18:35 at Rosslare, 21:44 into Dublin
(previously was 18:00 to 05:35 at Rosslare, 08:46 into Dublin.  May revert at end of summer  :'( )

Train from Dublin at 16:37, 19:25 to 21:00 at Rosslare, 00:15 into Fishguard
Train from Dublin at 18:38, 21:28 to 09:00 next morning at Rosslare, 12:30 into Fishguard

Looks like 3/4 sailings have something approaching connections then, just the 21:28 arrival for a 9am sailing that is totally hopeless.

In addition to those of us taking the train to Rosslare there are a cohort who "park & sail" or are driven to the port and avail of SailRail onwards. SailRail wins over the private car in many instances particularly for a solitary traveller. For example between fuel and fare a trip from Co. Wexford to the Thames Valley/London will amount to several hundred euro whereas a SailRail advance return is just ^92. Secondly driving a car is essentially "down time" and one cannot do any work beyond thinking and listening to the radio. The train & ship option allows meaningful work by way of taking out a laptop or bundle of papers. On the trains here and on the ship there is free wifi. When wifi becomes universal on First Great Western and when it's rolled out on Arriva Trains Wales it will enhance the appeal of the SailRail offering for cross-channel passengers. A third consideration is that the rail timings are quite competitive. Granted a motorist will get to depart the port sooner than a SailRail passenger but this will be negated by the need for a rest break en route/possible congestion. Even the standby SailRail fare is only fractionally higher (^6/^7) whereas air fares can go sky high close to/on the travel date. Waterford Airport offers no flights to London and has no public transport connectivity bar a rural community bus one day a week. Even travelling by air it is necessary to factor in the cost of transport at both sides to make a fair comparison with the train & ship option. The cost of baggage on a flight can be a deciding factor for many. A concluding factor is that modern progressive economies such as Britain and Ireland need a balance in the transport mix rather than over-reliance on one node or mode.

The evening train ex Rosslare will revert to 17.55 from Monday 1st September. A problem is that the window of time between the arrival of the ship (18.00) and train departure is quite tight even in optimal conditions. From the ship coming to a standstill to arriving in the terminal building takes around ten minutes minimum (it's a fair walk along the enclosed elevated walkway between ship & terminal). Sometimes there are security/immigration checks prior to leaving the secure area on the first floor. Some passengers may need to collect baggage. Then there's the walk from the terminal to the station taking the best part of ten minutes. Add in some rain or heavy baggage and it can be seen that even in best conditions (Stena Line generally run a very punctual service) it's a bit of a rush. The connection into and out of the night sailings are much better and allow that necessary "wriggle room" (19.25 train arrival for 21.00 Fishguard sailing; 07.20 train departure out of 06.15 ferry arrival [02.45 ex Fishguard]). It should be noted that the ferry terminal building at Rosslare Europort is closed during the night so an overnight wait will entail accommodation in the village of Rosslare Harbour (there are a number of hotels and B&Bs).

Around a seventh of the length of the South Wexford (Rosslare Strand - Waterford) line is in regular use (several times a week) by freight trains travelling as far as Belview Port from the Waterford city direction. The key traditional catchment area of Rosslare are cities like Cork, Limerick and Waterford as well as towns across the region like Clonmel and Dungarvan. The bus services from Rosslare are not integrated with the onward rail services from Waterford (both the line via Clonmel to Limerick Junction for connections to the south & south west plus the line going north from Waterford via Kilkenny city to Carlow and Kildare). The Waterford-Clonmel-Limerick Junction line was temporarily closed (with replacement buses operating) between October 2003 and September 2004 while repairs were effected to Cahir Viaduct. The line was never out of use (OOU). If anyone comes across any publications stating this please drop them a polite line as it is a serious disservice to have misinformation like this circulating. In more recent years the line has seen significant expenditure with the majority of the permanent way now being continuous welded rail (CWR). It retains semaphore signalling though and the line limit is 50mph. InterCity railcars (ref: http://www.irishrail.ie/about-us/fleet) are the usual rolling stock on the line and the same trains form Dublin-Waterford/Waterford-Dublin trains earlier or later in the day.

From the Irish Times (https://www.irishtimes.com/transport/2024/04/02/nta-considering-proposals-to-end-direct-rail-services-between-wexford-and-dublin/)


An interesting follow up to the old (nine year ago) story that the line was at risk.  Passenger numbers have grown dramatically and there's now a consideration of splitting the service at Greystones or Wexford - the idea being to free up paths on the suburban line into Dublin, and be able to run the diesel trains more frequently on the shorter part of the route.

Here is the current Monday to Friday timetable - Saturday and Sunday there are just 3 return trips each way

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/dub_ros_24.jpg)

The connections ...

05:30 and 17:30 arrivals in Rosslare from Fishguard
So that's the 07:20 train or the 05:35 next morning to carry on to Dublin

08:15 and 19:30 departures from Rosslare to Fishguard
So that's an arrival into Rosslare at 20:42 the previous evening from Dublin, or at 16:33

North of Bray / Greystones, into Dublin, the trains don't seem to have a regular in-the-hour pattern to them, and are (yes, I admit) a darned nuisance between almost clock face Dart services; they often seem to get stuck behind the Dart and the journey takes an age.

Unhappy senator https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0403/1441381-dublin-rosslare-train/ (https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0403/1441381-dublin-rosslare-train/)
I think this is not the last of this.