https://southeastontrack.com/

Our Mission

We campaign to reverse the unnecessary closure of the Wexford/Rosslare-Waterford rail corridor, and seek to improve public transport options across the South East of Ireland.
Goal One
Encourage Irish Rail and the National Transport Authority to explore restoring this vital rail link.

Increase rail services between Rosslare Europort/Wexford and Dublin and continue to explore ways of improving journey time.

Goal Two
After necessary upgrades, extend or alter existing rail services to include South Wexford and establish this as a viable travel option.

Improve journey times on both the Rosslare-Wexford-Dublin and the Rosslare-Wexford-Waterford-Limerick lines.

Goal Three
Engage in a multi-year process of improving services to make rail transport a successful transport option in the South East of Ireland.

Interesting piece from the Westmeath Independent - had heard of the Killucan station reopening proposal but not about Athlone - Mullingar. Towns I'm reasonably familiar with. Originally double tracked one of the lines is in situ alongside the Old Rail Trail greenway.

Dunleer (between Dundalk and Drogheda) also merits reopening being within the Dublin commuter belt and on the Dublin - Belfast economic corridor.

In recent days a new Rosslare Europort website has been launched. Pleasingly the scenic rail route north to the capital through Wexford & Wicklow receives a mention. The port's Masterplan, launched around a month ago, is also detailed on the site.

If relocating the rail station to the ferry terminal is not feasible (the Masterplan talks of infilling the former rail alignment) a subway or courtesy bus is a must. A subway may be costly but we are talking about future-proofing the port for decades and big spending is proposed on port infrastructure. Curiously I never saw any planning permission record for the 2008 relocated station despite a trawl of Wexford Co Council records.

Brittany Ferries have launched a Rosslare to Bilbao and Rosslare to Roscoff route. The latter carries foot passengers too.

There is also a public consultation underway for the N11/N25 road to Rosslare. Given that the rail route between Rosslare Strand and Europort is subject to coastal erosion - though some works were carried out recently - a more easterly road alignment sharing a corridor with a re-aligned railway south of Rosslare Strand village to the approach to the ferryport could be evaluated.

https://www.rosslareeuroport.ie/en-ie/
https://oilgate2rosslareharbour.ie/
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wexfordpeople/news/report-calls-for-action-on-coastal-erosion-in-rosslare-37567964.html

The 22.14 train from Fishguard Harbour (23.03 on Sundays) runs to Swansea daily providing a connection out of the 18.10 sailing ex Rosslare (arrives Fishguard Harbour 21.25).

I sampled it a few months ago.

Myself and the two other passengers (both off the ferry too; none of us knew each other) were admitted to the waiting room at Swansea (the station shutters are closed for a period in the early hours). The staff encountered were friendly. We were able to board the 03.52 Paddington HST^▸ (High Speed Train) in good time which helped. I alighted at Cardiff - I believe the others were bound for London or beyond. The time actually passed quite quickly. But admittedly it is far from ideal. One wonders would there be merit in the 22.14hrs train (ex FGH) running through to Cardiff particularly at weekends. Of course in an ideal world one could have a slow overnight train the whole way through to Paddington!!! Perhaps not such an outlandish thought!

Apologies...this went unanswered...

The Fishguard ship sails from Rosslare at 08.00 and 18.10 (no connection into 08.00 except a Local Link bus from Wexford Mon-Sat) but daily train connection into the 18.10 (arriving Rosslare circa 16.30)

In the reverse direction the overnight sailing (23.45 ex Fishguard) arrives at 04.00 (05.35 train). The ferry terminal is open and warm even at this early hour so no need to wander out and walk over to the station till 05.15/20.

13.10 ex Fishguard arrives 16.25hrs (18.00 hrs train/ 17.40 hrs Sundays)

A heads up that €4.99 web fares (adult single) are available from Rosslare Europort to Central Dublin stations (Pearse/Tara St./Connolly). Must be booked in advance.

The €4.99 fare is also available in the reverse direction and from Rosslare Strand and Wexford (O'Hanrahan) stations to Central Dublin stations too.

An ideal opportunity for anyone who yet as to travel or wishes to re-experience this highly scenic line.

www.irishrail.ie

Ps: a SailRail ticket is available for travel from any National Rail station to Rosslare (including the Fishguard-Rosslare ferry which is another pleasant experience)

A nice set of photos there - I see you travelled through Limerick Junction (fifth photo). There are plans for another platform there.

PS: for anyone who may be interested there is a project (and attendant consultation) underway to totally revamp the Dublin city bus network.

More info on Bus Connects:
https://www.busconnects.ie/

A new Irish Rail timetable comes into effect today Sunday 10th December, 2017.

In general only minor changes with a more comprehensive change scheduled for next year.

The 17.55 ex Rosslare is deferred until 18.00hrs arriving into Dublin Connolly at 21.00. Therefore a connection into the last Enterprise to Belfast (at 20.50) is no longer possible.


http://www.irishrail.ie/news/newtimetable2017

Extract from source at:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/iarnrod-eireann-to-refurbish-28-carriages-after-six-years-out-of-service-799559.html

Picture of 2700 class available at:
http://www.newstalk.com/Irish-Rail-to-refurbish-old-carriages-to-increase-capacity

Note: The 2700 class worked, inter alia, Rosslare - Wellingtonbridge - Waterford (until the service ceased in September 2010) and Waterford - Clonmel - Limerick Junction (until replaced by the 2800 class which were in turn replaced on this route by a 3-carriage InterCity railcar set).

Tomorrow morning at 08.00 Stena Line's new sailing schedule on the Fishguard - Rosslare route will come into effect. The new sailing times are as follows:

Ex Fishguard Harbour: 13.10 & 23.45 (currently 02.30 & 14.30)
Ex Rosslare Europort: 08.00 & 18.10 (currently 09.00 & 21.15)

This represents a monumental change as apart from changes of less than an hour the sailing pattern has been the same on this route for several decades.

The same ship, MV Stena Europe, will operate the route but sailings are being accelerated by a quarter of an hour to 3 hrs 15 minutes. The overnight crossing at 23.45hrs ex Fishguard is being slowed to take 4 hrs 15 minutes.

The change is being widely publicised and there was even an ad in the London Evening Standard a few weeks ago.

It is good to see an innovative schedule but it's a bit of a mixed bag for SailRail passengers.

Lets look at some of the issues:

At Rosslare rail connections have become very good  by coincidence rather than design as the train times are unaltered but perhaps Stena Line looked at how to best mesh with the existing rail service. Three out of four sailings will be rail connected year-round i.e.

04.00 arrival (05.35 M-F train to Dublin; 07.20 Sat; 09.40 Sun)
08.00 sailing (no train but Local Link bus connection from Wexford town and Rosslare Strand: link to t/table at end of post)
16.25 arrival (17.55 M-S train to Dublin; 17.40 Sunday)
18.10 sailing (lunchtime train ex Dublin reaches Europort circa 16.30 daily)

Incidentally Irish Rail have recently revamped their booking engine with single fares from Rosslare to Dublin from €12.99.

Will Arriva Trains Wales re-enable through ticketing to reflect this improved connectivity?

Will GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) mention the existence of Rosslare in their online and printed material? Airline partnerships to far-flung flight destinations receive a mention on their travel connections page so why the apparent aversion to Ireland?

At Rosslare bus connections to/from Waterford are poorer and the first bus from Waterford reaches the port at 08.20.

At Fishguard things the main issue for SailRail passengers is that the rail connection off the evening sailing from Rosslare will only go as far as Carmarthen. Ideally this needs to extend to at least Swansea and ideally the welsh capital. No long will the overnight journey from Ireland to London be possible (there is a waiting room on Platform 1 at Carmarthen but I doubt many will wish to spend around four hours there).

Could a bus be provided for the latter part of the journey if stabling/servicing/staffing requirements mean that the train can only go to Carmarthen?

A later train would serve a dual role - as well as serving ferry passengers it would permit domestic passengers to make later journeys between the key towns and cities of South and West Wales.

Local passengers in Fishguard, Goodwick and surrounds have lost their 23.45 ex Swansea and there appears to be noticeable disquiet about this. Boat trains will still run but the final 01.50 ex Fishguard Harbour will run tomorrow (Monday 22nd May, 2017). There has been a 01.50 night in night out for several decades - could it be the longest serving train departure time on the entire network?

The Stena Europe is going to be working flat out and daytime port turnaround times are reduced but I don't see this as an issue except in adverse weather delays may be easier to occur.

It would be good if passengers on the overnight crossing had an option of staying onboard till 05.00/06.00 or so (longer sleep)...

Coverage & references:
http://news.stenaline.co.uk/pressreleases/stena-line-refreshes-its-rosslare-fishguard-ferry-timetable-1893581

http://www.countyecho.co.uk/article.cfm?id=111025&headline=Stena%20Line%20announce%20revised%20timetable%20for%20ferry%20service&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2017#readComments

http://fishguardtrains.info/

Local Link route 387 bus timetable:
https://locallink.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/March-2017Wexford-Route-387-6pp-DL-March-2017-FINAL-Web.pdf

Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) timetable: Rosslare - Wexford - Wicklow - Dublin line:
http://www.irishrail.ie/media/08_dublin-rosslare.pdf

A few further pertinent facts:

Of the four lines/sections suggested for closure viz (in order of risk):
1.   Ballybrophy – Roscrea – Nenagh – Limerick
2.   Waterford – Clonmel – Tipperary – Limerick Junction
3.   Ennis – Gort – Athenry
4.   Gorey – Enniscorthy – Wexford – Rosslare Strand & Rosslare Europort
it is apparent that both lines 1 & 2 are at a higher risk of potential closer than 3 & 4. Of the Rosslare line the report states “Similarly the Gorey to Rosslare line closure would impact on a large number of passengers.” (p. 43)

Then there is the million euro question as to whether any meaningful effort has ever been made to automate the numerous staffed level crossings on the two County Tipperary lines (1 & 2 in list) or seek funding for same.

Next there’s the curious situation of PSO bus routes (i.e. subsidised with public monies) introduced during this year on which certain journeys are timed at more or less the same time as rail services…

Bus route 355: Waterford – Carrick-on-Suir – Clonmel – Cahir (reconfigured route 367 bus route but extended beyond Clonmel to Cahir). Operated by Bus Éireann.

Bus route 387: Rosslare Europort – Rosslare Strand – Killinick – Wexford (brand new route). Operated by Wexford Local Link.

Granted both routes serve a number of villages which are no longer on the rail network like Kilsheelan near Clonmel and Killinick (just off the N25 Rosslare-Wexford road) which had a station on the Rosslare-Waterford line till the 1970s.

The report is bizarre in many respects even referring to long closed lines no longer in the company’s ownership.

Closure makes little financial logic because both the revenue and subsidy is then lost. Furthermore redundancy also has to be paid out and headquarters/centralised costs are unchanged but are spread out over a smaller network.

An important and related aspect is that Irish Rail wish to abandon the Rosslare-Waterford line:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/iarnrod-eireann-seeks-to-permanently-axe-10-closed-lines-430881.html
The report refers to the fact there is no funding provided for maintaining structures like bridges on closed and abandoned lines and Rosslare - Waterford would broadly fall into the former category.

On the plus side things may not be as dire as they seem as an additional €31 million euro subvention for public transport was announced in October and some of this will go to Irish Rail.

And it should be noted that SailRail traffic to/from Rosslare even on a quiet day can contribute around 100 passengers onto GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).  I’m reluctant to mention figures because they in fact fluctuate considerably  – last week coming through Fishguard at night I was one of only around ten heading east but approximately fifty were heading for Rosslare and beyond. Of course the salient point is that with easier booking facilities and better promotion this traffic could be noticeably increased for everyone’s benefit particularly during the summer.

The National Transport Authority, along with Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross, has launched a process of consultation around the Rail Review 2016 Report, which inter alia proposes the closure of several lines as a possible measure to plug the funding gap that has arisen. 

The Rosslare-Gorey section of the Rosslare – Wicklow - Dublin line and the entire Waterford – Clonmel – Limerick Junction line (continuation of the Rosslare - Wellingtonbridge -Waterford line which was suspended in 2010) are mooted for possible closure as are two lines elsewhere in the country.

The consultation remains open till close of business on Wednesday 18th January 2017 and the report and consultation document can be accessed at:
https://www.nationaltransport.ie/consultations/consultation-on-rail-review-2016/

Some of my personal thoughts on this are that the report appears to make zero effort to suggest measures to grow business as an alternative to closure yet detailed rail replacement bus timetables are provided! For instance the Waterford – Clonmel – Limerick Junction line is not bookable online and is the only one on the island of Ireland devoid of a Sunday service. Yet large sums have been ploughed into the line in very recent years such that virtually all of the line is now continuous welded rail and the modern InterCity units are now the norm on the line. This route needs to be operated as a through Waterford - Galway service as current connections are very poor/slow:
http://www.irishrail.ie/media/12_waterfordclonmellimk_valid_from_20.11.2016.pdf

Past closures/suspensions have not yielded exciting savings and even if all four line/line sections mentioned in the report are closed the savings are still rather meagre as there will still be a cost for maintenance and replacement public service obligation (PSO) buses.

Separately extensive efforts are being made to grow railfreight so in the instance that Rosslare-Gorey is closed to passengers that should not mean that any future freight flow is also condemned.

In my view CIÉ's "heart" has never been in rail in the South East of Ireland.

As has been the case every Summer since 2013 the evening InterCity train from the port is deferred in order to provide an onward connection on the Wexford-Wicklow-Dublin (Connolly) line off the afternoon (14.30hrs.) sailing ex Fishguard.

The deferred service will operate daily from tomorrow Tuesday 7th June to Saturday 3rd September 2016 (both dates inclusive). The timetable can be viewed here:http://www.irishrail.ie/media/08_dublin-rosslare_070616-030916.pdf.

Through ticketing is always available from stations in Britain to Rosslare Harbour and has been available over the previous summer periods to stations beyond Rosslare but does not appear to be available as yet beyond Rosslare.
 
(Through ticketing from Irish stations to stations in Britain via Rosslare-Fishguard has always been and remains available for purchase from Irish Rail).

If unfamiliar with this route to Ireland the 08.45 GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) HST^▸ (High Speed Train) ex Paddington connects with the ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) Fishguard boat train at Newport and there is a seamless undercover transfer from train to ship at Fishguard Harbour.

So for the next few months it is possible to travel in daylight throughout from a large swathe of the South East and West Country to Rosslare and onward up the coast to towns in Counties Wexford and Wicklow or to Dublin.

Plenty of scenery on both sides of the sea and a very relaxing sea crossing on a well-appointed ship with oodles of deck space plus a good array of onboard facilities.

A journey well worth experiencing.

Next year the frequency of the DART in Dublin is to be enhanced to every ten minutes, according users with essentially a turn up and go service.

The downside of this is that commuter and InterCity services radiating from Dublin Connolly, including those to/from Rosslare will be slowed due to a lack of apparent infrastructure for longer-distance trains (limited/non stop in the Dublin area) to pass all-stations DARTs.

The Rosslare line is adversely affected with the majority of trains taking at least ten minutes more to complete their journeys. In fact the 16.37 Connolly-Rosslare (the Fishguard ferry connection but also a key commuter service for workers returning from the capital to Counties Wicklow & Wexford) will now leave Connolly 4 minutes earlier and arrive at Rosslare Europort 16 minutes later - a stunning 20 minutes increase in journey duration!

The largely parallel road corridor (N11/M11 Dublin-Wexford & N25 Wexford-Rosslare Harbour) has seen many improvements and the rail journey time is already generally uncompetitive with bus and car times. Aside from the last train of the day from the capital being deferred till 19.00 this timetable offers nothing to users of this line and in my view is essentially developing a vicious circle.

The line does have strengths of course but these are generally not being played to. There is no improvement to rail-ferry connectivity, there is no apparent attempt to exploit commuter potential (there are pairs of towns in Wicklow & Wexford which are not linked by public transport for mainstream [i.e. pre-09.00] commuting e.g. Greystones-Wicklow-Arklow), the scenic nature of the line is not being exploited, aside from Wexford town there is no meaningful bus-rail integration south of Greystones etc...

There is a public consultation process underway at present. Consultation closes on Tuesday 8th December, 2015. The consultation material including a draft PDF timetable can be accessed on the Irish Rail website where there is also a webform for feedback:

http://www.irishrail.ie/news/public-consultation-for-2016-dart-and-connolly-intercity-and-commuter-services

http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/SailRail-Summer2015/

The through tickets to stations on the Rosslare to Dublin line became available on an unknown date this Summer but are only available as advances (tickets just as far as Rosslare Harbour are available as both advances and standby).

The connecting evening train on the Rosslare-Wexford-Wicklow-Dublin line commences tomorrow (Tues 02 June 2015) & runs till 31st August inclusive.

It departs Rosslare Europort at 18.35hrs (14.30 sailing ex Fishguard arrives Rosslare 18.00). Here is a link to the PDF timetable: http://www.irishrail.ie/media/08_dublin-rosslare_020615-310815.pdf?v=gradgpy

Unlike the last two summers when through tickets were available to stations on the Rosslare-Dublin line these are not available as yet this year and it is unclear if they will be.

Tickets from Rosslare can be booked online on the Irish Rail website and collected from the ticket vending machine at the entrance to the platform.

=============================
Found the posts in this thread interesting. Tickets to stations here via Holyhead-Dublin are still readily available.

The current list of Irish Rail stations selling SailRail are:
http://www.irishrail.ie/fares-and-tickets/sailrail
Not all of those stations sell them throughout their ticket office opening hours e.g. Waterford Plunkett only sell them 09.00-13.00 M-F

The bus from Wexford to the port had its timings adjusted slightly earlier this year and now departs Wexford's O'Hanrahan station 07.55 reaching the port at 08.20.

Through fares from the S West via Rosslare-Fishguard were available for a time after the cessation of the Waterford-Rosslare rail service and valid on the replacement route 370 bus though given the January 2013 rail timetable change saw the axing of the afternoon Limerick Junction-Waterford train there is no viable connection via Waterford (without waiting 7/8 hours in the city).

The section of the Rosslare-Waterford line between Belview Port and Waterford is in use several times a week by freight trains. The remainder of the line sees an annual weedspray train (loco hauled) along with inspection car (track-based) visits from time to time. There are occasional empty stock movements e.g. last September empty stock from the Emerald Isle Express traversed the line on a positioning run to Waterford for the next part of the tour:
http://www.railtoursireland.com/train-tour/The-Ireland-8-Day-Rail-Land-Cruise-and-Castle-Tour/st2014/