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Author Topic: Rosslare to Waterford to finally close  (Read 15882 times)
vacman
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« on: September 06, 2010, 23:00:43 »

Looks like the Irish Government have agreed it's closure! IE are blaming low passenger numbers, well if you only run one train each way per day then people won't use it!
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smokey
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« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2010, 17:24:02 »

Looks more like the Service can be withdrawn but the line will have to stay?Huh

Mind there are Lines in Ireland that are still OPEN but have been lifted.

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smokey
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« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2010, 18:23:10 »

From CIE» (Coras Iompair Eireann - Holding company for Irish transport companies - about) website Saturday 18th September is final day.  Cry

Buses from Monday 20th  Angry
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eightf48544
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« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2010, 00:31:27 »

One of the problems with the line was too many manned level crossings.

Agree with vacman only one train a day is not going to encourage much usage.

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Rhydgaled
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« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2010, 01:43:07 »

Agree with vacman only one train a day is not going to encourage much usage.
Me too.

On this side of the water there are 2 trains per day to Fishguard Harbour connecting with the ferry to Rosslare. One of these is in the middle of the night (because the ferry is) so likewise there is effectivly only 1 service for locals to use, which is not very likely to attract said locals. However there are a number of passengers on it, which I suspect is thanks to it connecting with the ferry. I've never set foot on the ferry but a few family members considered a trip to Dublin a while back (which never happened) but I researched the similarlly infrequent service on the Irish side and if I remember right it fails to make any connections (at least with the day ferry) so passengers have a train to Fishguard connecting with a ferry to Rosslare then are left to find car hire/bus/taxi. If Irish Rail actually timed their infrequent service to meet the Fishguard ferry then they may find some passengers.
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smokey
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« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2010, 19:14:58 »

Not 100% surprised that NRES (National Rail Enquiry Service) are still showing the Rosslare to Waterford train at 07.00 Next WEEK.
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smokey
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« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2010, 18:37:58 »

Four weeks since the Rosslare Waterford passenger sevice was withdrawn and NRES (National Rail Enquiry Service) still show the 07.00 Rosslare to Waterford TRAIN.  Grin
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grahame
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« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2014, 08:07:45 »

Quote
Services on the Rosslare-Waterford line, through Snow Hill Tunnel, ended on 18th September 2010 although reports indicate that the route is still being maintained as an engineers' siding.

from http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/tunnels/ireland/index.html

It always struck me (but as an outsider) that this line was such a logical part of the network that it really should not be lost ... has it indeed been mothballed / retained so it could be brought back?    In general, when I last looked any connections at Rosslare to and from Dublin [trains to and from boats] were - err - purely accidental.
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WEX-RSB-FGH-BPW-PAD
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« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2014, 14:44:41 »

Interesting photos there. That tunnel (Snow Hill) is immediately on the west bank of the Barrow railway bridge, Ireland's longest rail bridge.

In an ideal world there would be through trains Rosslare-Waterford-Clonmel-Limerick-Galway.

One of the conditions of suspending the South Wexford rail service imposed by the National Transport Authority (NTA» (Newton Abbott - next trains)) on Iarnr^d ^ireann (Irish Rail) was that the line be maintained.

There is a robust maintenance programme to ensure the line remains serviceable. This entails the likes of hedge cutting, weedspray and track inspection. In comparison to previous suspensions/closures where lines were generally allowed to become overgrown this set a precedent.

The first few miles of the line out of Waterford city remain in use by several freight trains a week travelling to/from Belview Port (Belview Port is located not much more than a mile west of Snow Hill Tunnel).

The South Wexford line proved invaluable towards the end of 2011 when the Rosslare-Dublin line was severed near Dublin due to flooding in that it allowed rolling stock which would otherwise have been isolated on the Rosslare-Dublin line to go for routine servicing.

Towards the end of this September Railtours Ireland will operate their first ever rail land cruise. It is understood, subject to permission from Iarnr^d ^ireann, this will traverse the South Wexford line:
http://www.railtoursireland.com/train-tour/The-Ireland-8-Day-Rail-Land-Cruise-and-Castle-Tour/st2014/


There are a suite of documents on the NTA website about the South Wexford line including the maintenance contract:
http://www.nationaltransport.ie/public-transport-services/rail/contracts/service-changes/waterford-rosslare-reports/

The Rosslare-Wexford-Wicklow-Dublin line is very scenic as is the Waterford-Clonmel-Limerick Junction line. The South Wexford line is too - while the countryside that the replacement bus route passes through is pleasant the route followed is nowhere near as scenic (or as short) as the rail route.
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grahame
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« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2019, 12:59:38 »

SHAMEFUL - the line is closed, cutting the trunk route from the post at Rosslare via Waterford and Limerick to Galway, with connections at Limerick Junction to Cork.

"Rails of Ireland" write

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Today I took a trip down south to see one of the last trains running on the south Wexford line before it's turned into a Greenway. This loco was running from Waterford to Rosslare then to Greystones after her last trip on the line last Wednesday when she went to Waterford

to accompany this video

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sikejsudjek3
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« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2019, 16:02:57 »

Shame - I had my first trip to Ireland this year on the Fishguard - Rosslare route and thoroughly enjoyed it. Without the rail link to Waterford I didn't bother visiting anything other than the Rosslare - Dublin rail route. Absolutely crazy that you can't use rail to go cross country unless you go to Dublin and change there.

The sail - rail tickets are amazing value only cost me about £45 from Gloucester to Rosslare, and £37 Dublin - Gloucester. Great fun.
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grahame
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« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2020, 19:38:04 »

From the Independent Westmeath (a publication I don't often read)

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A Westmeath lobby group is seeking the development of a light rail system between Athlone and Mullingar.

It is one of three requests submitted to the Transport minister Eamon Ryan by members of the Killucan Kinnegad Transport Lobby Group,

The reopening of the railway station at Killucan and approval for a transport museum for Mullingar are the other projects that the group wants the new transport minister to consider.

The appointment of the Green Party leader to the helm of the Department of Transport has led to a sense of hope that their wish list may become a reality among members of the Killucan Kinnegad Transport Lobby Group, which is headed up by Cllr Denis Leonard.

With a minister with a strong bias towards the green environment ... what else could we see in Ireland

Here are the 10 largest cities in Ireland: ( https://beef2live.com/story-top-10-largest-cities-ireland ):
1   Dublin   1,110,627
2   Belfast   579,726
3   Cork   198,582
4   Derry   93,512
5   Limerick   91,454
6   Galway   76,778
7   Craigavon   57,651
8   Waterford   51,519
9   Drogheda   38,578
10   Dundalk   37,816

I wonder if a truely green strategy forward for Ireland - part of the EU» (European Union - about) and direct ferry links from Rosslare to mainland Europe, with a ferry terminal sensibly close to a station, would be to look at reopening the "Engineer's siding" from Rosslare Strand to Waterford and to have each boat connecting with trains (an idea that seems to have bypassed the current generation of Irish transport planners) ...

1. Rosslare Europort via Dublin and Belfast to (London)Derry
2. Rosslare Europort via Waterford and Limerick to Galway
Those would provide direct trains to 8 out of the 10 cities. Cork would be reached with a change at Limerick Junction, and my geography of the Craigavon aree is too poor to comment - but it's close to where train no. 1 would pass.

Almost wonder if freight / containers could be handled the same way ...
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ellendune
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« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2020, 08:06:43 »

1. Rosslare Europort via Dublin and Belfast to (London)Derry
2. Rosslare Europort via Waterford and Limerick to Galway
Those would provide direct trains to 8 out of the 10 cities. Cork would be reached with a change at Limerick Junction, and my geography of the Craigavon aree is too poor to comment - but it's close to where train no. 1 would pass.

Almost wonder if freight / containers could be handled the same way ...

Craigavaon is a 1960's new town built on existing settlements (just as Milton Keynes was in England) . Your Route 1 indeed passes through Craigavon which has two stations Portadown and Lurgan.
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« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2020, 15:20:48 »

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
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grahame
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« Reply #14 on: July 27, 2023, 06:03:47 »

From The Irish Independent

Quote
Rail Review pushes revival of Rosslare to Waterford line and aims to shave an hour off Dublin to Wexford commute

Good. A bit "left field" in looking to extend the Dublin to Waterford service to Wexford but it makes sense to me.  See upthread to see the insanity (IMHO (in my humble opinion)) of letting the Rosslare Strand to Waterford rail link be lost for ever.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2023, 06:38:14 by grahame » Logged

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