Reopen the railways

[Eamonnca1]

A lot to unpack in the All Ireland Rail Review. Some ambitious goals there, which is nice to see. Plenty of fodder for the "it will never happen" crowd but that's inevitable.

People have got to understand that a lot of these dormant routes remain untouched. Most of the tunnels, cuttings, embankments, viaducts, and even a lot of the bridges are still intact. A lot of the cost of building a railway is flattening the land, and this was already done for us over 150 years ago. Reopening lines like Portadown-Armagh and Portadown-Derry via Omagh are entirely achievable. It wasn't so long ago that there wasn't many miles of motorway in the south, now there's a whole network of them. Governments are well able to deliver big infrastructure projects when they put their minds to it.

Time to think big again, and this time do it for rail. There's not enough room in cities for cars and the days of building everything around them need to come to an end.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Link is here:

https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/265178/a839ee26-16c4-407d-bd5b-327ce0e067f5.pdf#page=null

(Bit surprised they printed in Times New Roman, do they not know its long since been discarded in favour of more dyslexic friendly fonts like Calibri or Tahoma...!)

This investment would take the best part of 25 years to deliver, which suggests an annual capital spend of the order of € .27/£1.06bn would be required in addition to existing commitments (2021 prices, excl. VAT). Updated cost estimates in 2023 prices are provided in Appendix B. While significant, these costs would represent a similar annual spend as was committed in the middle of the 2000s when Ireland expanded its motorway network, and they would be shared across both jurisdictions

Would the upgraded rail network deliver the same benefits as the motorway network? I wouldn't think so in terms of transport times or cost - it'd only be in terms of carbon footprint - and that's dependent on the govt getting people off the motorways and onto the trains. Would electrifying the motorways so they'd charge electric cars deliver better "carbon" returns on the investment?

(or more to the point, just delivering point charging infrastructure! https://assets.gov.ie/220099/2ee020ea-99a6-439e-851b-48d0b410e746.pdf)

Other references of interest:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/27/ehighways-could-slash-uk-road-freight-emissions-says-study

[OgraAnDun]

There's a decent page/graphic in the review stating current journey times via rail or road compared to the projected journey times for the proposed upgrades and works. Time on virtually all Inter-city routes is vastly reduced and considerably quicker than cars.

[RedHand88]

Have to laugh at Loyalists on twitter screaming no no never to this. Getting the train from Omagh or Dungannon to Dublin would be huge.

I'd worry about the clientel on that proposed Portadown to Clones line in the summer... 

[Wildweasel74]

Where's the money coming from, they can't even upgrade the road network.

[trailer]

A lot to unpack in the All Ireland Rail Review. Some ambitious goals there, which is nice to see. Plenty of fodder for the "it will never happen" crowd but that's inevitable.

People have got to understand that a lot of these dormant routes remain untouched. Most of the tunnels, cuttings, embankments, viaducts, and even a lot of the bridges are still intact. A lot of the cost of building a railway is flattening the land, and this was already done for us over 150 years ago. Reopening lines like Portadown-Armagh and Portadown-Derry via Omagh are entirely achievable. It wasn't so long ago that there wasn't many miles of motorway in the south, now there's a whole network of them. Governments are well able to deliver big infrastructure projects when they put their minds to it.

Time to think big again, and this time do it for rail. There's not enough room in cities for cars and the days of building everything around them need to come to an end.

Yes of course we are. In the north alone we can point to such fantastic infrastructure projects such as Not the A5, Not the North South interconnector, Not the expansion of waste water treatment and Not Casement Park.
We are in such a strong position to deliver this. In reality we'd get more use out of the 35b if we just set fire to it.

By the time they complete all the archaeological digs, toad surveys and evacuation plans, trains will be obsolete again anyway.

[AustinPowers]

There are 3  airports in the north , with a railway running  close to each.  City airport stop involves a  quarter mile walk and  along side a busy road.  The other 2 has no stop

If they can't   even  sort those 3 stops out,  how will a line to Derry from portadown (and other s) ever  get built? 

[square_ball]

A lot to unpack in the All Ireland Rail Review. Some ambitious goals there, which is nice to see. Plenty of fodder for the "it will never happen" crowd but that's inevitable.

People have got to understand that a lot of these dormant routes remain untouched. Most of the tunnels, cuttings, embankments, viaducts, and even a lot of the bridges are still intact. A lot of the cost of building a railway is flattening the land, and this was already done for us over 150 years ago. Reopening lines like Portadown-Armagh and Portadown-Derry via Omagh are entirely achievable. It wasn't so long ago that there wasn't many miles of motorway in the south, now there's a whole network of them. Governments are well able to deliver big infrastructure projects when they put their minds to it.

Time to think big again, and this time do it for rail. There's not enough room in cities for cars and the days of building everything around them need to come to an end.

Yes of course we are. In the north alone we can point to such fantastic infrastructure projects such as Not the A5, Not the North South interconnector, Not the expansion of waste water treatment and Not Casement Park.
We are in such a strong position to deliver this. In reality we'd get more use out of the 35b if we just set fire to it.

By the time they complete all the archaeological digs, toad surveys and evacuation plans, trains will be obsolete again anyway.

Arlene is delighted with the broadband she got her constituents

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/try-broadband-dame-arlene-foster-hits-back-at-sdlp-criticism-after-lack-of-rail-services-for-co-fermanagh/a1058080185.html

[armaghniac]

This report does more harm than good. Instead of having a set of achievable goals and a clear plan for getting there, it is mainly a crayon exercise. There aren't enough trains on the lines that are there and they don't control the gurriers on them. For all the Green party propaganda they have done nothing to advance the likes of the Dublin metro, all they do to block roads and build half baked cycle paths.

Most of the closed routes are not intact, the land was sold off and built on etc and the pathways to the stations in the towns are long gone, there are even GAA grounds built on them.

[general_lee]

No matter what's seemingly left in tact, most of the old routes that are closed (and proposed to be re-opened) are essentially starting from scratch. What use is re-opening track along the remnants of 19th century infrastructure? You'd be looking at the very least, 90mph running as a basic prerequisite for any new regional rail corridor. That means long, straight stretches of track which means massive engineering projects and huge outlays.

That said, investment in rail is long overdue and any new projects that do come to fruition should be future-proofed for further capacity. Portadown-Armagh is one that should really be looked into. It's a relatively short, straight route and would compensate for the fact  they haven't done anything to address the roads in near 50 years.

[markl121]

Any chance of it coming through south derry. Magherafelt be ideal spot. Instead of having to drive to dungannon or ballymena, or just.... Driving as we do now

[trailer]

This report does more harm than good. Instead of having a set of achievable goals and a clear plan for getting there, it is mainly a crayon exercise. There aren't enough trains on the lines that are there and they don't control the gurriers on them. For all the Green party propaganda they have done nothing to advance the likes of the Dublin metro, all they do to block roads and build half baked cycle paths.

Most of the closed routes are not intact, the land was sold off and built on etc and the pathways to the stations in the towns are long gone, there are even GAA grounds built on them.

Correct. It's farcical. Like we don't even have a government in the North. Buy a good car and treat yourself.

[LeoMc]

Any chance of it coming through south derry. Magherafelt be ideal spot. Instead of having to drive to dungannon or ballymena, or just.... Driving as we do now

The report said an inter-city route to Derry up through the Sperrin would be uneconomical due to the build cost.

However I would have thought a Lough Neagh commuter loop,  Antrim-Randalstown-Toome-Magherafelt-Cookstown-Dungannon would have a lot of potential to teplace Commuter traffic to Belfast. Similar to the Circle line proposal.

[andoireabu]

A lot to unpack in the All Ireland Rail Review. Some ambitious goals there, which is nice to see. Plenty of fodder for the "it will never happen" crowd but that's inevitable.

People have got to understand that a lot of these dormant routes remain untouched. Most of the tunnels, cuttings, embankments, viaducts, and even a lot of the bridges are still intact. A lot of the cost of building a railway is flattening the land, and this was already done for us over 150 years ago. Reopening lines like Portadown-Armagh and Portadown-Derry via Omagh are entirely achievable. It wasn't so long ago that there wasn't many miles of motorway in the south, now there's a whole network of them. Governments are well able to deliver big infrastructure projects when they put their minds to it.

Time to think big again, and this time do it for rail. There's not enough room in cities for cars and the days of building everything around them need to come to an end.

Yes of course we are. In the north alone we can point to such fantastic infrastructure projects such as Not the A5, Not the North South interconnector, Not the expansion of waste water treatment and Not Casement Park.
We are in such a strong position to deliver this. In reality we'd get more use out of the 35b if we just set fire to it.

By the time they complete all the archaeological digs, toad surveys and evacuation plans, trains will be obsolete again anyway.

How high a bonfire could we build if we just piled it all up? Would it be bigger than Craggyhill?

[Blowitupref]

Not before time but I'll probably have a old person travel pass by the time I'm on a train going through the likes of Cavan and Donegal.