Foynes Line

I told ya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122726000#Comment_122726000

Would make sense, take the pressure of LJ and shorten the journey for say, Galway-Limerick-Cork. Could be incorporated into the M20 build. But, the cynic in me…

Cookiemunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122732101#Comment_122732101

It can't be incorporated into the M20 scheme. The designers ruled it out a year or two ago. Limerick Junction improvements are all that's going to be done.

Markcheese

Is the line / alignment still in existence?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122735836#Comment_122735836

Track gone for 60 years. Alignment - patchy and presumably nearly entirely out of CIE ownership.

Hibernicis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122726000#Comment_122726000

Reopening it was evaluated along with 7 other “new” lines in the 2030 Rail Network Strategy produced by Aecom foe Irish Rail. It received the lowest (least favourable) rating of the 8 projects. See page 7 of the following document

https://www.irishrail.ie/IrishRail/media/Imported/irishrail_28febfinal_part21.pdf

It was one of three rail based options considered in Phase 2 of the N/M20 Cork/Limerick Project. It was not recommended. See page 4 of the following document

https://corklimerick.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/5.6.Brochure-English.pdf

It was not recommended and doesn’t even feature in the recently published All Ireland Strategic Rail Review

https://assets.gov.ie/301092/e716ec64-4732-48ed-97cf-4395af2fb1f7.pdf

So it’s not on the agenda and unlikely to get there

Hibernicis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122735836#Comment_122735836

It is listed as an “abandoned” line rather than a “closed” line by Irish Rail and the NTA suggesting that CIE/IE no longer own the property, or at least the majority of it. And part of the alignment was paved over when the Croom bypass was constructed. There are a few stretches identifiable if you trace it on Google Maps, but much of it has disappeared completely.

Here are a couple of Flickr pages with pictures of the route and stations:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/be216cd1/albums/72157644692330334/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/abandonedrailsireland/albums/72157627729828601/with/6226752429

Not made with hands

Speaking to Live 95 News Fergus Kilcoyne says the Ryder Cup brings massive opportunities for Limerick: "If we can get cruise ships into Foynes, not just alone for the Ryder Cup, but as a long-term business venture for Limerick City, they can be all bussed or bought by rail into the city.

There should be temporary platforms put into Adare, Patrickswell, and Rosbrien, by the Crescent Shopping Centre and they can continue into Colbert Station.

There's going to be 300,000 people at the Ryder Cup in 2027. We need to get things right, we need to make sure that this train line is not just a freight line, it needs to be passenger and freight."

Pete_Cavan

There is no chance cruise ship operators will be interested in stopping in Foynes. Limerick might have a chance if it had a terminal but would be limited interest too I'd say.

Train from Foynes to Limerick for cruise ship passengers just isn't going to work. Ships are unlikely to be regular (e.g. one every Tuesday or whatever) and arrivals are subject to change due to multiple factors, you couldn't plan trains around them. Do you prioritise trains around cruise ships and therefore everything else is subject to change or do cruise ship passengers have to wait for the next scheduled train which might be the next day? Either way, it isn't going to be worth upgrading the line for passengers and building stations for that.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122755667#Comment_122755667

Another councillor spouting shte to please the barstool boys. All those temporary platforms involve temporary roads, temporary alighting areas that can cater for very big crowds in some cases. The Adare are would have to be massive.

I suppose he wants a monorail to Shannon too.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122756641#Comment_122756641

Limerick would be too small for most cruise ships anyway.

Even if there was a cruise industry in Foynes and a passenger rail line it would be no use.

Tourist will want to get on a bus, ferry route to cliffs of moher and home via Bunratty castle etc.

Or a bus to Killarney and Dingle for the day.

Paddico

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122726000#Comment_122726000

It wouldnt make business sense. Very costly to re-open and no big town on the route.

LJ is getting an upgrade with direct trains between Limerick n Cork.

end of the road

to be fair very few if any passenger lines anywhere make "business sense" as they are generally subsidized, so the direct limerick cork line if the route had still been available being reopened not doing so is a non-issue really.
if the route was a decent enough route then it serving no big towns could actually be what makes it work as serving nowhere would mean faster journeys.
the real issue for it is the route is gone in places and i presume it would require the reinstatement of the old bridge over carey's lane or whatever the area is called.
sending the trains via an upgraded lj may be the easiest solution but i feel it may turn out to be the least optimal one, i don't think trains can travel between the 2 areas without having to reverse at lj whether it serves the station or not which is a problem.

flyingsnail

You can go direct from Limerick to Cork (and vise versa) via Limerick junction without having to reverse. You can arrive into platform 1 direct from Limerick, thats the main platform on the station side, you can depart that platform for Cork via the crossovers at the Cork end of the station just like they did before the installation of the new platform.

goingnowhere

Full signalled and possible today

Cork - Limerick Junction P1 - Limerick and Limerick - Limerick Junction P1 - Cork

As there is hourly Dublin Cork with connections to Limerick, there is no commercial push to run Cork Limerick, would need the two track upgrade between Limerick and Limerick Junction which is already being looked at which is somewhat tied to the Foynes project as once a train gets to Limerick from Foynes there is very limited capacity onwards.

Paddico

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122760712#Comment_122760712

It doesn't make any sense to build via Bruee/Croom and end up saving e.g. 15 mins on the total journey.

Double tracking and plans for directer trains via LJ are already in planning. At today's prices, why spend 1/2 a billion on a white elephant.

God knows we bitch about white elephants on here enough as it is.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122776273#Comment_122776273

it wouldn't be a white elephant because it would allow for faster journeys from cork to other cities as well.
the issue here is the route is gone in a lot of places and that is the block against reinstatement.

Cookiemunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122777569#Comment_122777569

It would be a few mins faster from Cork to Limerick. Cork to Dublin trains would continue to use the current line. Trains from Cork to Galway would still need to use the not fit for purpose Limerick to Athenry line.

It would be a monumental waste of money for 1 train per hour each way.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122777880#Comment_122777880

it would only be 1 train an hour at first, then in the future trains between cork and other cities will happen as part of modernisation.

so the line would come into it's own and wouldn't be a monumental or any waste of money.

it wouldn't even need to go that exact rout anyway, but a more direct route will be needed then via limerick junction which is only the easy option, likely not the optimal or better option.

Paddico

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122777880#Comment_122777880

Never a truer word said

pigtown

Interesting article here on the logistics of the build

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/in-depth/irish-disused-railway-reinstated-to-help-switch-freight-from-road-to-rail-23-10-2024/

Hibernicis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122781633#Comment_122781633

Great article, thanks for sharing.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122778821#Comment_122778821

There isn't even a sizeable town along the route.

A better long term plan would be upgrade LK to LJ into a high quality twin track and build a few new towns along the route.

Increase Dublin Cork frequencies with increases from Ennis / Limerick to limerick junction.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122784617#Comment_122784617

the fact there is no sizable town along the route is a good thing, it means a straight run through as it has to serve nowhere, so it's not an issue, it's actually what is needed in this case.
the trains themselves would already be serving a sizable enough market between the various cities themselves, they need to be stopping only where absolutely necessary to allow for quick journeys.
building towns along limerick to limerick junction would be a very different and separate thing that would be out of the scope of this.

so would extra cork-dublin services which i believe is the long term plan, for that service to go half hourly.

the same with extra ennis limerick services which i am sure will happen in time when stock and drivers become available.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122785083#Comment_122785083

What various cities?

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122785387#Comment_122785387

cork to limerick itself obviously, and in the future cork to galway and cork to waterford.

such services will be coming in time with modernisation as the cities grow which they will.

Cookiemunster

What has Cork to Waterford got to do with getting between Mallow and Limerick?

There'll be people travelling between Cork and Galway in express busses along the M20/M18, in under 2 hours, decades before there's a proper rail line between the cities. We haven't built a new heavy rail alignment in the State since its foundation a century ago and you won't be seeing one between Limerick and Galway anytime soon.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122787159#Comment_122787159

Cork to Waterford via a new alignment near Croom?

Take Ennis for example if we get to a Dublin Cork half hourly train.

Are you suggesting we run some trains via Limerick Junction and others via a new alignment?

The vast majority want to get to Dublin.

Double tracking LK - LJ to meet 30 minute DUB - CK trains is the way yo go.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122787420#Comment_122787420

cork to waterford will be one of the future city to city services in time.
there will be people traveling by rail from cork to galway when that service is offered in time via existing infrastructure stopping at the principal stops only.
not a hope in hell will cork to galway be done in under 2 hours by express busses in reality due to heavy traffic at either end, even with bus lanes, unless cars are ever banned from our cities which is not likely as much as i would support it.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122787756#Comment_122787756

a new alinement would bypass going up the main cork line to limerick so would give a faster journey for cork to limerick services and would give faster access to get to the limerick to waterford line.
there will be no cork to waterford direct line as if that couldn't be done properly in the 18th century it won't be now, the shortist way would be by youghal i believe but you then have to get over or under the river and over the mountains which is why nobody went that way.
limerick ennis is just a suburban service so would remain going to and from limerick only so would not be effected as would limerick to galway only services.
the vast majority will still get to dublin so i'm not sure what relevance that has to anything as nobody is taking away dublin services and as the rest of the cities grow, having no direct rail services between them will just belong to a very different era.
direct services between the cities is the way to go, cork to waterford, limerick to waterford, limerick to galway, cork to galway, and those will happen in the future.

and the main city services from galway, cork, limerick etc to dublin would be continuing anyway.

Cookiemunster

Jesus man, you're delusional. Nobody is going to travel Cork to Waterford via Limerick. No matter how good the line is.

And what would be the point in speeding up the journey into Limerick (which will be done by double tracking in from the junction anyway) if you propose to them route the train into the current Limerick to Athenry line. Even with a few passing loops added they line would be well below standard.

Hibernicis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122785083#Comment_122785083

“the fact there is no sizable(sic) town along the route is a good thing, it means a straight run through as it has to serve nowhere”

Of all the nonsense you’ve spouted on this thread, that’s a standout. In all likelihood upwards of €1BN to be spent on a new alignment for a few hundred passengers per day and designing it in such a way as to preclude any use for commuter services. There is a genius infrastructure consultant in there somewhere yearning to get out………

The rest of your posts are hardly worth responding to.

By the way, there is an excellent thread over on the Infrastructure forum to discuss “Cork to Limerick rail improvements” - feel free to spam that with your daft “un-punctuated“ stream-of-consciousness ramblings and see what reaction you get from the infrastructure heads, and keep this thread free your genius on-topic thoughts.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058239542/cork-to-limerick-rail-improvements

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122787845#Comment_122787845

Your off the charts now.

And once the motorway is built you could be looking at a bus service that doesn't take much over an hour.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122787897#Comment_122787897

actually i bet they would, it's not a massively long journey if the trains aren't stopping at every single station.
you certainly can't say nobody would do it because there are no services anyway doing the trip so they can't even if they wanted to.
double tracking into limerick from limerick junction would only speed up direct limerick dublin services if it actually speeds up anything at all, it would still be a longer journey from cork then going a more direct route quite possibly.
the galway to limerick line is a lot of 80 mph which while not as fast as we would like is reasonably fast, it's issue is ballycar which needs to be addressed by somebody, anybody to stop the flooding issue.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122788080#Comment_122788080

commuter services are a bit of a misnomer now as nearly all rail lines have commuters to a great or small extent in morning and evening peaks, going from all sorts of places to all sorts of places.
limerick and cork already have commuter services and cork to limerick would be an intercity service that happens to have commuter traffic which both cities would support off their own back anyway between the 2 of them.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122788424#Comment_122788424

unlikely given the traffic at each end.
2 hours or more maybe in reality with a little under that off peak.
doesn't matter anyway as buses express or not don't negate the need for rail as we know from as far back as the 1960s.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122789067#Comment_122789067

And let me guess the commuters supporting the Cork line "off their own back" would be coming from places like Charleville and Mallow.

Not anywhere on your new route.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122789112#Comment_122789112

again they don't need to come off my new route as my new route is really just a long direct curve type line that allows faster journeys for intercity services between cork and limerick to start with.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122789463#Comment_122789463

You can show your plans to TD's at your doorstep in the coming weeks.

howsshenow

History will repeat itself..

https://youtu.be/mS1AVVoQAQ8?si=9YSI6bpNCf00Co4a

Grassy Knoll

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122797294#Comment_122797294

What mineral mining ?

Paddico

Mad discussion above.

Anyway back to Foynes. Whats the expected opening date?

Cookiemunster

2026. As has been stated multiple times by IE.

Paddico

Kin hell, sorry for asking 🙄

Cookiemunster

It's information that's openly available from multiple sources including this thread.

Hibernicis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122812550#Comment_122812550

Take no notice, it’s nothing personal. That poster posts from a lofty and superior perch and treats everyone equally contemptuously.

Cookiemunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122818325#Comment_122818325

Thanks for the compliment 😎

dowlingm

Given the discussion above about the C and AG I thought the comments by Sisk (in the New Engineer article) about the timeframe of the tender and the suddenness with which it appeared was interesting.

Hibernicis

Advance notice of a forthcoming video update by Dronehawk, to be available at 12:00 on Sunday 17th November

“This months update on the Foynes Railway rebuild Project . With sleepers all the way to Raheen , the tracks are quickly approaching Limerick . On the Foynes side , track tamping , alignment and straightening works as well as final ballast grading is progressing well.”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DeAR3J6J5rk

OisinCooke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122845353#Comment_122845353

Video looks fab, very interesting progress - whatever kind of a white elephant this project may or may not prove to be, no question it’s great to see new tracks getting laid somewhere in the country!!

Does anyone know if the passing loop shown at Adare in the video is being kept or is it just for? And will the two sidings at Foynes be linked back to one another to create a run-around loop for locos…?

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122851305#Comment_122851305

I don't know about Adare, but a run-around capability at Foynes is more or less essential (unless the intention is to operate a passenger-only MU-operated service 😎 )