Former minister Alan Kelly has been accused of backing “trophy projects” in his own constituency amid a row over a local railway line.

LIKE Johnny Cash, most of us have a thing about trains. We like to travel in them, nod off at the clackety-clack, and retain childhood memories of trips to the seaside. The railway is also part of child literature, from The Railway Children to Thomas The Tank Engine.

Intercity services, Dublin and Cork commuter services, and the Dart line may be the only rail routes to remain under radical options proposed to bring Irish Rail’s funding crisis to a halt.

Minister of State for Public and Commuter Transport Alan Kelly has defended a rural railway line which is costing the taxpayer €550 per passenger.

THERE is a modern enough legend with more than a ring of truth to it that serves to highlight our ambiguous attitude towards public transport.

A Co Tipperary hotel which has been in receivership for as much as eight years, is finally to be sold.

Iarnród Éireann may feel flushed with success from its latest cost-cutting exercise, but it won’t please people who get caught short at stations where it has closed public toilets.

A vehicle with a female driver inside has been struck by a train in Tipperary.

The trial of four men accused of having equipment for printing counterfeit currency has been adjourned until Tuesday after new information about a fifth suspect in the case was furnished to the defence.

The trial of four men accused of having equipment for printing counterfeit currency has been adjourned for a day to allow one of the men attend a medical appointment.

Gardaí who searched the address of one of four men accused of having equipment for printing counterfeit currency found boxes containing paper samples and cartridges for large format printers, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

The trial of four men accused of having equipment for printing counterfeit currency has heard that machines found in a bunker hidden under a yard where the men were arrested were used to print a range of images.

A major reform of rural transport services is due to be announced today by the Government.

SUPPORTERS of the Limerick-Ballybrophy railway line are concerned that Iarnród Éireann is expected to seek formal permission to close services on the route over the coming months.

IARNRÓD Éireann is expected to seek permission to close all rail services between Limerick and Ballybrophy in the near future because of falling passengers numbers on the route.

A former leading member of the Provisional IRA and prison escaper was one of four men who appeared at the Special Criminal Court today charged with possessing equipment to make counterfeit money.

Four men accused of possessing equipment for printing counterfeit money are to face a non-jury trial at the Special Criminal Court.

Four men are to face trial after they were charged with possessing counterfeit money-making equipment.

A GROUP committed to keeping open a railway that many believe was under imminent threat of closure has now identified tourism as key to the line’s survival.

THE letter of Colmán Ó Raghallaigh (June 14) fails to address and furnish explanation for a most concerning point. It is no great mystery that most of the passengers comprising Irish Rail’s figure of 252,607 have travelled between Limerick-Ennis and Galway-Athenry exclusively.

CIÉ’S three transport companies have been warned that they could lose up to 10% of their annual subvention if they don’t meet improved performance targets.

A MOVE back to Cork brings a fully-renewed Laois farmhouse (handily near the Cork-Dublin rail line at Ballybrophy) to market.

THE National Transport Authority (NTA) has indicated its approval for Iarnród Éireann’s contemptible plan to cull its services on the south Wexford branch.

A 62-year-old man has been killed in an accident on the Ennis to Limerick railine.

IRISH Rail has launched an investigation into a serious incident last Thursday when a passenger train crashed through manually-operated gates at a level crossing in Co Limerick.

A CAMPAIGN for a new commuter rail service between Limerick and outlying villages will be launched tonight in Castleconnell.

Rail services between Cork and Dublin have been thrown into chaos this morning due to unofficial strike action by train drivers.

NENAGH Rail Partnership would like to thank the Irish Examiner for its coverage on January 4 of our trip to Limerick Holiday on Ice as part of our campaign for a commuter service on the Ballybrophy-to-Limerick line.

A NORTH Tipperary lobby group yesterday took their campaign for a new commuter service between Nenagh and Limerick ‘on line’.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern last night lashed out at striking bus and rail workers who brought public transport to a standstill yesterday.

The Government has published its strategic rail review, a document outlining plans for the development of Irish railway over the coming 20 years.

CIÉ has deferred a decision to close down loss-making freight services and railway lines following a last-minute intervention by the Government.

SIPTU has welcomed CIE's decision to postpone planned rail closures on the Limerick-Rosslare and Limerick-Ballybrophy routes.

SIPTU has urged Transport Minister Seamus Brennan to block CIE's plans to close down unprofitable rail freight services.

SIPTU is warning that 600 jobs will be lost if a proposal by Irish Rail to close a number of freight lines is carried out.

IRISH RAIL will decide on a range of cost-cutting plans within the next fortnight, including proposals to close or temporarily shut unprofitable freight lines.