Rail line reopens with more services

AN expanded passenger service on the Waterford-Limerick rail line was announced yesterday following the reopening of the track one year after the dramatic collapse of the railway bridge at Cahir.

Despite fears Iarnród Éireann was not going to reopen the line, €2.6 million has been spent on reconstructing the bridge to a higher specification.

The viaduct collapsed as a freight train was travelling over it, sending 12 carriages filled with cement plunging down into the River Suir.

Officially opening the railway line yesterday, the Minister for Transport Séamus Brennan announced two new daily services between Waterford and Limerick.

“In keeping with rail expansion plans nationwide, services on this reopened route will be extended from one service each way per day to three trains each way each day,” Minister Brennan said.

As part of the reconstruction the main structural elements of the bridge, the girders, were repaired and strengthened to carry all trains on the network at full line speed. A reinforced concrete deck has been added to support the track against any future derailment.

Modern railcars which have been refurbished and upgraded will replace the 40-year-old carriages which previously crossed the line.

Joe Meagher, managing director of Iarnród Éireann, urged customers to use the new services.

“We have responded to the calls from the community for more services, modern fleet, and we are promoting this service with discount fares,” he said. “I encourage the community to use this service and make it work.”

The viaduct bridge collapsed on October 10 at 6.15am when a freight train with 22 wagons travelling across it became derailed.

When the train derailed, it divided in two.

The centre section of the bridge completely collapsed, and a number of wagons fell into the river below.

The two locomotives and the 10 carriages which had crossed the bridge remained on the track, while the remaining 12 carriages fell through the deck of the bridge.

Seven of these carriages fell on to the river bank and five went into the river. The driver of the train escaped unharmed and there was no one walking under the bridge at the time.

The results of a report into the accident later found the derailment was due to a freak combination of factors.