Iarnród Éireann may close freight lines in effort to cut costs
Union officials and farm groups are furious and fear for the future of 400 jobs. An internal Iarnród Éireann memo proposes suspending uneconomic freight lines, including Limerick Junction to Rosslare Harbour and Limerick to Ballybrophy.
Iarnród Éireann has denied further speculation that the cuts won't end there and that it is to sell off one of the country's most successful car and passenger ports, Rosslare Europort. Such a move would require complex legal hurdles to be cleared, particularly at government level, an Irish Rail spokesman said.
The decision to make freight-line suspensions was passed by the rail board last Friday in a bid to cut costs. The proposals go to a full meeting of the CIE board on November 6, despite opposition from the worker directors.
The cuts, the memo suggests, are necessary because of government inaction, falling revenues and the company's spiralling debt. But it also emerged yesterday that little or no revenue is collected on the passenger train from Rosslare to Dublin two days a week, because staff are only employed to do such work five out of the seven days a week the service runs.
Full trains are pulling into Dublin on a regular basis, particularly on Sundays, without a penny being collected, SIPTU says. This makes the line look unprofitable on paper, when in fact the reverse is true, the union said. Iarnród Éireann has denied the claim, saying ticket checkers are at the barriers in Dublin and would not allow such a thing to happen. Local SIPTU representative with CIE, Mick Cullen, quoted from a letter from the union to workers, keeping them informed of what is happening at board level. A copy of the letter came to the attention of SIPTU from its worker director, Paul Cullen, who is concerned over the cost-cutting plans. The letter from the board suggests that as a result of government inaction, the board has decided to rationalise. "This rationalisation will affect over 400 permanent jobs in Iarnród Éireann," the memo says.
"The plan is to withdraw from uneconomic freight traffic, unit load, cement, ESSO oil and shale to Limerick as well as line suspensions from Limerick Junction to Rosslare Harbour, Limerick to Ballybrophy. "With a continuing deficit of €26 million and a further deficit of 2003, this represents phase one of a programme to address the financial crisis," the letter says.
IFA national sugar beet chairman Willie French says he's seen the memo and fears hundreds of jobs will be lost in the south east if the plan goes ahead. As many as 400 jobs could be on the line, including 100 at the port if that were to be sold. More than 125 freight wagons full of beet have been travelling the line from Wellingtonbridge in Wexford to Mallow in Cork in the past weeks and will continue to do so right up to Christmas during the beat season. Suspending the service would put an extra 80 trucks on the road each day, he said.
Fine Gael's Paul Keogh said the proposals, if implemented, would cast even more doom and gloom over the region. Iarnród Éireann PRO Barry Kenny said the proposals were merely going forward to the CIE board and were not written in stone. They were merely a recommendation.
"We have a €25 million deficit. We have to correct this.
"The situation was further exacerbated by the closure of IFI. That has added a further €3.5 million to €4 million to our deficit.
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