Rail lines ‘should be expanded not closed’

RAILWAY lines threatened with closure by Iarnród Éireann are to be saved by recommendations contained in a major review of the country’s rail services.

The 20-year blueprint for the development of railways, commissioned by Transport Minister Seamus Brennan, says current lines should be saved and services in urban areas expanded.

Among its recommendations are:

Train services to be doubled on the Dublin-Cork intercity line.

New suburban services between major urban centres, such as Cork- Midleton, Navan-Dublin.

Opening up of western rail corridor, linking Sligo to Limerick.

Upgrading the railway line linking Limerick Junction to Rosslare.

The plans were shown to some of the Cabinet by the report’s authors, who presented two options: maintain existing services or expand railways.

However, it will not come cheap and the 500-page Strategic Rail Review estimates it will cost around 5bn to maintain services and 10bn to develop them.

But Government sources say the fees are not exorbitant when spread over a long period of time. They also say the rail safety programme, which has cost €500m to date, is nearing completion and will free up funds for investment.

While no official Government decision has been made, informed sources say Mr Brennan will move quickly to halt Iarnród Éireann’s plans to close some freight and commuter lines.

He is also understood to favour focusing investment into increasing intercity services and opening up new commuter lines near major urban centres.

CIÉ had drawn up plans to close a number of railway lines late last year and suspend some freight services as part of a drive to cut costs.

Executive chairman John Lynch had said these measures were needed to transform the freight services into a profit-making arm of the company by the end of this year.

But Mr Brennan is understood to be anxious to keep the lines open and is considering privatising some freight lines if necessary.

He has already had discussions with a firm called GB Railways, which is interested in running freight services from Waterford currently threatened with closure.

“Seamus Brennan’s attitude is that what’s good for Iarnród Éireann isn’t necessarily what’s good for the country,” one source said. “His objective is to get trucks off the road and develop freight services.”

The rail review’s recommendations to double services on inter-city routes through efficient timetables and increased rolling stock are also likely to meet with a positive reaction from the minister.

Mr Brennan is also examining ways of securing increased value for money from Iarnród Éireann, which receives around €450m a year, through more thorough auditing and competition between the three arms of CIÉ.