Bridge collapse causes 60% loss of rail trade

IRISH RAIL and its northern equivalent Translink have lost 60% of their business on the Belfast-Dublin route due to the collapsed bridge at Malahide.

The two companies expect to lose up to €2 million as a result of the disruption, which has seen commuters transferred by bus between the two cities since August.

The figures were made public in answer to a question in the North’s Assembly by SDLP MLA Thomas Burns.

He was also told that a large number of first-class passengers using the service had sought a refund for the season tickets which they held.

It is believed most who have stopped using the service are instead using their cars and the two companies which run the service believe it is likely many will not return to the train.

The Malahide viaduct is on schedule to be reopened in November, according to Iarnród Eireann.

It is having to reinstate the weir which eroded causing the collapse.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael has called on the operators of the Luas to immediately act upon the contents of a report which warns of fatigue and stress among Luas drivers.

The party’s Seanad transport spokesman Paschal Donohue said the report, Independent Review of Appropriateness of the Maximum Drive Time of Luas Drivers, produced jointly by the McGuinness Killen Partnership and SIPTU, specifically linked driver fatigue to accident risk and recommended that driving times on Luas trams should be cut.

“The report warns that ‘the current rostering methodology produces results which could cause unnecessary fatigue and need to be critically examined and altered’,” he said. “It also recommends that drivers on the ‘red line’ should work for no more than four hours at a stretch. The current driving time is an average of four hours and 15 minutes.

“Drivers have been raising problems associated with fatigue for many years. A newsletter produced by drivers has warned repeatedly about this problem. One edition asks: ‘why are drivers exhausted after driving four hours? Because they were tired before they even left the depot’.”

Mr Donohue said his party does not believe private investigations into the recent crash between a Luas and a bus in Dublin by CIE and the Luas operations will be sufficient. “(Luas operators) Veolia should immediately implement the recommendations set out in the McGuinness Killen Partnership/SIPTU report, including revised rostering to combat fatigue,” he said.