Waterford to Rosslare rail link axed
Iarnród Éireann has confirmed it is to cease passenger services on the Waterford to Rosslare line in the southeast. The company said it will explore the possibility of keeping the line open as a tourist/heritage railway, but it maintained that with passenger numbers at 25 per day, the route was “unsustainable”. A closing date for...
€14m to be spent on bus transport
THE GOVERNMENT is to spend €14 million this year on developing bus transport as well as new park-and-ride facilities in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. The biggest beneficiaries will be Cork and Limerick city which will each receive more than €4 million for their respective green routes. The allocation of funds will also see Galway...
[IT]Further section of M9 between Dublin and Waterford opens
ANOTHER MILESTONE in the development of the Republic’s motorway network takes place this morning with the opening of the Knocktopher to Waterford section of the M9. This new section of motorway allows for improved access to and from the city of Waterford via the new N25 Waterford city bypass at the southern end of the...
‘Republic now two hours wide’ M6 finished
THE REPUBLIC is now just “two hours wide” with completion of the first “inter-urban” M6 corridor between Galway and Dublin. Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey marked the little bit of history yesterday in bright sunshine and freezing temperatures when he formally opened the last section of the 194km motorway in Ballinasloe, Co Galway. A speed...
Luas Red Line extension to open on Tuesday
THE LUAS extension from Bus Áras to the Point is to open on Tuesday and will face its first big challenge within hours, the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) said yesterday. According to the RPA, passengers will be offered free travel on the entire Red Line from 3pm on Tuesday immediately after the official opening, until...
Labour calls for retention of €8m funds for rural transport programme
THE LABOUR Party has called for the retention of some €8 million in funding for the rural transport programme, which is “critical” for tens of thousands of people living in the countryside. Labour’s transport spokesman Tommy Broughan yesterday published a plan outlining how the service could be maintained and protected. The six-point plan, Giving Rural...
Underground DART plans on track despite €3bn price tag
IARNROD Eireann will seek planning permission early next year to build an underground DART line in Dublin costing up to €3bn. The proposed new line would run from the Docklands to Inchicore. Capacity would be 20 trains in each direction per hour, potentially allowing 64,000 commuters to use the line every 60 minutes. The completed...
Gormley opposes decision on Dublin ‘bus gate’
MARY MINIHAN MINISTER FOR the Environment and Green Party leader John Gormley has described the decision to temporarily scale back the College Green “bus gate” as “a retrograde step”. Dublin city councillors voted on Monday night to lift the ban on private cars passing through the area during peak evening hours from November 18th to...
First tracks laid for initial phase of reopening of Dublin-Navan rail line
TIM O’BRIEN THE FIRST tracks of phase one of the reopening of the Dublin-Navan railway line were laid yesterday. The 7.5-km double-track line begins at Clonsilla where it will branch off from the Maynooth-Dublin line and ends at a park and ride facility at Pace near Dunboyne, Co Meath. The line is due to open...
Bus gate halves journey times in capital
BUS journey times through Dublin city centre have fallen by half since the controversial bus gGate started operating last July. City traders claim the ban on cars using College Green in the morning and evening peak is killing business. But up to 90 million Dublin Bus passengers a year will experience a marked reduction in...
Shannon rail bridge nears completion
THE FINAL stage of work to replace one of Iarnród Éireann’s three railway crossings of the Shannon, a bridge near Lough Tap, between Dromod and Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim, gets under way today. Over the next 12 days the line will be closed as the new steel bridge and concrete deck is lifted into place...
A time for building bridges
Only noticed this in saturdays irish times today. This article was accompanied with images of the Viaduc de Millau, which I had the pleasure of crossing the year it opened to the public. A truly intriguing experience driving above the clouds in the early morning! You won’t experience anything like it! HERITAGE & HABITAT: NOW THAT “development” is...
