LAST UPDATE | 31 Jul
TRAIN JOURNEY TIMES between some of Ireland’s major cities could be halved under a new ambitious rail plan due to be published today.
Allowing top speeds of 200km per hour on routes connecting Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Derry aims to make train journeys significantly faster than travelling by car.
There had originally been plans to allow for tops speeds of 300km per hour.
The All-Island Rail Review was published today by Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and Northern Ireland’s Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd.
It sets out 32 strategic recommendations to enhance and expand the rail system in Ireland and Northern Ireland up to 2050.
It includes “significantly” reducing train journey times between some cities with the roll out of new 200kmh intercity trains.
At least hourly services between cities and at least every two hours on regional and rural routes is also to be prioritised.
More direct services between Ireland’s West and South Coasts such as between Galway, Limerick and Cork are to be established, with increased regional and rural line speeds to at least 120km/h.
The report estimates the capital cost of implementing all the recommendations by 2050 would be between €35-€37 billion in 2023 prices.
Speaking today to reporters at Dundalk Railway Station, Ryan said the money will come from the exchequer and added that “we are in a fortunate position because we have a sound public finance system which will allow us to invest in the future”.
He also called on political parties to “show us your colours”.
“Do you intend to invest in public transport? Which one would you scrap? Would you get rid of Limerick Metropolitan rail or Cork Metropolitan rail? Would you not build the Western Rail Corridor?
“I would build it, and that’s a political choice. We have the arguments on our side, we have all the strategy and policy work done.
“It’s down to political decision, and I think the political decision will be to go on public transport, because it’s what the people want.”
The plan details the reinstatement of the Western Rail Corridor between Claremorris and Athenry, as well as the extension of the railway into County Tyrone (from Portadown to Dungannon, Omagh, Strabane), Derry and Letterkenny.
Ryan said this line to Letterkenny would run into several billion euro.
The South Wexford Railway line is also to be extended, connecting to Wexford to Waterford, with the development of a rail line to boost connectivity in the North Midlands, from Mullingar to Cavan, Monaghan, Armagh and Portadown.
Additional capacity is also to be added by upgrading much of the single-track rail network to double-track, with four-track in some areas.
The rail network route length is also set to increase under the plan from approximately 2,300km to almost 3,000km with the reopening of former and new rail lines.
New routes in the North Midlands and North West are to be launched, which would allow some 700,000 more people to live within 5km of a railway station.
The plan, which aims to improve links between the island’s regions and major cities across all 32 counties, aims to triple the number of people using the rail system annually
from 65 million to over 180 million by 2050.
Decarbonisation of the rail network is also on the cards, with ambitions for a net carbon zero rail system, primarily through the overhead electrification of intercity routes and new electric and hybrid trains.
When asked why the plan leaves out Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh as well as large parts of Donegal, John O’Dowd said the report is “open to review every 10 years”.
“There are opportunities to open up the railway in Enniskillen. It is not in the report at this stage, but this is not a definitive end to this story,” said O’Dowd.
However, Ryan remarked that Letterkenny is included in the plan and that “Donegal will benefit from that” and that it was “really important to include Donegal”.
If the review’s recommendations are implemented in full by 2050, the capital cost across the Republic and Northern Ireland is estimated to be in the order of €35-€37 billion in 2023 prices.
For Ireland, if this investment is split evenly across 25 years, then it amounts to circa €1 billion per annum over and above existing plans. For Northern Ireland, the equivalent total capital annual cost is approximately £0.31 billion.
When asked this morning if it was “realistic” for the Government to spend €1 billion a year on rail projects, Ryan replied: “Why wouldn’t we do that?”
He added: “This is not just an investment in transport, it’s also an investment in housing, because 700,000 people will be newly living within five kilometers of a railway station and will start to have a really sustainable housing solution as well as a transport solution.
“This is about, are we willing to invest in housing, not just transport, and the costs come down when you see it in that way, and the investment makes all the more sense.
“This is the future of our housing strategy as well as our transport strategy, because if we go the other route, where it’s all along motorways and sprawled development, the housing doesn’t work, congestion is a huge issue, this is the only way forward.”
The minister said he would like to see the recommendations actioned as soon as possible, stating that with European Investment Bank assistance, the plan can move forward.
O’Dowd said the review has been an excellent example of joint collaboration on cross-border priorities, which is key to realising its ambitions.
-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper
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