At present, rail services in Ireland are provided by two companies: Iarnród Éireann operating from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland Railways operating from Northern Ireland. Despite having at one stage one of the most extensive railway systems outside Great Britain, Ireland now has a greatly reduced route network (see History of rail transport in Ireland). Most routes in the Republic are radial from Dublin, while the North has only suburban routes from Belfast and a lengthy route to Derry (Londonderry) remaining. The map to the right shows the current railway routes in Ireland, including those closed to traffic but still somewhat in place, those used only for freight or inspections as well as those that are fully operational. Some of the airports are marked for reference – Farranfore and Belfast City Airport are the only two in walking distance of a railway station. The destinations serviced with ports are also shown, though only some are now rail-connected. Some mountains, lakes and placenames have been marked to provide context.
Traction
34 locomotives were added to the rail system in the early 1990s. This was a joint order by IÉ and NIR, with 32 locos for the former and 2 for the latter. They were supplied by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. The NIR locos, although shipped in NIR livery, were repainted in 'Enterprise' livery as were at least two IÉ locos. Iarnród Éireann designated their locomotives the '201 class', the entire 34 locos being numbered 201 to 234 (The NIR locos were later prefixed with an 8). These locomotives are the heaviest to run in Ireland to date, and are 3,300 horse-power (2.5 MW).
IÉ's other locomotives are also from General Motors. There are 32 '071' class 1976, 2450 hp (1.8 MW), 18 '181' class 1966, 1000 hp (750 kW), 36 '141' class 1962, 950 hp (700 kW) and some remaining '121' class locos 1960, 950 hp (700 kW). Mostly 071 are used on intercity services, with the others reserved for freight services (formerly suburban services also, but these are mostly DMU operated now). NIR have three other GM locos, numbered 111,112 and 113. These are similar to the 071 class locos.
NIR and IÉ both run suburban services using diesel multiple units (DMUs). NIR are replacing some aging DMUs with new units built by CAF, which began to arrive in 2004. IÉ introduced 17 new suburban 'railcars' (DMUs) in 1993 as the 2600 class (built by Tokyu, Japan) for the Kildare 'Arrow' commuter service. One of these has now been used for spare parts. Further additions to the fleet were made in 1999 (2700 class, 27 GEC-Alstom built), 2000 (2800 class, 20 Tokyu built) and 2003 (2900 class, 80 CAF built). A further 36 CAF railcars will arrive in 2005. An order is being placed for regional railcars also.
Rolling Stock
The 'Enterprise' service has the most modern rolling stock on the island. The carriages, commissioned in 1997 are by De-Dietrich. They comprise a dining car, first class carriage(s) and driving van trailer (DVT) for push-pull operation. Notable is the omission of a generator van (the DVT does not have its own generator either). This requires the GM locos to supply head-end power (HEP) for heating and lighting.
NIR also have a rake of refurbished carriages from the Gatwick airport service (converted to the Irish 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm) gauge). These are generally referred to as 'the Gatwicks'.
The backbone of IÉs main intercity services to Cork, Limerick and Galway are the Mark IIIs. These carriages are the next most modern intercity stock after the De Dietrichs, being built in 1980, 1986 and 1989. They include a dining car, first class carriage, generator van and typically six ordinary carriages (previous to the smoking ban in the Republic, one of these was a smoking car).
Routes such as Dublin to Waterford, Wexford and Sligo are typically served in some part by Mark IIs. These date back to 1972, and are distinguished from the similar Mark IIIs by having windows which open. Some older Mark IIs, termed Mark IIa date back to 1966/1970 and are due to be scrapped (even before older carriages) as they suffer from corrosion.
The oldest carriages run by Iarnród Éireann are forty years old (1963/1965) and are termed the 'Cravens', the builder's name. These are slamdoor stock and are soon to be placed as reserve carriages. They may be scrapped, but the interior has been refurbished and they are structurally sound, unlike the Mark IIas. They are also steam heated, leading to the scenes of a by-gone era gracing Ireland's railway stations, with jets and clouds of steam flowing out from the carriages while stationary. Problems with the aging generator vans have made these carriages unpopular, as the heating (and even lighting) can be out of service.
IÉ are due to receive 67 new intercity carriages (including dining cars, generator vans and driving van trailers) built by CAF of Spain in 2005.
Main routes
Some services below usually, but not necessarily always, involve a change of trains. Changing points are shown in bold type. Usually services at different times of day will serve a different subset of the stations shown below. The "stations served" lists all possible stops for any train on a given route. As an example, some services to Limerick do not involve a change at Limerick Junction. Another example: some services to Cork may only stop at Limerick Junction, Charleville and Mallow.
Dublin to Belfast
This service, named 'Enterprise' , is jointly run by Northern Ireland Railways and Iarnród Éireann. Despite having some of the most modern intercity rolling stock on the island, it has been dogged by numerous problems. An historical problem on this route has been disruption to services, caused by security alerts (devices on the line, hoax devices, threats and warnings). These continue to the present day.
The punctuality on this service remains poor for other reasons also. The intercity route, despite being mostly high quality continuous welded rail, is shared with suburban services both outside Belfast and Dublin. Unfortunately these are the busiest suburban routes on the island, while only double-track is provided, hence very little mishap is required to disrupt the Enterprise service. In theory the trip should take 2 hours – there have been occasions where this has become almost 5 hours!
A further problem is due to the locomotive and rolling stock arrangements. Unlike most other locomotive-hauled rolling stock in Ireland, generator vans are not part of the train – even the driving trailers do not supply power. Thus the General Motors built locomotives must supply head-end power for lighting and heating throughout the train. Although many types of locomotive are well designed for this purpose, these particular locomotives have struggled under the extra strain. The wear on the locos, and time out of service is unusually high. In fact, on at least two occasions, locomotives have burst into flames while shuttling along the route.
Dublin to Cork
- Stations served - Dublin Heuston Stn., Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Ballybrophy, Templemore, Thurles, Limerick Junction, Charleville, Mallow, Cork Kent Stn.
This was known as the 'Premier Line' of the Great Southern and Western Railway, being one of the longest routes in the country, built to a high standard and connecting to Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Kerry as well as Cork. These other destinations all have their own services, although connections are offered to/from the Cork service at Limerick Junction (for Limerick) and Mallow (for Kerry).
Most services to Cork stop at four or five stations at most, usually at least Limerick Junction, Charleville and Mallow. Other stops are not as frequently served, as services from other destinations mentioned above also serve those stops. Journey time varies, but mostly trains take 3 hours to complete the journey (express trains with few or no stops take just over 2.5 hours).
Dublin to Limerick
- Stations served - Dublin Heuston Stn., Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Ballybrophy, Templemore, Thurles, Limerick Junction, Limerick Colbert Stn.
This service follows the Cork route as far as Limerick Junction. Limerick services proper leave the mainline via a direct curve onto the Limerick-Waterford railway. Many Dublin-Limerick services however, involve a change at 'the Junction' onto a local train for the remaining half hour of the journey. The Limerick to Limerick Junction section was built as part of the Waterford & Limerick Railway (W&LR).
Dublin to Galway
- Stations served - Dublin Heuston Stn., Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Ballinasloe, Woodlawn, Attymon, Athenry, Galway Céannt Stn.
The route to Galway now runs partly along the Cork mainline. Originally the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) to Galway was built starting on Dublin's northside, continuing on through Mullingar to Athlone. The section to Mullingar is now part of the Dublin-Sligo route.
The present route, built by the GS&WR in competition with the MGWR, leaves the Cork mainline just before Portarlington. The River Shannon is crossed at Athlone. Athenry, the last station before Galway, used to boast connections north and south along the West coast (to Sligo and Ennis/Limerick respectively).
Dublin to Tralee
- Stations served - Dublin Heuston Stn., Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Ballybrophy, Templemore, Thurles, Limerick Junction, Charleville, Mallow, Banteer, Millstreet, Rathmore, Killarney, Farranfore, Tralee Casement Stn.
Dublin to Waterford
- Stations served - Dublin Heuston Stn., Newbridge, Kildare, Athy, Carlow, Muine Bheag (Bagenalstown), Kilkenny, Thomastown, Waterford Plunkett Stn..
Dublin to Wexford/Rosslare Europort
- Stations served - Dublin Connolly Stn., Dublin Pearse Street Stn., Dún Laoghaire, Bray, Greystones, Wicklow, Rathdrum, Arklow, Gorey, Enniscorthy, Wexford O'Hanrahan Stn., Rosslare Strand, Rosslare Europort.
Dublin to Sligo
- Stations served - Dublin Connolly Stn., Maynooth, Enfield, Mullingar, Edgeworthstown, Longford, Dromod, Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle, Ballymote, Collooney, Sligo McDiarmada Stn.
Dublin to Westport/Ballina
- Stations served - Dublin Heuston Stn., Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Roscommon, Castlerea, Ballyhaunis, Claremorris, Manulla Junction, (Foxford, Ballina) or (Castlebar, Westport).
Regional Routes
Limerick to Nenagh/Ballybrophy/Dublin
Limerick to Ennis
Limerick to Waterford
Cork Suburban
Cork to Cóbh
Dublin Suburban
Northern service
Maynooth service
Kildare service
via Gatwich Airport
DART
Northern Ireland
Suburban
Londonderry
See also
External links
- Railway Procurement Agency (http://www.rpa.ie/)
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