Coca-Cola cargo restores port rail traffic

IARNRÓD ÉIREANN freight container trains are to resume deliveries to Dublin Port from this morning following a six-year absence.

A twice-weekly service operated by Iarnród Éireann for International Warehousing and Transport Ltd (IWT) will run from Ballina, Co Mayo, to the port. Its main cargo will initially be containers of Coca-Cola concentrate from the Ballina production plant for export to Mexico, Australia, Japan, India and Turkey.

Trains of 18 carriages each carrying 40ft containers holding 35 tonnes of product will arrive at the port every Monday and Wednesday evening, taking up to 4,000 lorries off the road yearly. IWT said it intends to expand to a daily service within six months, servicing the western region.

The containers will operate on a round-trip basis, removing both laden and empty freight vehicles from the road network, IWT said: “This is a major development towards reducing carbon footprint and providing a statistically safer mode of transport. IWT believe that the service will save up to 5.5 million road kilometres every year and will reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 2,750 tonnes.”

While initially it will use just the Ballina-Dublin line, the reliability of the service and its environmental benefits mean it will have great potential, IWT said.

From tomorrow, trains will travel on the main line from Ballina to Heuston Station before switching to the tunnel under Phoenix Park. From there, they will run on the Maynooth line towards Connolly Station before branching off to Dublin Port.

A spokesman for the Dublin Port Company said despite the decrease in the use of rail for freight deliveries, it has maintained the rail network within the port.

About 500,000 tonnes of ore are already transported to the port from Tara Mines in Navan, Co Meath, but the new Ballina service will be the first commercial container freight service since the closure of the Cork to Dublin Port freight service six years ago.

Iarnród Éireann said the new service opened the door for other shipping companies to consider using rail to serve Dublin Port. “We are delighted to see this new service take to the rails, and to return to Dublin Port with container freight,” Stephen Aherne of Iarnród Éireann said.

While the McCarthy report recommended cuts to some regional rail freight lines, this would not affect the new service, as it operates on the Dublin-Ballina passenger line.