Waterford-Rosslare line to close

RAIL SERVICES on the Rosslare to Waterford line are set to be suspended this month, following a decision by the National Transport Authority to approve Iarnród Éireann’s plans for closure.

The authority said public transport in the region would ultimately be improved by the addition of more than 80 new round trips offered by Bus Éireann.

The closure represents the State’s first “suspension” of passenger rail services since 1976, when services on the Western Rail Corridor were closed.

The Rosslare to Waterford closure will save Iarnród Éireann almost €2 million a year, which is the estimated annual subsidy which was required to reopen services on the Western Rail Corridor earlier this year.

The transport authority said the rail service between Waterford and Rosslare was not viable, with an annual operating cost of €1.9 million and fewer than 50 passengers using the service each way.

This represented just 20 per cent of maximum capacity and fare income had amounted to just €50,000 a year.

Bus Éireann will develop a network of replacement bus services for people living, working and travelling in the area at “a considerably reduced cost to the State”, the authority said.

Fares on these bus services are being maintained at the same levels for the displaced rail passengers. The authority said Iarnród Éireann would be obliged to maintain the line to enable services to resume if transport demand and economic circumstances should dictate.

Iarnród Éireann said it would work with Bus Éireann to establish replacement bus schedules and would confirm the date on which services would be suspended.

“It is expected that this transition will be completed during the month of September 2010,” a spokesman said.

However, campaign group Rail Users Ireland said it regretted the closure and maintained that a bus replacement service provided by Bus Éireann “will take significantly longer than the train” and will not serve all stations on the route, particularly Ballycullane.

“Further, Bus Éireann has proposed to withdraw certain local bus services in south Wexford in order to provide the buses and staff required to provide the rail replacement service,” it said.

The group criticised Iarnród Éireann’s business case for the closure and said it and Wexford-based Save the Rail Group had already met one rail company interested in taking over the running of the Rosslare to Waterford line. The group said it looked forward to meeting other interested parties in the weeks ahead.

Rail Users Ireland thanked the South Eastern Regional Authority, which funded a study strongly supporting the retention and expansion of services between Waterford, Rosslare and Wexford.

Save the Rail Group welcomed the transport authority’s instruction to Iarnród Éireann to maintain the track and claimed others were interested in running trains on it. Fine Gael Senator Paudie Coffey said the process leading to the decision to close the line had been “a joke”.

“Step one: you run two trains a day at times that suit no one. Step two: you complain you’re losing money and close down the line. This is a sad day, not just for Waterford but for all those who hoped for an integrated transport system that can make the best use of our existing resources,” he said.

- Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has appointed Gerald Beesley as the new commissioner of the Railway Safety Commission.

Mr Beesley a mechanical engineer, has worked as a railway engineering and business consultant. He succeeds John Welsby, who retired at the end of 2009.