The Future
Iarnród Éireann placed orders for 67 intercity carriages in 2003 and for 150 "regional railcars" (DMUs) in 2004. These will mostly go towards meeting demand on the railways, although some older carriages are due for retirement, and at peak times, capacity is below requirements. It is suspected that Iarnród Éireann wish to phase out all locomotive hauled services other than those using the 67 new intercity carriages. The existing 100 newest carriages (only from the 1980s) may be phased out with capacity being taken up by regional railcars. More orders of suburban railcars and DARTs are likely, but the Dublin suburban routes are almost at capacity. “Four-tracking” of the route west to Kildare has commenced.
Some call for the expansion of the rail network in the Republic. The route from Limerick to Waterford is due to have a realistic service for the first time in decades. Nevertheless, this is the only non-Dublin intercity route in existence. A railway right of way exists from Limerick, up through the west, to Sligo. This has been titled the Western Railway Corridor (WRC) and some see it as a possible counterbalance to investment in Dublin. Phase 1 is complete with the new line from Ennis to Athenry now open, Phase 2 due to begin late 2010 from Athenry to Tuam, with an extension from Tuam to Claremorris to link up with the Westport/Ballina line to Dublin. Future proposals will see the line extended to Sligo, where it will also link with Knock Airport.
Northern Ireland Railways will undergo a major investment programme over the next few years, with track upgrades to the line between Belfast and Derry and up to 20 new trains replacing the remaining Class 80 and Class 450 rolling stock. The new trains are a development of the existing Class 3000 units and they are scheduled to enter service in 2011.
As of 2012 Ireland was the only European Union state that had not implemented EU Directive 91/440 and related legislation, having derogated its obligation to split train operations and infrastructure businesses; a similar situation exists in Northern Ireland. A consultation on the restructuring of the IÉ is expected to take place in 2012. The derogation ends 14 Mar 2013. Irish Transport minister Leo Varadkar indicated that any open access private operators would not receive any subsidy to operate.
Read more about this topic: History Of Rail Transport In Ireland
Famous quotes containing the word future:
“The future which we hold in trust for our own children will be shaped by our fairness to other people’s children.”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)
“It is marvelous indeed to watch on television the rings of Saturn close; and to speculate on what we may yet find at galaxy’s edge. But in the process, we have lost the human element; not to mention the high hope of those quaint days when flight would create “one world.” Instead of one world, we have “star wars,” and a future in which dumb dented human toys will drift mindlessly about the cosmos long after our small planet’s dead.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)