Bright future for North Tipperary's main railway

The timetable for railway users in Tipperary has not been updated since World War II and now, after over a century-and-a-half of service, the main rail line serving the area is set for a major upgrade.

Considered internationally to be one of the most cost efficient and environmentally friendly modes of travel, the railway network serving rural Ireland, particularly the Midlands and West, are suffering from a dearth of investment and forward planning.

The Limerick to Ballybrophy Line, which serves people in Roscrea, Nenagh, Cloughjordan, Birdhill and Castleconnell, will see a significant upgrade enabling faster times and a more regular service linking people to Limerick and Dublin.

This week Iarnród Éireann announced that, following confirmation of additional Department of Transport funding of €6.4 million, the renewal of track on the Limerick to Ballybrophy Line will be completed this year.

In total, a further 9.5 miles of track renewal will be completed in 2022 across the route, with works now underway set to finish on Sunday, July 31 and a later period from Monday, September 26 to Sunday, November 20.

The completed track renewal works will allow Iarnród Éireann to deliver journey time improvements on the line by the end of the year, and also facilitate further journey time improvements.  It will also bring to a close a significant disruption to the route required by track renewal.

During the current phase of works, bus replacements will depart at scheduled train times, except for the 07:45hrs Nenagh to Limerick service (Monday to Friday), for which the bus transfer will depart at the earlier time of 07:30hrs, serving Birdhill at 07:52hrs and Castleconnell at 08:05hrs.  Iarnród Éireann apologises to customers for the inconvenience caused by these essential works.

Tipperary Labour TD, Alan Kelly said: "This is very good news and I’m delighted this investment of €6.4m is happening. I’ve been questioning the Minister for Transport for some time on this and asking for it to be completed. 

"Once this work is done it’s imperative that Irish Rail look at making the journey timely much quicker and improving the timetable for trips to Limerick and Dublin. More and more people are commuting to work in Dublin from North Tipp so it is imperative that we make this possible in the near future with a suitable timetable". 

The North Tipperary Community Rail Partnership welcomed the confirmation that the Department of Transport has allocated €6.4m to allow the completion of the upgrade of the track on the Limerick to Ballybrophy line to modern rail line.

A spokesperson said: “This is a good starting point, as we have been campaigning for a number of years to get the Department for Transport to provide sufficient funds to allow Iarnród Eireann to accelerate and complete the much needed upgrade of the line, which will allow faster speeds and shorter journey times.

“Once the work is completed, we want to ensure the benefits of the investment are reflected quickly for users in the timetable with higher line speeds and shorter journey times.” 

“We are pleased that the hard work and lobbying that has been done on our behalf by our TD’s, Senators and local councillors has now secured this funding from Minister Ryan’s Department. This is only the starting point.

“The current service level as funded by the National Transport Authority and offered by Iarnród Eireann is not sufficient or adequate to meet the public transport needs of the towns and villages that the line serves or encourage modal shift away from the private car.

“We will continue to press both Minister Ryan and the National Transport Authority hard now to make a quick and public commitment to provide adequate PSO funding in the NTA’s 2023 budget for additional rail services to be introduced. The starting point is the introduction of a third middle of the day service and a later evening commuter service from Limerick to Nenagh which can be offered from early 2023 if funded by the NTA.

"We will also continue to press the Minister via our political stakeholders to provide ring fence funding to Iarnród Éireann to allow for the automisation of all the manned level crossings and a programme to remove farmers' crossings. This will allow further line speed increases as well as significantly improving safety further as well as cutting the operational cost of the line.

"The Minister rightly notes in his announcement that the Draft Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Transport Strategy proposes to overhaul bus and rail services in the region. We are pleased that the revised draft strategy does propose that an additional station is developed at Newport Road, near Annacotty and that a half hourly service is introduced between Limerick and Nenagh with an hourly service on to Ballybrophy. 

"We will be supporting these plans in our submission to the consultation which closes on June 10 and we will press hard for these proposals to become a reality by being funded and delivered quickly", the North Tipperary Community Rail Partnership spokesperson said.

Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport said: “This is very welcome news that this track renewal will be completed by the end of the year, critically reducing journey times and increasing safety along the way. 

"One of my key focuses is the regeneration and improvement of rural public transport, linking our towns and villages to nearby cities and hubs, in this case Limerick, making it easier for people to choose public transport for work, shopping or leisure. This announcement comes on the back of the launch of the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Transport Strategy, a major new travel blueprint which will see an overhaul of bus and rail services, as well as the development of active travel routes throughout the area. 

"Public transport is rising to meet the huge economic potential of the Midwest region. I would also like to acknowledge the many local groups who have campaigned for this line, effectively, patiently and with understandable passion. The wait is over, the work is starting and the finish line is imminent.” 

Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive Jim Meade said: “along with our customers, we are looking forward to completing the track renewal on this line, and thank the Minister for Transport and his Department for additional funding to allow this work to take place.  

"As well as securing the line for generations to come, the completion of track renewal will let us deliver better journey times, and provide the foundations for further service improvements in the future.  We know our customers and the communities we serve feel real ownership of this rail line and service, and we look forward to working with them to enable more people to choose rail.”