My NTA submission on the Rosslare/Waterford railway

Mr. Gerry Murphy,
CEO,
National Transport Authority,
Irish Life Centre,
Middle Abbey Street,
Dublin.1.

29th July, 2010

Submission concerning the retention of the Rosslare/Waterford rail line

Background

When considering the future of the Waterford/Rosslare line it needs to be considered as an integral part of the through route from Rosslare to Limerick Junction and beyond, rather than an isolated branchline as Irish Rail try to portray it. Currently the section of this route between Waterford and Rosslare has what, at best, can be described as a token service operating on it and since the latest timetable came into force on the 29th November, 2009 it has become virtually useless as a transport link. The trains no longer connect with other services at Waterford or Rosslare Strand, and they operate at times that suit IE staff rosters rather than passenger requirements. It is possible to travel from Enniscorthy and Wexford to Waterford but not return the same day or, indeed, any other day – possibly a quite unique situation anywhere in Western Europe but I leave myself open to correction.

The single, two carriage ‘Commuter’ railcar which services the line arrives in Waterford from Rosslare at 08.20, arguably just in time for workers to reach their places of employment and students their places of education. However, given the remote location of the station this probably involves a mad dash to get in on time. The solitary return working is at the ridiculously early time of 17.20 – at the height of the rush hour and before many people finish work –purely to facilitate IE train crews being able to return to Waterford on the last Bus Eireann service from Rosslare! You couldn’t make it up – it’s like something from the Will Hay “Oh Mr.Porter” movie.

The morning service from Rosslare arrives at Waterford at 08.20 and passengers from South Wexford stations have to 2 hours and 40 minutes to wait for an onward connection to Kilkenny/Carlow and, ultimately, Dublin; passengers heading west to Limerick Junction and beyond have to endure an incredible 4 hours and 10 minutes wait for their onward connection at 12.30! As anyone who has had the misfortune to spend time in Waterford station will know this is not a pleasant experience. Facilities have dwindled to almost nil. First the “Comeragh Bar” closed, then the buffet was privatized and then closed to be replaced by a museum now also closed. Even the small station newsagents shop is also closed most of the time. The Fastrack parcels office is closed as is the left luggage facility, surprisingly, despite this the number of staff at the station seems to have remained constant over the years.

The evening service to Rosslare at 17.20 scampers away from Waterford 13 minutes before the arrival of the 15.10 train from Dublin (Heuston) which arrives at 17.33. Despite its eager departure it no longer manages to connect with the Dublin train at Rosslare Strand which it did in an extremely ill advertised manner for decades (a chalk board at the departure gate in Waterford) and thus another connection with Dublin is removed.
Since the Nov.2009 timetable passengers from Enniscorthy and Wexford are unable to return to their loved ones – ever – and when I wrote to the CEO of IE about this point he was strangely silent! Incidentally, the 06.25 train from Enniscorthy serving Wexford and connecting with the train to Waterford at Rosslare Strand which nominally runs Monday/Friday has been officially replaced by a bus Tuesday/Friday. This follows months of on again off again engineering work on the Dublin/Rosslare line which seems to affect night time empty railcar movements.
It hardly needs saying that since its introduction, the 06.25 has received zero publicity from IE and consequently very little patronage. The cynic might think that its introduction was purely an IE conspiracy to increase losses on the route and thereby help justify closure.

Some possible solutions

A basic minimum service of three to four trains each way daily (incl.Sundays) – with connections – is needed and could be provided at minimum cost mainly by using the existing rolling stock and staff. Apparently the actual running cost is €1.9 million per annum, of which 55% is down to fixed staff costs. A significant service level increase would be offset in full by increased revenue as much of the cost base is fixed. The Sunday service for the whole route – Rosslare/Limerick Junction is essential to cater for the heavy weekend traffic of workers/students returning home after the week away working/studying. All other inter-city routes offer this facility and thus it is hardly surprising that a route not offering Sunday services sees increasing losses.

Consideration should be given to the running of one through train from Waterford to Dublin via the South Wexford railway and a return working. While it might seem a slower alternative to the route via Kilkenny, especially with the low speed limit (40 mph) currently in place between Waterford and Rosslare Strand, it would open up a whole new market and by my calculation it would be a faster alternative for anybody living in Bray and all points southwards wishing to reach Waterford. In the longer term the 40 mph speed limit needs to be raised through track renewal and automation of level crossings.

The reinstatement of the short (4km) Rosslare Strand avoiding line which only operated from 1906/11 should also be considered – some estimates put this at €6/7 million based on the cost of the Lavistown direct curve outside Kilkenny. The affect on journey times would be considerable when combined with track improvements on the South Wexford route.

Some sort of Free bus transfer system (cost to be built into the ticket price) from Waterford station to the Waterford Institute of Technology, the Regional Hospital and City Centre needs to be considered.

The line needs heavy promotion locally, and abroad as a gateway route from the UK/France to the West and South West of Ireland. The promotion of the South Wexford line as part of a circular tourist route from Dublin – out via Heuston and back via the South Wexford route to Connolly – should also be undertaken but, of course, impossible with the timetable as it presently exists.

The station at Waterford needs some serious rethinking and the involvement of the private sector. The passenger facilities need to be brought up to the same standard as found in most major terminals (Cork/Limerick/Dublin etc). The marketing and timetabling needs to be taken out of CIE/IE hands and into some local partnership with IE contracted to run the trains and maintain the permanent way. It is not because of the current threat to the line that this action is needed but CIE/IE have operated a 40 year long campaign of deliberate neglect of the route as part of its ‘radial’ railway policy i.e. that all routes must radiate from Dublin and all non-radial routes must be closed.

In the longer term the ‘Commuter’ railcars need to be replaced by the more comfortable inter-city 22000 class railcars – especially for through services.

Bus Eireann and Irish Rail tickets should be interchangeable thereby allowing return journeys not now possible due to the lack of suitable services. This already happens in the DART and Luas area where tickets are routinely accepted by Dublin Bus when there is a breakdown service.

I will close this brief plea for common sense by asking the NTA to thwart CIE’s decades long run-down of this important gateway rail link. I am sorry for the truncated nature of this submission but I have too much going on at the moment to devote the time to preparing a more comprehensive submission.