Enabling 90% of the population to travel to their nearest airport by rail and ensuring a railway station is within 5km from 700,000 people are two of the recommendations proposed in the first All-Island Rail Review, launched by the Government this week.
The review – which aims to meet short-term recommendations by 2030, medium-term needs by between 2030 and 2040 and long-term recommendations by between 2040 and 2050 – was published, as a joint draft report, by the Department of Transport and the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
It is the first All-Island Rail Review, setting out 30 recommendations for developing a rail network that would significantly benefit commuters, communities, businesses, the environment and economies, both north and south.
If the recommendations are implemented in full it could transform the rail system in the coming decades with electrification, faster speeds and greatly improved frequency, opening a number of new routes particularly across the West and North of the island, and widening accessibility and connectivity across the island.
The review was launched in April 2021 by Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport Ireland, and Nichola Mallon, then Minister at the Department for Infrastructure, Northern Ireland. It is now being published alongside the associated Strategic Environmental Assessment for consultation and is expected to be finalised by the end of this year.
The main recommendations:
- Decarbonisation
- Decarbonise the rail network, including an electrified intercity network as well as hybrid, hydrogen and electric rolling stock.
- Intercity Speed and Frequency
- Upgrade the core intercity railway network (Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford) to top speeds of 200km/h ensuring that train journeys are faster than the car.
- Upgrade the cross-country rail network to a dual-track railway (and four-track in places) and increase intercity service frequencies to hourly between the main city pairs.
- New Regional Connections
- Increase regional and rural lines speeds to at least 120 km/h.
- Reinstate the Western Rail Corridor between Claremorris and Athenry.
- Extend the railway into Tyrone (from Portadown to Dungannon, Omagh, Strabane) Derry- Londonderry, and onto Donegal (Letterkenny)
- Reinstate the South Wexford Railway, connecting to Waterford
- Develop the railway to boost connectivity in the North Midlands, from Mullingar to Cavan, Monaghan, Armagh and Portadown
- Sustainable Cities
- Connect Dublin, Belfast International and Shannon Airport to the railway and improve existing rail-airport connections.
- Segregate long-distance and fast services from stopping services, ensuring quicker times on city approaches
- Transforming Freight
- Strengthen rail connectivity to the island’s busiest ports and reduce Track Access Charges for freight.
- Develop first-mile-last-mile rail access for Dublin Port
- Prioritising Customers
- Improve service quality, provide on-board catering, ‘clock-face’ timetable, better integration with other transport options, and cross-border structures to streamline travel north and south.
The review is open to public consultation until September 29. If the review’s recommendations are implemented in full across the coming decades, the capital cost is estimated to be €36.8bn/£30.7bn in 2023 prices.
