Improvement in rail connectivity will strengthen the existing ferry operations
Publication of my letter on the decline of rail sail between Northern Ireland and Great Britain ( Open Access, RAIL 898) complemented the article in the same issue by Greengauge21 Director Jim Steer considering a fixed rail link between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The current and muchdiminished role of rail sail on the NI-GB corridor highlighted Mr Steer’s welcome vision of what might be possible in the future if rail sail evolves.
I offer three reservations about a fixed rail link on a new bridge.
Firstly, I believe the practicalities directly related to the various well-documented constraints in the North Channel would exclude a bridge with road and rail built into it.
Secondly, the economics of a joint road and rail bridge in cost:benefit terms are unlikely to be even remotely positive.
Thirdly, rail economics on such a bridge would require the current small NI rail system to be re-gauged to 4ft 8½ins. Costs for this conversion of the main cross-border line to Dublin would be attributed to the bridge.
A further reservation is the very real problem that would exist south of the Irish border on the already choked northern rail approach to Dublin. This approach is also very much integrated with the rest of the
Irish Rail and DART system to the south and west of the city. And don’t mention the political implications.
Mr Steer’s article and the Greengauge21 report have instead stressed the advantages of a rail tunnel.
For reasons related to the bridge suggestion, GB rail-borne road freight and rail passenger vehicles in Northern Ireland would need to terminate/start at a new 4ft 8½ins freight and passenger railhead in Belfast. This railhead could offer connectivity and easy transfer with the current 5ft 3ins gauge Irish railway system, employing gauge changing systems similar to those in Switzerland.
Such a proposal would be in line with the type of infrastructural change that will enable the UK to achieve full compliance with its net zero carbon emissions law by 2050. It would also offer a more controlled environment than currently exists to comply with potential freight inspection procedures post-Brexit.
However, it would be unlikely to satisfy the economists.
That would leave the existing cross-channel ferry operations strengthened by restored direct rail connectivity and improved roads between Cairnryan and Carlisle as perhaps the most realistic proposal.
The post-Brexit disconnect between the South East (including London) and the rest of the UK offers a challenge to the Government as to how the UK develops.
The decision to proceed with HS2, investment in local bus services and revisiting some of the Beeching closures are very welcome in helping to disarm that disconnect.
To assist in developing a more inclusive narrative centred on economic growth north of Watford, the consideration of the North West of England, Dumfries and Galloway, and Northern Ireland as one interdependent unit and tackling the economic inequalities in the three regions is the next logical step.
The task to generate the agglomerative benefits requires new transport connectivity. Dumfries and Galloway and Northern Ireland have perhaps the most to gain and should London to Carlisle via HS2 be achieved in two hours, Carlisle to Belfast/ Larne via a new rail link to Cairnryan and ferry suggests about 5hrs 30mins as an attainable journey time option without bridge or tunnel.
That is not unreasonable. It would assist the Galloway economy and offer Belfast a journey time about two hours faster than current LondonAberdeen times, and comparable with air (including land travel to and from airports and the often-lengthy check-in).
Northern Ireland will always require air connectivity to and from Great Britain. That is a given. But with the environmental and carbon emission signals now showing yellow, a change is required to provide an attractive fixed link or ferry option connected into new rail connectivity through Dumfries
and Galloway to Carlisle.
Jim Steer and his Greengauge21 report offers a very useful starting point and the basis to instigate a comprehensive and transparent evaluation of the three options.
Sam Somerville, Northern Ireland
I have often used this underadvertised rail sail service. The situation with Northern Ireland appears to have been made worse recently.
I have in the past taken the early ferry from Belfast, which meant that I could get home to Oakham comfortably in the day. When I last tried to do this a couple of months ago, I discovered that it was only possible to get a rail sail ticket for the 1130 ferry, meaning that I could get only as far as Nottingham before being left bereft of trains to Oakham. That change is certainly no encouragement to use the service.
I have used the rail sail to the Republic of Ireland more. However, I should warn prospective travellers not to come back on a ferry that arrives in Holyhead in the early hours - they will have a four-hour wait in the deserted and cheerless terminal building until the first train of the day. Again, this is not an encouragement to use the service (it works well if you get the morning ferry from Dublin).
A railwayman I spoke to, on the one occasion I made the mistake of taking the night ferry, told me that ‘in the good old days’ (I think he meant pre-franchises) every ferry was met by a train.
David Whittle, Rutland
Regarding the proposed fixed rail link to Northern Ireland ( RAIL 898), the politics of the issue is probably even more insurmountable than any engineering challenge.
English taxpayers will be expected to foot the bill for a project which may cost upwards of £40 billion and which may take 20 years to plan and build - by which time both Northern Ireland and Scotland may have left the
UK, if they maintain their current trajectories.
So, why would English taxpayers foot the bill for infrastructure in foreign countries which largely benefits those countries? There are many small rail infrastructure projects in England and Wales which would provide much more benefit.
If future governments in Dublin and Edinburgh think that this link is worthwhile, then perhaps they could either pay for it themselves or seek funding from Brussels/ Berlin. I am sure that a small contribution from English taxpayers may then be justified for benefits accruing to England.
However, I suspect that Berlin will send them away empty handed.
Robert Hope, Sunderland
The dream of a fixed link between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been around for many years, as Jim Steer points out ( RAIL 898).
But in 2020, high-speed trains have wider implications. In Kent, our roads - particularly the M20 and the Dartford Crossings - are clogged up by traffic to the
English Channel. Quite a lot of this traffic consists of heavy lorries coming to or from Ireland - both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
Given the imperatives of climate change, almost all journeys from Britain and Ireland to Europe, for both freight and passengers, must use 21st century railways instead of road or air.
However, as Jim Steer ably demonstrates, a land link to Northern Ireland is out of the question financially because of the lengthy communications links that would be required across sparsely populated Galloway, as well as the major technical difficulties involved in crossing Beaufort’s Dyke.
Despite the length of the sea crossing involved, a rail connection between Holyhead and Dublin would appear to be more economically cost-effective than a crossing to Northern Ireland.
But in addition to economic considerations, our leaders will have to secure political stability before a fixed link can be constructed to Ireland. The major beneficiary of a fixed link will be the Irish Republic, which will have to pay a large part of the cost - whether directly or through some arrangement with the European Union.
Not least, a fixed rail link to Ireland will also entail additional rail capacity between Kent and Europe.
Frederic Stansfield, Kent
The Prime Minister wants a bridge from Northern Ireland to the Scottish mainland.
Brunel had problems with track gauge. Perhaps Boris Johnson should be told that all of Ireland (both north and south) operates to a track gauge of 5ft 3ins, against the rest of Great Britain which is 4ft 8½ins.
Trains are not flexible and have to stick to the track, unlike road vehicles that can operate on most smooth surfaces.
Vince Tarling, Swindon