RPSIeyesChristmasfor potential returnof main line railtours
THERailwayPreservatioSnociety of Ireland'sDublin-basedteamis hopefulit maybeableto runits popular'SantaSpeciasl'ervices thisyear- if the Republicof Ireland'sCovid-19lockdown easingmeasurepsermitthe resumptionof mainlinerunning.
Howevert,he societyadmits it isunlikelyto runanyrailtours whilethe currentsociadl istancing requirementsarein place.
Somerailtouroperatorsin the UKarelookingat runningtrains with reducedcapacitiesand sociadl istancingenhancements installedb, ut the RPSsIaysthis would not beeconomic. 'We
'Accescsosts'
"Aswe area railwayundertaking we aresubjectedto trackaccess costs,pluslococrew,trainguard andinspectorcostsA. ll our crew areIrishRailstaff.
"I would hopewe couldrun the'Santa'traintshisyear,asthe incomefrom Dublinoperations' 'SantaSpecialsp'aysfor the RPSl's all-Irelandinsurancecosts'.' Thesocietyismonitoringall relevantdevelopmentsand noticesissuedby IrishRaila, nd isworkingwith the nationalrail operatoron gettingthe society's railtourrakeof Cravenscoaches readyfor whenservicescan resume.
"Aswe in Dublindo not have our own basew, e relyon IrishRail for stablingandcoveredshed accommodatiofnor our carriages;' addedMr McKeown.
"Wehopeto returnto lnchicore in Julyandstartwork on the runningset,includingCravens No.1539w, hichisbeing convertedintoa PremieCr lass vehicleT. odo thiswe areworking to our returnto worksafety protocolw, hichincludesplanning and preparingc, ontrolmeasures, familiarisationc,leaningandhow to dealwith a suspectedcaseof Covid-19b, ut we haveto address IrishRail'sreturnto workprotocol aswell'.'
Cancellation
Theon-goinglockdownhashit the RPSl'rsailtourprogramme hard,leadingto the cancellation of the EasteDr ublinto Wicklow trains,the annualmulti-dayMay tour ('LoughFoyleRailtour-' May 7-11),andSeptember's'Emerald IsleExpressin' conjunctionwith RailtoursIreland.