IARNRÓD ÉIREANN / IRISH RAIL

■ FREIGHT AND DEPARTMENTAL:

The Belview to Ballina container service operated by Irish Rail on behalf of XPO Logistics continued during the period under review. The Ballina to Belview service on October 26 and the return trip the next day were worked by No. 071 – the Ballina bound train carried four tank containers. It was reported that the Belview bound train on November 2 ran empty and the return service the next day, worked by No. 086, conveyed three containers and four tank containers. No. 086 worked the Belview bound train on November 9, which conveyed two box containers. No. 071 worked the Belview to Ballina train the next day, which had three box containers and eight tank containers. The Belview to Ballina service on the 17th again featured No. 071 and eight tank containers were conveyed.

Locomotives noted working Dublin PortBallina IWT container trains included Nos. 071, 074, 083, 086 and 215.

Locos employed on Ballina/Westport to Waterford timber traffic included Nos. 071, 076, 086 and 079. Each loaded timber train is normally checked at Claremorris to ensure that the load is secure, however, on November 8 the 09.00 ex-Westport, worked by

No. 071, was recessed for a longer period in connection with staff training. Nos. 076, 078, 080 and 088 were each noted working Tara Mines (Navan) to Dublin Alexandra Road ore trains, while Nos. 072 and 084 were each used to work Belview to Portlaoise PW depot trains of new imported rail.

■ TRAFFIC AND TRACTION: The infrastructure project undertaken in the Cork area (see December issue) was completed by October 27 and normal services resumed on this date. It was reported that Cork signal cabin was closed on and from the 23rd.

Other infrastructure work carried out around the system during the period October 22 to 26 included: renewal of trackwork and OHLE in the Dublin East Wall Junction area and work to UB72 at Clarecastle between Sixmilebridge and Ennis. Bustitution was in use during the periods of disruption, while rail tickets were valid on parallel DublinBus services during the East Wall project. A signalling problem between Killester and Howth Junction during the morning of the 26th saw services suspended between the two stations until the problem was resolved. The 17.10 Malahide-Bray the same day was terminated at Connolly because of a “technical issue”.

EARLY MORNING SERVICE DELAYS

Low rail adhesion continued to be a problem in the greater Dublin area during the period under review, with early morning services often subject to delay. ICR DMU No. 22x07, which is fitted with ZF transmission, transferred from the Heuston area to Connolly on October 28 in order to have its interior refreshed at the valeting plant. When No. 22x07 is returned to traffic it is planned to refresh No. 22x20, which will be the final unit to be treated in the ICR fleet project.

The 15.20 Howth-Bray was cancelled on the 29th, after the EMU was failed. Services on the Dublin-Maynooth/

Sligo line were disrupted on the 30th after the 06.50 Maynooth-Connolly developed a mechanical problem, which saw it delayed by around 55 minutes. Other problems included issues with the DMU that was working the 09.05 Connolly-Sligo. This had stopped between Navan Road Parkway and Castleknock, while the 09.15 Connolly-Maynooth was delayed at Ashtown. The 13.20 WestportHeuston was failed at Claremorris on Sunday, October 31. Passengers were bussed to Athlone and transferred to another train.

A temporary timetable was introduced on the Limerick-EnnisGalway route on and from November 1 in order to facilitate work to replace the two platforms at Ennis. As only one platform continued to be in use, crossing of trains was being carried out at Gort. The yard at Ennis was used as required to recess trains that had worked a terminating service from Limerick. This allowed a through train to proceed and the recessed train then returned to the platform to work the return service to Limerick.

TEMPORARY BRANCH CLOSURE

A temporary closure of the Nenagh Branch (Ballybrophy-Killonan Jct) started on November 1 to facilitate re-laying of around four miles of track in the Cloughjordan area. Bustitution was in operation and the work was to take five weeks.

A bridge strike during the afternoon of November 2 saw services between Dublin Pearse and Grand Canal Dock suspended until the structure was examined and declared safe. The road level crossing at Sutton on the Howth branch was damaged by a road vehicle on the 3rd, which resulted in services being suspended until the crossing was made safe. Rail tickets were valid on DublinBus services. The 06.30 Dundalk-Bray on November 4 was failed at Connolly, while the 06.40 Sligo-Connolly and 06.55 ConnollySligo were delayed en route because of adhesion problems. Also affected were the 06.12 Longford-Pearse and 07.12 Connolly-Maynooth, while the 11.05 ex-Sligo was delayed because of a signalling problem in the Enfield/ Kilcock area. Also on the 4th, the

10.34 Greystones-Malahide was terminated at Connolly and the 12.10 Malahide-Bray started from Connolly. On November 5, the 07.35 HeustonWestport and 07.45 Westport-Heuston were disrupted because of a signalling problem at Claremorris. An adhesion issue in the Dalkey area on the 11th saw the 17.00 Howth-Greystones delayed, which required the 18.34 Greystones-Malahide to be started from Bray. Also the same day, GM

No. 207 failed between Killester and Harmonstown while working the 19.00 Connolly-Lanyon Place. Assistance came in the shape of No. 071 which returned No. 207 and its De Dietrich/Mk.3 train to Connolly, where passengers were transferred to the 20.50 service. This was headed by

No. 231 and departed 90 minutes behind schedule. No. 071 returned to North Wall to resume its yard duties, which included positioning an IWT container train at the dockside.

■ NEWS: The Draft Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) 2022-2042 compiled by the National Transport Authority (NTA) has recommended that the proposed DART Underground project be postponed again. The project, which was proposed in the early 2000s, and has been deferred on a regular basis ever since, would see the construction of a crosscity line between the Docklands area and Inchicore.