IARNRÓD ÉIREANN / IRISH RAIL
TRAFFIC AND TRACTION:
■ Production at the Boliden Tara Mines complex at Navan was suspended on November 24 because of flooding in part of the extensive system. The problem was overcome by the 29th and transportation of ore to the transhipment terminal at Alexandra Road, Dublin Port, resumed the following day, with No. 074 working the 09.20 ex-Navan. Other locomotives noted on Tara Mines traffic during the period under review included Nos. 076 and 080. GMs Nos. 071 and 086 each worked Ballina/Belview XPO container trains. Locos noted on Ballina/Dublin Port IWT container trains included Nos. 071, 072, 074, 075, 081, 215 and 216. Nos. 072, 079 and 080 each worked Ballina/Westport to Waterford timber trains. GM No. 225 was failed in the Kildare area on November 29 while working the 15.00 Heuston-Cork. No. 086 returned the complete Mk.4 train and No. 225 to Kildare, where passengers were transferred to a following service. A five-car ICR DMU was rostered for a cross border ‘Enterprise’ diagram between October 10 and December 3. Unit
No. 22x38 was in use on the latter date. Low rail adhesion was a regular cause of delays across the network during the period under review. A track fault in the Glasnevin JunctionNorth Strand Road Junction area on December 1 meant Drumcondra could not be served from early morning until the problem was resolved later the same day. The 06.50 Malahide-Greystones and 08.24 Greystones-Howth were cancelled on December 2 because of mechanical issues. The 09.45 Westport-Heuston was delayed on the 3rd, after cattle strayed onto the line near Athlone.
EXTRA LATE NIGHT TRAINS
Extra late night trains were scheduled to run in the Greater Dublin area each Saturday and Sunday morning during the period December 4 to 19: 00.20 PearseMaynooth, 00.30 Pearse-Howth, 00.30 Connolly-Greystones, 00.40 Pearse-Dundalk and 00.50 PearseKildare. Bustitution was in operation between Limerick Junction and Limerick during the weekend of December 4/5 because of work being undertaken at a road bridge and at Dromkeen level crossing. Services resumed on the Nenagh Branch (Killonan Jct to Ballybrophy) on December 6 after relaying of four miles of track in the Cloughjordan area was completed. Services were disrupted across the network on December 7, when Storm Barra made landfall, and heavy rain and high winds persisted throughout the day. A temporary speed restriction of 50mph was imposed in the Mallow/Cork/Tralee area. Waterford station was closed early in the morning because of flooding, with bustitution introduced to and from Kilkenny. Damage to OHLE and level crossing barriers was reported and fallen trees and other debris on tracks also proved to be problematic. Generally, while most services, including those to and from Waterford, returned to normal the next day (8th) some disruption continued. The M3 Parkway branch service was suspended until a fallen tree was removed, while the DART service was temporarily disrupted because of repairs to OHLE in the Harmonstown/Howth Junction area.