Iarnrod Eireann – Building for the future
Iarnrod Eireanns plans for the future should certainly benefit a huge number
of people
who travel by train on a regular basis. The company makes millions each year on
almost every single
service they operate. These include some extremely busy
services such as Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Belfast. The upgrading of our
railway system has certainly improved rail travel in Ireland and will remain to
do so as the years go by. This upgrading began in 2000 as has continued up to
the present time. Iarnrod Eireann has already invested millions in these
upgrades and some improvements can be noticed already. Their mottos "getting
there” and "a lot done, a lot more to do" appear to be very
effective and accurate. Their aim is to make our national railway service
better in terms of frequency, quality, comfort, and safety.
Well it is obvious that safety is an important issue to Iarnrod
Eireann. A survey on
www.irishrail.ie reveals the Irish railway network to be one of the
safest in Europe. Over 650 million euros have already been invested in
safety projects. In Iarnrod Eireann’s Annual report,
it mentions how many upgrades in safety were made from the grants
receive from
the "Railway Safety Investment Programme"(1999-2003). The company
certainly values its safety. Some of the new safety features include
the following:
Signals have been upgraded. The old drop-down signals have been replaces by modern
computerised signalling. This has occurred on the Galway, Sligo, Waterford and
Tralee lines, and along with improvements in train radio systems has made
communication between trains a lot better and thus enhanced the safety of the
network.
Over 700 level crossings have been improved or else closed depending on their
condition. This has made it safer for road users and also a safer environment
for trains. It also has significantly reduced delays on the road and the
railway.
Major investment has been pumped into railway bridges. New bridges and embankments
have been built. There has also been an addition of up to 220 miles of new
fencing. This has been extremely effective in protecting the railway from
trespassers.
There has also been a lot of money put into coastal defences that will protect the
railway lines from tidal erosion. This is important for safety, as there are
some lines that run by coastal areas. Also, a huge development at Heuston
Station has resulted in new platforms and less congestion for trains.
Upgrades in safety also include the relaying of new tracks. Over 400 miles of track has
been laid down. Old wooded rails have been upgraded to continuous welded rail
on concrete sleepers. This has been a significant change for the railway. These
upgrades in tracks have been highly effective in reducing journey time. The
Dublin – Cork service has been reduced to only two hours and forty-five
minutes. Also, the Dublin – Belfast line that received a huge amount of
attention in 2000 has been suitable for high speed travel. The journey time is
now only two hours and thirty minutes which Iarnrod Eireann’s Enterprise train
runs on.
New intercity trains have been reduced. There are exceedingly advanced in terms of
comfort, safety and speed. These new trains that were build in the North Spain,
have just come into full service on the Dublin – Cork line. From January 2007,
railway history in Ireland was made with the introduction on an hourly service
on this line. These new trains are capable of running at high speeds of up to
150 kilometres per hour. In an interview with a weekly traveller on the Dublin
– Cork line I learned that this has been a revolution. Cathriona Nolan
describes how she used to "sometimes have to stand for most of the journey".
She also explained how the old trains were "ugly, uncomfortable and sometime
you could not even get a cup of tea on the train".All these new trains
have modern catering facilities with a breakfast servi