We sit down with South East on Track spokesperson Peter Branigan to talk about their aim to reopen the Rosslare – Waterford rail line…
In 2010, the long-running Rosslare – Waterford rail line ceased operations following a decision made by Iarnród Éireann. Twelve years later, its absence continues to be felt profoundly in the South-East; so much so that more than a decade after its closure, there continues to be a strong movement pushing for the reopening of the line.
Spearheading this movement is the group South East on Track. This week I had the opportunity to sit down with one of their spokespersons, Peter Branigan.
Peter is a sports journalist with RTÉ and an active member of South East on Track. The group outlines its mission on their website as follows:
‘We campaign to reverse the unnecessary closure of the Wexford/Rosslare – Waterford rail corridor, and seek to improve public transport options across the South East of Ireland.’
Indeed, the group is not alone in believing the closure to be unnecessary. Back in 2010 when plans to close the line were made public, business leaders in the South East criticized the move, describing the planned closure as ‘reckless foolishness’.
Can you tell me a little bit about what drew you to this project?
‘This group would’ve been going in Wexford since around the time of the closure of the Rosslare – Waterford line. I wasn’t there at the start of the return of the group, it probably returned about two years ago and I got involved that summer.
I think the lads were of the view that there was talk about the line being ripped up for good and it’s an asset for the people of Wexford to have. In a period where we’re trying to get people to take public transport more and drive a bit less, it seems kind of mad to be ripping up a line that was used as recently as 2010.’
I know you touched on it there but could you tell me more on why you think the Rosslare – Waterford line should be reopened?
‘I suppose it’s the year that we’re in. The price of petrol keeps going up. Nowadays it’s expensive to learn to drive. We’re not saying to people not to drive, we’ve got good roads here. I’m originally from Dublin and I can remember when we used to come down on holiday to Kilmuckridge and you’d have to take the old roads down to Rathnew and Wicklow and then all the backroads through the back of Gorey and stuff.
The roads are there, the roads are good and people are gonna use them. It’s just to give people an option. The thing is the lines in Waterford and Wexford are really good in the sense that they bring you right into the middle of Wexford town and close enough to the centre of Waterford. It essentially just gives people the option to use public transport.
I think it’d be great to have cycle infrastructure in the towns but I don’t know how realistic it is to say somebody could cycle, whatever it is, 50-60 km to Waterford and back in a day. You’d have to be fairly fit (laughs).’
(laughs) That’s for sure. What progress have you made so far?
‘I suppose first and foremost was getting the line included in the Strategic Rail Review. There’s involvement (in the Strategic Rail Review) of the assembly in the North of Ireland as well as obviously the government in Dublin. I’m from Dublin, but there is a sense maybe that things are very Dublin centred.
In the North, they’ve put in better services between Belfast and Derry which is good to see. There are just not good enough interconnections in local areas. So, getting the line included was massive because it means it’s going to be looked at and realistically assessed.’
What other reforms would you like to see introduced?
‘I regularly use the Wexford – Connolly service and the speed could definitely be improved. Works have to be carried out, for example, between Greystones and Bray. There’s a tunnel there that’s currently single tracked which slows everything up. Considering Iarnród Éireann already has to do works on the tunnels there, putting an extra space for passing loops and things would be massive.
Similarly, when you’re passing Dún Laoghaire, there’s loads of space that Iarnród Éireann owns there on both sides of the track. Which, again, if you had a passing loop, it would allow the Wexford train to overtake a DART.
I’m sure if you’ve ever been on the service you’ll know if you get caught behind a DART from Bray it could take you 30-40 minutes to get in but it really shouldn’t. You should be able to do that in 15 or 20 minutes. So yeah, Wexford – Waterford makes sense in terms of not allowing a public asset to go to waste but you also have to think about the services we do have in place now and how we can increase the regularity.’
What are your plans for the future?
‘I suppose the next step is trying to get more and more people in the South East to think about it and talk about it. Speak to their local councillors, speak to their local TDs. Speak to MEPs as well, there’s MEPs on both sides of the Barrow bridge that could be interested in this.
That would hopefully be our next step. It’s all well and good saying to people “leave the car at home a couple days week” or you know “walk or cycle” but when the infrastructure isn’t there, it’s not really fair on people to expect them to do it. I don’t know how they’re expected to do it. Our view is if the government wants people to actually start to take public transport, give them the option to do it.’
When the Rosslare – Waterford line was closed in 2010, Iarnród Éireann justified their decision by quoting declining ticket sales.
South East on Track have countered this, pointing out that the service only running twice a day led to its decline, rather than the route itself.
With fuel prices skyrocketing, South East on Track’s proposals make more sense than ever. We can only hope that the group have given Iarnród Éireann the push needed to finally get the South-East back on track.
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A total wast of time and taxpayers money trying to reopen a railway line that in its last days only carried a few passangers. Cop on to yourselfs there are two bus company’s who nearly on an hourly basis go from wexford to waterford this would be a very costly prodgect just for a few grisers anorac merchants and kodacers a day out who never use the trains anyway only there cars to get train pics.