Carrick-on-Suir councillors challenge Council official’s questioning of Waterford to Limerick Junction rail service’s viability

Carrick-on-Suir's two county councillors have challenged a senior Tipperary Co. Council official's questioning of the viability of the Waterford to Limerick Junction rail service.

Cllrs David Dunne (SF) and Cllr Kieran Bourke (FF) argued at Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District's monthly meeting that the rail service was an important transport link for their hometown and other south Tipperary towns along the line and needs to be retained. 

They were responding to Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District Director Pat Slattery's recent comments during a debate on rural transport at a meeting of Nenagh Municipal District councillors. 

At that meeting, Mr Slattery, who is also the Council's Director of Community & Economic Development Services, questioned the value for money of both the Ballybrophy to Limerick Line that serves several north Tipperary towns and the Waterford to Limerick Junction line serving Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel, Cahir and Tipperary Town. 

Mr Slattery suggested that providing more bus services in the county may be a better use of public  money. 

At the Carrick MD meeting, Cllr Dunne sought clarification from Mr Slattery on why he included the Waterford to Limerick Junction service with the Ballybrophy to Limerick service in his comments. 

He didn't regard the two services as similar and argued that in his hometown the Waterford to Limerick service was well used by young people at weekends to travel to Waterford and back. 

Cllr Dunne reminded Mr Slattery that Carrick-on-Suir lost its Bus Éireann service to Dublin a  few years ago and people from the town now have to travel on a Ring a Link bus to Grangemockler to catch the private Clonmel to Dublin bus service. 

The Sinn Fein councillor pointed to the plans to redevelop Waterford's North Quays, which the rail line will go directly into.   A new pedestrian bridge was planned across the Suir in Waterford to bring people across to the city centre.  

He predicted rail transport will become more important when new carbon taxes were imposed on car drivers and a high speed rail service linking Waterford and Dublin could be on the cards. Tipperary would need a direct link to the Waterford rail service if this happened. Cllr Dunne also argued that pressures on the housing market in Waterford will force home buyers to settle in Co. Tipperary and commute.  

"It would be very bad to lose that rail service particularly for my hometown," he warned. 

Cllr Bourke said Iarnród Éireann wasn't making any great effort to attract rail customers for the Waterford to Limerick Junction service. 

He pointed out that a huge number of students from Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir and other parts South Tipperary commuted to Waterford Institute of Technology on weekdays but Iarnrod Eireann wasn't making an effort to encourage them to travel to Waterford by rail. The rail timetable didn't accommodate them and even if it did there was no link bus at Plunkett Station in Waterford to bring them to the college. The closest bus was three quarters of a kilometre away.  

"I am sure if the tax payer analysed that they would be really put out by it," he declared. 

Cllr Bourke also argued that major improvements would have to be made in the county's road infrastructure before other transport options were examined. 

Mr Slattery  responded that the Waterford to Limerick Junction service cost €5.2m annually and was used by 35,000 people a year and the subvention from the tax payer was €490 per passenger journey. In comparison, the Dungarvan to Waterford Greenway was visited by 150,000 last year.

He asked was this the best way to spend about €10.3m a year on both this and the Ballybrophy line which translated to €100m over ten years? He wondered would it be better to invest that money in bus transport and open up more cycle lanes. 

Mr Slattery said the Council's Economic Strategic Policy Committee was going to examine the economic value of spending €10m on an under used rail system. He accepted the arguement that the Waterford to Limerick Junction rail service was valuable for those who use it but the service could be easily provided by alternative transport.