Tipperary train services are back to normal following completion of track work

North Tipperary Community Rail Partnership (NTCRP) has welcomed the return of rail services between Limerick and Ballybrophy this Monday.

The resumption marks the completion of the long-awaited track upgrade on the line, which allows for higher line speeds, leading to shorter journey times and less disruption to rail services.

The line serves Ballybrophy, Roscrea, Cloughjordan, Nenagh, Birdhill and Castleconnell in county Limerick.

However the partnership was disappointed that no extra service has been included in this year’s timetable.

A spokesperson for the NTCRP said: “The Government has invested €29m in recent years to upgrade the track in order to allow faster line speeds and shorter journeys.

“However, we have yet to see any significant return in this investment with better, more frequent services for the communities served by the line.”

They said that they were “disappointed” that the new timetable, due to go live on December 11, did not offer any additional services for the route.

“This is a missed opportunity for a meaningful relaunch of the line, offering better connectivity for the towns and villages that the line serves,” they said.

They said that some of the minor changes they proposed had been accepted by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Iarnród Éireann (IÉ). However, it was disappointing that none of the additional new services they proposed were included, nor did they have any indication of when they might be introduced.

“We welcome that the NTA and IÉ have agreed to implement our proposal for the earlier departure of the morning service from Ballybrophy,” they said, pointing out that this will allow passengers to get to Limerick at 10.48 - over an hour earlier than the current 12.07.

“We also welcome the fact that the slightly later departure of the evening service from Limerick (17.10 instead of 16.55) will make it marginally more usable for commuters,” said the spokesperson.

“We are extremely disappointed, however, that our suggestions for extra services have not been taken up. The number of daily services (two in each direction plus a one-way morning commuter service from Nenagh to Limerick) has not changed in almost 75 years and does not provide the level of service needed for modern living nor to encourage modal shift or greater use in public transport,” they said.

The partnership noted that the NTA’s Connecting Ireland bus strategy had set a standard of a minimum of three return services each day.

“For rail we believe that a minimum of four return services each day is needed,” they said.

The partnership is due to meet the NTA this week, and said that they will be seeking a firm commitment from both the NTA and Iarnród Éireann to give a timeline of when additional services will be introduced.

They also will be asking them to revisit the timetable in order to extend the existing Nenagh-Limerick early morning commuter service to include Roscrea and Cloughjordan. This would require the IÉ to open the line slightly earlier than currently.

“The Partnership understands that the key obstacle to delivering this is the availability of gatekeepers to open the 12 manned level crossings, rather than an issue of driver resources as was stated in the feedback given on the IÉ website,” they said.

They pointed out that this now seemed to be the key obstacle preventing the introduction of additional services. (The existing service level on the line requires gatekeepers to work split shifts, closing the line for part of the day). On a typical weekday 68 people are required to operate just 2½ return services.

“We call on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to instruct his officials at the Department of Transport to fund the modernisation of the 12 level crossings in order to allow for an increase in services

“In the short term, we are calling on the Department and the NTA to make sufficient funds available to ensure Iarnród Éireann has sufficient gatekeepers to allow the introduction of at least one additional return service during the day in 2023,” they said.