MYSTIC VALLEY RAILWAY SOCIETY    

By James Scannell

Since last September Irish police in Co. Roscommon and Co. Sligo have been looking for thieves who stole 7 sets of grade crossing steel barriers during the night of Saturday / Sunday 26 / 27 August. The gates were noticed missing early on the Sunday morning and immediately Irish Rail sent out workers to secure the unprotected openings until replacement barriers could be installed. Irish Rail believe that thieves needed a trailer to haul away the barrier gates due to their size and that it was a carefully planned operation. The company believes that the thieves either stole the gates for their own use, to sell on to others or to dispose of as scrap metal.

Seniors permanently residing in the Republic of Ireland are entitled to free travel on the national bus and rail network when they reach 66 and are issued with an official travel pass by the Department of Social Protection. But Irish Rail estimates that it’s losing up to $1.5M annually through pass misuse and of late has launched a massive revenue protection operation to ensure that pass users are who they say they are and are entitled to use these passes. The Revenue Protection Branch of Irish Rail has detected a large number of bogus users and those detected are served with a $150 on-the-spot fine which can go as high as $1500 if the case goes to court, with the pass being confiscated as well. Passengers have 21 days to appeal the decision of Revenue Protection staff. Another practice uncovered is that of paying short fares and travelling long distances, a practice that results in an on-the-spot fine or higher penalties if the case goes to court. In 2010, 9000 on-the-spot fines were issued.

Irish Rail has indicated that it plans to have WiFi in operation on its Inter- City (long distance) DART and diesel commuter trains by the middle of 2012. The company also announced that the Mark IV InterCity fleet of trains which provide the majority of services on the Dublin-to-Cork route have already been fitted out with WiFi. Some 172 of the 188 weekly departures will be WiFi. The decision to install WiFi on the Dublin-Cork fleet followed a successful trial on selected services last year which received very positive feedback from customers.

During September it was suggested a DART spur off the main line to Dublin Airport from Clongriffin would be far cheaper than the cost of the proposed Metro North, as part of the line would be then built in green field areas which would make it cheaper to construct and cause less disruption. The debate on how to link Dublin Airport with the downtown part of Dublin still continues with various schemes being advanced. Given the limited financial resources which the Irish Government has to fund such a project, it remains to be seen if the scheme will ever get off the drawing board.