Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either here
or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.

On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either here
> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>
>

No Belfast correspondent unfortunately. Never travelled by train north
of the border.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read.

On Sun, 20 Feb 2022 17:35:09 +0000, Graeme Wall wrote:

> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland,...
> No Belfast correspondent unfortunately. Never travelled by train north
> of the border.

Occasional pieces are in Modern Railways about the system.

On 20/02/2022 18:49, Alan wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Feb 2022 17:35:09 +0000, Graeme Wall wrote:
>
>> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland,...
>> No Belfast correspondent unfortunately. Never travelled by train north
>> of the border.
>
> Occasional pieces are in Modern Railways about the system.

My local magazine seller (Tesco) so longer stocks manly magazines.

Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either here
> or in the regular railway press

The regular press has been getting better in recent times and the Railways
of Ireland or their stock do get mentioned. Putting the Term Northern
Ireland Railways into the search box of the Readly app
brings up quite a lot of material on NIR and its neighbour much of it
fairly recent material.

GH

On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either here
> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>
>
Possibly because it has little or no interaction with DfT in London, and
gets on with running itself with not many problems??
Not been to Ireland since the 1970s, but I think the worst problems were
with anti-rail civil service/governments in the 1950s & 1960s.

On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either here
> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.

Like the large amount coverage in some places about London Underground
but rarely any mention of the one in Glasgow.

On Sun, 20 Feb 2022 12:49:40 -0600, Alan wrote:

> On Sun, 20 Feb 2022 17:35:09 +0000, Graeme Wall wrote:
>
>> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland,...
>> No Belfast correspondent unfortunately. Never travelled by train north
>> of the border.
>
> Occasional pieces are in Modern Railways about the system.

Thinking about it, the old station in Londonderry got a hertiage award
for its restoration. Featured in both M.R. and Railways Illustrated last
month, or, may have been the one before christmas.
<https://www.derrynow.com/news/local-news/663289/derry-train-station-on-
track-for-top-award.html>

On 20/02/2022 20:18, MB wrote:
> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either
>> here
>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>
> Like the large amount coverage in some places about London Underground
> but rarely any mention of the one in Glasgow.
>

Not much happens with the Glasgow one, it goes round in circles and
that's it. No accidents, incidents or extensions, though hasn't it
recently gone fully automatic?

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read.

Graeme Wall <rail@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> On 20/02/2022 20:18, MB wrote:
>> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either
>>> here
>>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>>
>> Like the large amount coverage in some places about London Underground
>> but rarely any mention of the one in Glasgow.
>>
>
> Not much happens with the Glasgow one, it goes round in circles and
> that's it. No accidents, incidents or extensions, though hasn't it
> recently gone fully automatic?
>

Planned for after the new Stadler trains have taken over the full service.
I don't think any of them have entered service yet. This will be only the
third fleet since the line opened back in 1896, so it's not often that
there are even new trains to discuss. And, of course, trains on that line
are always bespoke and never cascaded to other lines, so there's nothing to
discuss on that front, either.

Mark Goodge <usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Feb 2022 17:11:43 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either here
>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>
> It's fairly small and has a fairly limited route map. In 2019, it
> carried 15 million passengers. By way of comparison, that's slightly
> more than the Glasgow subway and less than half the Tyne and Wear Metro.
> Despite being heavy rail, NIR is, operationally, more similar to a city
> metro system than an inter-city railway. Its only long-distance route is
> the service to Dublin, which it operates jointly with Iarnród Éireann.
> All of which probably contributes to its lack of coverage in places like
> uk.railway. I mean, how often do we talk about the Tyne and Wear Metro?

Here’s a route map:

<http://www.mapsof.net/uploads/static-maps/ireland_railway_map.png>

It’s basically a single route from Dublin to Derry via Belfast with a
Belfast avoiding line and three branches. It’s hardly even a network.

I remember being in Belfast once and hearing one of the old DEMUs on the
bridge over the river. It was really loud!

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as Sam.Wilson@ed.ac.uk
Spit the dummy to reply

MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:
>
> Like the large amount coverage in some places about London Underground
> but rarely any mention of the one in Glasgow.
>
>

Not a lot to be written about such a small line, it can only generate so
much material before writers start to go around in circles and repeat
themselves.
The introduction of the new Stadler stock and the building of the test
track extension for it has been covered when it occurred, the current
edition of the Railway Magazine has an item that the first movements of
one of the new units on the subway itself has recently taken place.

GH

On 20/02/2022 21:34, Recliner wrote:
> Graeme Wall <rail@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 20/02/2022 20:18, MB wrote:
>>> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>>>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either
>>>> here
>>>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>>>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>>>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>>>
>>> Like the large amount coverage in some places about London Underground
>>> but rarely any mention of the one in Glasgow.
>>>
>>
>> Not much happens with the Glasgow one, it goes round in circles and
>> that's it. No accidents, incidents or extensions, though hasn't it
>> recently gone fully automatic?
>>
>
> Planned for after the new Stadler trains have taken over the full service.

The Stadlers are running tests on the network proper, 'might be worth
noting.

On 20/02/2022 17:35, Graeme Wall wrote:
> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either
>> here
>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>>
>>
>
> No Belfast correspondent unfortunately. Never travelled by train north
> of the border.
>

Is there immigration control now on the train between Belfast and Dublin
Connolly?

hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk <hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 20/02/2022 17:35, Graeme Wall wrote:
>> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either
>>> here
>>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> No Belfast correspondent unfortunately. Never travelled by train north
>> of the border.
>>
>
> Is there immigration control now on the train between Belfast and Dublin
> Connolly?
>

Why would there be? It's an open border. Ireland and the UK were in the
CTA long before they joined the EU, and still are.

Graeme Wall <rail@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> On 20/02/2022 20:18, MB wrote:
>> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either
>>> here
>>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>>
>> Like the large amount coverage in some places about London Underground
>> but rarely any mention of the one in Glasgow.
>>
>
> Not much happens with the Glasgow one, it goes round in circles and
> that's it. No accidents, incidents or extensions, though hasn't it
> recently gone fully automatic?
>

The new trains currently being delivered will be capable of automatic
operation, though I believe they will initially be used with drivers on
board.

Anna Noyd-Dryver

On Sun, 20 Feb 2022 19:31:04 +0000, Bevan Price
<bevanprice666@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland, either here
>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>>
>>
>Possibly because it has little or no interaction with DfT in London, and
>gets on with running itself with not many problems??
>
No interaction, Norn Iron has its own Department for Infrastructure.
https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/

>Not been to Ireland since the 1970s, but I think the worst problems were
>with anti-rail civil service/governments in the 1950s & 1960s.
>
Not forgetting a little local difficulty[TM] which tended to interrupt
the smooth running of train services from time to time.

On 21/02/2022 00:42, hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> On 20/02/2022 17:35, Graeme Wall wrote:
>> On 20/02/2022 17:11, Tweed wrote:
>>> Why do we almost never hear about railways in Northern Ireland,
>>> either here
>>> or in the regular railway press? As I understand it, it is run as a
>>> vertically integrated state owned system. Apart from that I know next to
>>> nothing about how well used it is, how much subsidy it costs etc.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> No Belfast correspondent unfortunately. Never travelled by train north
>> of the border.
>>
>
> Is there immigration control now on the train between Belfast and Dublin
> Connolly?

No, on the ferry between Cairnryan and Larne

<sits back and waits for the DUP to implode>

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read.

Mark Goodge <usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:
> And there isn't actually a line that runs from Antrim to Lisburn,
> avoiding Belfast. That's just a topological map which indicates
> potential services. Everything goes via Belfast.

There's track, but it's not in passenger service and rarely used:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisburn%E2%80%93Antrim_line
(it was the main route to Derry between 1978 and 2001)

Theo

Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> Mark Goodge <usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:
>> And there isn't actually a line that runs from Antrim to Lisburn,
>> avoiding Belfast. That's just a topological map which indicates
>> potential services. Everything goes via Belfast.
>
> There's track, but it's not in passenger service and rarely used:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisburn%E2%80%93Antrim_line
> (it was the main route to Derry between 1978 and 2001)
>

The junction in Lisburn faces towards Belfast, though, so it wouldn't be
much use as an 'avoiding line' ;)

Anna Noyd-Dryver