Well, I suppose it takes so long to get to Derry by train that it probably counts as such! In all seriousness though, if this is what counts for strategic thinking on railway development, the future is not bright for railways in Northern Ireland.
Read the full story here.
According to the Evening Herald, the Stasi are to patrol the LUAS complete with truncheons. Can anyone carry and use a truncheon, given that it is now obviously legal to set up your own private army.
Can’t wait for the first tramspotter to be beaten up for taking a photo.
The RTE website is an occasional source of information for this website and in fairness to them, they tend to get their stock photos correct.
However, that photo accompanying the story of the reopening of the Limerick to Ennis line is neither Limerick, nor Ennis - not even the West Coast!
It is Maynooth in Co. Kildare.
Build your “traincare” depot in Portlaoise with only one exit, did we?
I wonder what happened to them - Gregg Ryan’s USA based baby? You’d have thought that an Irish Rail and Transport Foundation should be based in Ireland (in one or other of the two jurisdictions), but no, Irish Rail’s heritage officer chose New York.
What jogged my memory on this stillborn baby was a tidying up of my house and collection of old leaflets, web printouts etc. and I found a hardcopy of all of the pages of the website www.irft-ie.org.
I came upon this web report today which may be of interest:
Having paid to rename the Point Depot to the O2, the mobile phone company (a subsidiary of Spanish company Telefonica) have objected that the LUAS terminus at their back door is not called likewise - according to the Sunday Tribune in an article in today’s paper.
I would take the view that the RPA should offer the naming rights to the station to O2 (or any bidder) for the highest price. Perhaps Vodafone would be interested 
This is a BBC TV series which in the edition shown tonight saw the presenters use a device to cycle along the disused Mullingar to Athlone Line.
I assume that I can walk the line to take photos, if you can allow the BBC to cycle along it?
Just as Limerick Junction was once infamous for requiring all trains using it to reverse to gain access to the platforms, Merrion Gates are infamous for the number of gate strikes by road users trying to beat the gate closing sequence. Today marks a new low for road users in Ireland.
Some cretin in a truck with an elevated jib ploughed across the line, taking the overhead catenary with him. I earnestly hope that a jail term ensues.
Story on the Irish Rail website here
An update on the story is on the RTE website