Transport in Ireland

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Most of the transport system in Ireland is in public hands, either side of the Irish border. The Irish road network has evolved separately in the two jurisdictions Ireland is divided up into, while the Irish rail network was mostly created prior to the partition of Ireland.

In the Republic of Ireland, the Minister for Transport, acting through the Department of Transport, is responsible for the State's road network, rail network, public transport, airports and several other areas. Although some sections of road have been built using private or public-private funds, and are operated as toll roads, they are owned by the Government of Ireland. The rail network is also state-owned and operated, while the government currently still owns the main airports. Public transport is mainly in the hands of a statutory corporation, Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ), and its subsidiaries, Bus Átha Cliath (Dublin Bus), Bus Éireann (Irish Bus), and Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail).

On November 1 2005, the Dublin government published the Transport 21 plan which includes €18bn for improved roads and €16bn for improved rail, including the Western Railway Corridor and the Dublin Metro.

In Northern Ireland, the road network and railways are in state ownership. The Department for Regional Development is responsible for these and other areas (such as water services). Two of the three main airports in Northern Ireland are privately operated and owned. The exception is City of Derry Airport, which is owned and funded by Derry City Council. A statutory corporation, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (which trades as Translink) operates public transport services through its three subsidiaries - NI Railways Company Limited, Ulsterbus Limited, and Citybus Limited (now branded as Metro).

Contents 1 Railways 2 Roads 3 Waterways 4 Pipelines 5 Ports and harbours 5.1 Merchant marine 6 Airports 6.1 Ireland 6.2 Northern Ireland 6.3 Passenger Numbers 7 Gateway Irish Urban Reference Destination Distances 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Railways

Total

1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge

1,947 km (1,210 mi) (1998); 38 km (24 mi) electrified; 485 km (301 mi) double track; some addititions and removals since 1997

1,435 mm (4 ft 8.5 in) standard gauge

28 km (17 mi) (2004) (Luas tramway); 28 km (17 mi) electrified; 28 km (17 mi) double track; additional track under construction

914 mm (3 ft 0 in) narrow gauge

1,365 km (848 mi) (2006) (industrial railway operated by Bord na Móna)

Ireland's railways are in State ownership, with Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) operating services in the Republic and NI Railways operating services in Northern Ireland. The two companies co-operate in providing the joint Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast. InterCity services are provided between Dublin and the major towns and cities of the Republic, and between Belfast and Derry. Suburban railway networks operate in Dublin, Dublin Suburban Rail, and Belfast, Belfast Suburban Rail, with a limited local services being offered in, or planned for, Cork, Limerick^{[citation needed]}, and Galway^{[citation needed]}.

Many lines in the west were decommissioned in the 1930s under Éamon de Valera, with a further large cull in services by both CIÉ and the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) during the 1960s, leaving few working lines in the northern third of the island. There is a campaign to bring some closed lines back into service, in particular the Limerick-Sligo line (the Western Railway Corridor), to facilitate economic regeneration in the west, which has lagged behind the rest of the country. There is also a move to restore service on the Dublin to Navan line, and smaller campaigns to re-establish the rail links between Sligo and Enniskillen/Omagh/Derry and Mullingar and Athlone/Galway

Since 1984 an electrically operated train service has run between Bray and Howth, called the Dublin Area Rapid Transit. In 2004 a light rail system, Luas, was opened in Dublin. As of September 2008, legal permission has been sought to build a metro system is also in the planning stage. The construction of the Luas system caused much disruption in Dublin; in retrospect many believe an underground would have been a better option. One of the current options being discussed is to upgrade the Luas to a metro system when the metro is being installed.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Roads

Total - 117,318 km (72,898 mi)

South: 92,500 km (57,500 mi) including 435 km (270 mi) of motorway (2008)

North: 24,818 km (15,421 mi) including 148 km (92 mi) of motorway (2008)

paved - 87,043 km (54,086 mi), unpaved - 5,457 km (3,391 mi)

Ireland's roads link Dublin with all the major cities (Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Belfast and Derry). Driving is on the left.

State-owned Bus Éireann (Irish Bus) provides most bus services in the Republic of Ireland, outside Dublin, including an express coach network connecting most cities in Ireland, along with local bus services in the provincial cities. There are also a number of private operators, the biggest of which include Aircoach, a subsidiary of FirstGroup which provides services to Dublin Airport from Dublin city centre amongst others, and Scottish Citylink which competes on the Dublin-Galway route. Matthews Coaches run a direct service from Bettystown, Laytown and Julianstown to Dublin. Some private rural operators exist, such as Halpenny's in Blackrock, County Louth, who were the first private bus operator to run a public service in Ireland, Bus Feda (Feda O'Donnell Coaches), who operate twice daily routes from Ranafast, County Donegal to Galway and back,^[1] as well as Lough Swilly Bus Company.

Bus Átha Cliath (Dublin Bus), a sister company of Bus Éireann, provides most of the bus services in Dublin, with some other operators providing a number of routes.

In Northern Ireland Ulsterbus provides the bus network, with its sister company Metro providing services in Belfast. Both are part of state-owned Translink.

Most cross-border services (e.g. Dublin city centre to Belfast) are run jointly between Bus Éireann and Ulsterbus, with some services run across the border exclusively by one of the two companies (e.g. Derry–Sligo run by Bus Éireann).

[edit] Waterways

Total (2004) - 753 km (468 mi)

(pleasure craft only on inland waterways, several lengthy estuarine waterways)

• Grand Canal
• Royal Canal
• Shannon-Erne Waterway

[edit] Pipelines

Natural gas transmission network 1,795 km (1,115 mi) (2003). There is a much more extensive distribution network.

[edit] Ports and harbours

Ireland has ports in the towns of Arklow, Belfast (Port of Belfast), Cork (Cork Harbour), Derry (Londonderry Port), Drogheda, Dublin (Dublin Port), Dundalk, Dún Laoghaire, Foynes, Galway, Larne, Limerick, New Ross, Rosslare Europort, Sligo, Waterford (Port of Waterford) and Wicklow.

Ports in the Republic handle 3,600,000 travelers crossing the Irish Sea each year, amounting to 92% of all sea travel.^[2] This has been steadily dropping for a number of years (20% since 1999), probably as a result of low cost airlines.

Ferry connections between Britain and Ireland via the Irish Sea include the routes from Swansea to Cork, Fishguard and Pembroke to Rosslare, Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire, Stranraer to Belfast and Larne, and Cairnryan to Larne. There is also a connection between Liverpool and Belfast via the Isle of Man. The world's largest car ferry, Ulysses, is operated by Irish Ferries on the Dublin–Holyhead route.

In addition, Rosslare and Cork run ferries to France.

The vast majority of heavy goods trade is done by sea. Northern Irish ports handle 10 megatonnes (Mt) of goods trade with Britain annually, while ports in the south handle 7.6 Mt, representing 50% and 40% respectively of total trade by weight.

Several potential Irish Sea tunnel projects have been proposed, most recently the "Tusker Tunnel" between the ports of Rosslare and Fishguard proposed by the Institution of Engineers of Ireland in 2004.^[3][4] A different proposed route is between Dublin and Holyhead, proposed in 1997 by a leading British engineering firm, Symonds, for a rail tunnel from Dublin to Holyhead. Either tunnel, at 80 km (50 mi), would be by far the longest in the world, and would cost an estimated €20bn.

[edit] Merchant marine

Total - 35 ships (with a volume of 1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over) totalling 288,401 GRT/383,628 metric tons deadweight (DWT)

Ships by type - bulk carrier 7, cargo ship 22, chemical tanker 1, container ship 3, roll-on/roll-off ship 1, short-sea passenger 1

Foreign-owned - Germany 3, Italy 7, Norway 2

Registered in other countries - 18 (2003 est.)

[edit] Airports

[edit] Ireland

The main airports are Dublin Airport, Shannon Airport and Cork Airport. Many regional airports exist, some flying to international destinations. For example Ireland West Airport Knock in County Mayo, Galway Airport, Sligo Airport, Kerry Airport and Waterford Airport. Services to the Aran Islands are operated from Aerfort na Minna (Connemara Regional Airport).

The Republic's former state airline, Aer Lingus provides air services from Dublin, Belfast International, Cork and Shannon to Europe, North America and the Middle East. Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports are run by the State body, Dublin Airport Authority (formerly Aer Rianta). Two other Irish airlines are Ryanair, one of the largest in the world and Aer Arann. There are a number of other operates specialising in general aviation.

[edit] Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has three airports main airports and of these the major one is Belfast International Airport. The others are George Best Belfast City Airport and City of Derry Airport.

[edit] Passenger Numbers

In 2008 the passenger numbers were as follows:

Rank	Airport	Runways	Max Length	Passengers
1	Dublin	3	2,637 m (8,650 ft)	23,500,000[5]
2	Belfast International	2	2,780 m (9,100 ft)	5,262,354[6]
3	Cork	2	2,133 m (7,000 ft)	3,250,000[7]
4	Shannon	2	3,119 m (10,230 ft)	3,100,000[8]
5	Belfast City	1	1,829 m (6,000 ft)	2,570,742[6]
6	Knock	1	2,340 m (7,700 ft)	630,170[9]
7	City of Derry	1	1,967 m (6,450 ft)	439,033[6]
8	Kerry	2	2,000 m (6,600 ft)	420,000[10]
9	Galway	1	1,289 m (4,230 ft)	270,000
10	Waterford	1	1,433 m (4,700 ft)	144,000
11	Donegal	1	1,496 m (4,910 ft)	65,537[11]
12	Sligo	1	1,199 m (3,930 ft)	44,500†
13	Weston	1	924 m (3,030 ft)	21,522
14	Abbeyshrule	1	620 m (2,000 ft)	3,000††

† Latest available figures are for 2007. †† Latest available figures are for 2006.

[edit] Gateway Irish Urban Reference Destination Distances

Midlands Gateway Urban Destination Distances
The distances given below are in kilometres as travelling through the Midlands Gateway ATM (Athlone-Tullamore-Mullingar).
Where it is logical to travel along the east or west coast directly, these distances are provided according to the popular route.
Urban by-passes, Rockades, Diversions, Detours and all other dispositives prolonging the travelled distances between destinations are equated to ZERO.
This is an estimation distance guide only.

×	City /Town 1	City /Town 2	City /Town 3	City /Town 4	City /Town 5	City /Town 6	City /Town 7	City /Town 8	City /Town 9	City /Town 10	City /Town 11	City /Town 12	City /Town 13	City /Town 14	City /Town 15	City /Town 16	City /Town 17	City /Town 18	City /Town 19	City /Town 20	City /Town 21	City /Town 22	City /Town 23	City /Town 24	City /Town 25	City /Town 26	City /Town 27	City /Town 28	City /Town 29	City /Town 30	City /Town 31	City /Town 32	City /Town 33
km	Athboy
km	80	Athlone
km	188	241	Ballymena
km	144	221	46	Belfast
km	100	128	298	285	Castlebar
km	60	80	152	136	168	Cavan
km	232	255	44	91	269	180	Coleraine
km	368	217	467	424	274	300	491	Cork
km	220	234	89	114	221	163	50	478	Derry
km	40	142	163	120	230	88	187	309	188	Drogheda
km	80	124	211	168	235	108	235	259	236	53	M-50 Dublin
km	72	160	127	84	248	80	152	341	165	37	85	Dundalk
km	248	219	418	375	301	274	443	78	430	260	211	211	Dungarvan
km	60	40	222	176	130	40	200	297	193	90	80	120	251	Edgeworthstown
km	184	108	453	407	173	213	387	140	408	296	243	324	160	148	Ennis
km	120	126	434	168	160	46	157	363	107	137	154	100	337	86	234	Enniskillen
km	128	96	354	341	92	160	326	201	276	268	219	249	227	136	80	190	Galway
km	152	124	333	290	250	178	358	148	345	175	126	207	96	155	150	265	174	Kilkenny
km	160	230	515	472	290	319	539	87	476	357	308	389	165	296	155	382	215	195	Killarney
km	160	123	409	366	183	217	417	99	368	251	202	283	119	175	41	280	109	131	114	Limerick
km	40	55	245	197	112	56	228	284	191	118	105	147	244	15	156	101	156	162	310	202	Longford
km	32	48	215	169	154	59	232	242	221	75	65	85	216	35	155	121	144	120	261	159	42	Mullingar
km	60	116	244	201	227	130	269	223	256	86	37	118	175	107	206	193	205	89	272	165	114	72	Naas
km	100	80	368	325	174	169	332	134	307	210	161	242	151	146	84	232	100	93	149	43	153	111	124	Nenagh
km	60	179	97	110	199	72	102	423	57	133	181	110	375	143	338	50	255	290	404	297	128	130	201	254	Omagh
km	200	202	375	332	328	300	400	195	387	217	160	249	117	235	239	363	306	121	280	198	242	200	141	202	332	Rosslare
km	180	134	374	392	168	279	402	119	352	277	227	309	146	214	20	342	94	158	134	28	221	179	190	69	329	224	Shannon
km	160	117	215	202	84	121	187	323	137	201	207	200	334	96	255	75	175	228	338	231	81	123	199	195	114	358	216	Sligo
km	260	215	509	466	249	312	483	118	434	351	302	383	195	289	148	375	175	228	33	107	296	254	265	143	398	295	128	297	Tralee
km	60	43	256	213	169	93	281	207	256	149	101	130	181	80	165	156	138	85	226	124	77	35	89	76	204	164	144	158	219	Tullamore
km	160	174	373	330	310	228	397	123	385	215	166	247	46	205	170	291	236	51	208	129	212	170	129	160	329	73	155	289	226	135	Waterford
km	180	189	350	307	315	244	374	184	362	112	134	224	107	263	228	307	295	110	269	187	228	186	129	189	307	19	214	333	285	151	63	Wexford
km	120	170	270	227	280	204	295	254	282	112	55	144	176	181	281	146	265	132	346	240	188	146	75	199	227	109	265	253	340	146	133	84	Wicklow

[edit] See also

• State-sponsored bodies of Ireland
• List of Ireland-related topics

[edit] References

1. ^ Feda O'Donnell Coaches
2. ^ CSO figures
3. ^ IEI report (pdf)
4. ^ BBC report
5. ^ Dublin airport passenger traffic to fall, says authority
6. ^ ^{a b c} UK Airport Statistics: 2008 - annual
7. ^ 3.25 Million Passengers Travel Through Cork Airport in 2008
8. ^ Numbers down again last year at Shannon Airport
9. ^ Knock Airport reports record passenger numbers
10. ^ Passenger numbers up at Kerry Airport
11. ^ Donegal Airport Exceeds Traffic Estimates

[edit] External links

• Rail Users Ireland - Ireland's National Rail Users Group Formerly Platform 11
• Meath on Track - Navan railway campaign (defunct)
• A discussion on RTÉ Radio One's science show Quantum Leap about the quality of GPS mapping in Ireland is available here. The discussion starts 8mins 17sec into the show. It was aired on 18 Jan 2007 Requires Real player.

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