Further works on rail lineLine in operation for more than 160 years
A railway through the area, which had been threatened with closure, is now undergoing phased upgrading to provide an improved service to passengers.
The latest phase of upgrading on the Limerick-Ballybrophy railway, which serves Castleconnell, Birdhill and Nenagh, commenced on Monday for a two week period.
Train services on the line have been suspended with an announcement from Iarnród Éireann that the works, which started on Saturday last, are due to continue until Sunday week, February 13, and meantime a bus service will operate for intending train passengers.
Buses will depart at the normal scheduled train times, with the exception of the 7.45am Nenagh to Limerick service. This will instead depart at the earlier time of 7.30am, serving Birdhill at 7.52am and Castleconnell at 8.05am.
The work will see a further two miles of track renewed along the line which, combined with previous upgrade works, will facilitate journey time improvements during 2022.
A further 3.5 miles of track renewal was carried out on the line during November and December last and was in addition to extensive upgrading on large portions of the track carried out over the 15 month period, up to June 2021, during which the line had been closed due to the pandemic.
The work during the prolonged period of closure involved five miles of track renewal, extensive fibre cable works, and bridge works at Ballycahill Bridge, near Nenagh.
However, Iarnód Éireann has pointed out that the extensive track renewal will not be the sole determining factor for line speeds, as there are also 126 level crossings on less than 53 miles of track.
Irish Rail is engaging with the Department of Transport on possible funding to address level crossings and other improvement works which would allow for the operation of reduced travelling times on the line.
A few years ago, the line was identified as operating at a substantial loss and threatened with closure unless there was an increase in the number of fare paying passengers using the service.
The line through Birdhill has been in operation for more than 160 years.
In 1858 the line from Limerick to Castleconnell was opened and shortly afterwards it was decided to extend the line to Killaloe. Birdhill was just an incidental stopping point on the way.
ACT OF PARLIAMENT
A sum of £37,000 was allocated by an Act of Parliament for that extension. The line eventually reached Birdhill and was opened on July 23, 1860. Birdhill was the end of the line. A turntable was put in a couple of hundred yards up the line here and it took six men seventeen minutes to turn a locomotive to return back to Limerick again.
It took 45 minutes to travel from Limerick. First Class travel cost 1s. 6d. or 10d to travel third class.
The ongoing improvement of the line should further enhance the facility as the line continues to operate towards the completion of a second century servicing the community in the area.