Rail Users Ireland (previously
Platform 11) is a rail transport pressure group in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
whose agenda is centred on the idea that there is an economic case for expanding
rail transport in IrelandRail services in Ireland are provided by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland.The gauge is Irish gauge.Most routes in the Republic radiate from Dublin...
though better utilization of existing infrastructure with only justified expansion of existing routes. Through press releases, lobbying and leafleting they have promoted the
InterconnectorThe Interconnector , also known as DART Underground, is a planned railway tunnel in Ireland, expected to run under the city centre of Dublin...
, a proposal to build a tunnel south of the Liffey to link up
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
's Heuston Station with the existing
DARTThe Dublin Area Rapid Transit is part of the suburban railway network in Ireland, running mainly along the coastline of Dublin Bay on the Trans-Dublin route, from Greystones in County Wicklow, through Dublin to Howth and Malahide in County Dublin.Trains are powered via a 1500V DC overhead catenary...
and
LUASLuas , also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, is a light rail or tram system serving Dublin, the first such system in the decades since the closure of the last of the Dublin tramways. In 2007, the system carried 28.4 million passengers, a growth of 10% since...
lines. The group is a member of the
European Passengers Federation a European level representative body for rail users which shares the same outlook in terms of sustainable transport provision and improving standards on public transport.
Membership
Although slighted by opponents as favouring "Palerail", a reference to their theory that higher ridership
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
services should be expedited, some of the principals actually hail from areas such as
ClonmelClonmel in County Tipperary is the county seat of South Tipperary County Council. The town lies mainly on the northern bank of the River Suir with a smaller section south of the river. It lies in a valley, surrounded by mountains and hills. The Comeragh Mountains are to the south, while northeast...
and
TemplemoreTemplemore is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Since February 1964, the former Richmond Barracks in the town has been the site of the Garda Síochána College, the centre for training Ireland's police force...
, previous committee members have hailed from
LimerickLimerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland,
[Information based on Central Statistics Office figures from 2006, which is the most recent census information available.] and the principal city in County Limerick...
and
SligoSligo , is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is the second largest urban area in Connacht . It is home to the Sligo Institute of Technology and St...
and claim more experience of the more rural parts of the network than those who actually live there.
Areas of concern
As well as making the case for expanded commuter services in the heavily urbanised Greater
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
Area, the group advocates suburban rail for
GalwayGalway is the fastest growing and is the fifth largest city in Ireland and the only city in the province of Connacht. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland...
and
LimerickLimerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland,
[Information based on Central Statistics Office figures from 2006, which is the most recent census information available.] and the principal city in County Limerick...
if combined with a focused planning environment such as the
CorkCork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster...
LUTS (Land Use and Transportation Study). They also advocate
busA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus seats a maximum of 8 to 300 passengers...
services connecting to railheads where rail is not feasible. They also support direct rather than connecting services to
ClonmelClonmel in County Tipperary is the county seat of South Tipperary County Council. The town lies mainly on the northern bank of the River Suir with a smaller section south of the river. It lies in a valley, surrounded by mountains and hills. The Comeragh Mountains are to the south, while northeast...
.
Local Partners
Recently Platform 11 have been assisting regional groups. Groups currently affiliated with Platform 11 are
Newbridge Rail Group and
Kildare Rail Users' Group. It is expected further local groups representing the
MaynoothMaynooth is a university town located in north County Kildare, Ireland, home to both a branch of the National University of Ireland and a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
line as well as others will be formed. Platform 11 also works with groups such as
Dart for Lucan in the promotion of new services and required infrastructure investment.
Interconnector
The Interconnector is a proposed East-West railway tunnel under the city centre of Dublin. The tunnel as proposed by
Iarnród ÉireannIarnród Éireann is the national railway system operator of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann . It operates all internal intercity, commuter and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the...
would provide stations at Heuston (linking with the Kildare Line), High Street, St Stephens Green (linking with the Green Luas line and the Airport Metro),
PearsePearse is a surname, and may refer to:* Patrick Pearse , leader of the Irish Easter Rising in 1916* Barbara Pearse, British biological scientist* Charles Pearse, South African cricketer...
(linking with a DART service from Greystones to Maynooth) and Spencer Dock (continuing on to
DroghedaDrogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. Drogheda is the third largest town in Ireland....
and linking with the Red line Luas).
Dublin Metro Project
The
Railway Procurement AgencyRailway Procurement Agency is a State Agency of the Department of Transport in the Republic of Ireland charged with the development of light railway and metro infrastructure...
wishes to proceed with a plan to operate a
metroA rapid transit, metro, subway, underground, or elevated railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with high capacity and frequency, and which is grade separated from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically either in underground tunnels or elevated above street level...
from Dublin International Airport to Dublin City Centre. While behind the metro concept in principle, Platform 11 has expressed concerns that the metro plan as currently released offers insufficient interconnections with other parts of the rail network, with few opportunities for "one-change" journeys from various parts of Dublin. They are also concerned that building the metro to
standard gaugeThe standard gauge is a widely-used rail gauge. Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
rather than
Irish gaugeThe track gauge adopted by the mainline railways in Ireland is . This unusual gauge is currently otherwise found only in the Australian states of Victoria, southern New South Wales and South Australia , and in Brazil...
would limit the scope of interoperability with DART. The RPA has proposed removing the extensions of the line to
SwordsSwords is a suburban town outside Dublin city located in Fingal, Ireland, close to Dublin Airport. Situated about 13 km from the city centre it is part of Dublin's commuter belt....
and to St. Stephen's Green to reduce the cost of the project, terminating instead at the Airport and at
O'Connell StreetO'Connell Street is Dublin's main thoroughfare. One of Europe's widest streets, it measures 49m in width at its southern end, 46m at the north, and is 500m in length...
.
LUAS
In its initial period of planning and operation, Platform 11 raised
doubts about the RPA's assertion that 40 metre trams were not necessary on the line to
TallaghtTallaght is the largest town, and county town, of South Dublin County, Ireland. The locale held one of the earliest settlements known in the southern part of the island, and one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres...
, the red line. The trams on this line are now experiencing extremely high load factors. Following what was at times a quite heated debate played out in the media notably on
Newstalk 106 a
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
radio station and despite claims from the
Railway Procurement AgencyRailway Procurement Agency is a State Agency of the Department of Transport in the Republic of Ireland charged with the development of light railway and metro infrastructure...
that there was no need for 40 metre trams on the red line, the
Railway Procurement AgencyRailway Procurement Agency is a State Agency of the Department of Transport in the Republic of Ireland charged with the development of light railway and metro infrastructure...
have now ordered the 10 metre sections to bring all 30 metre trams to 40 metre length as well as to commence work on the depot at Red Cow to accommodate the enlarged fleet.
Unitary Transit Authorities
While being a rail lobby group, what Platform 11 admires most in other transit systems such as
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
's
Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund and the
Toronto Transit CommissionThe Toronto Transit Commission is a public transport authority that operates buses, streetcars, subways, and rapid transit lines in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
is the integration rather than competition of various transport modes such as subway/metro, heavy rail, light rail and bus. Many of their members wish to see Dublin and Cork have an integrated system of routes to encourage seamless door-to-door public transport journeys and for easy to use transit maps and payment schemes to be available for residents and visitors to be able to access all these modes.
Urban Planning
Platform 11 members tend to believe in focused planning strategies which place public transport as a primary determinant of development and which discourage car-dependent sprawl and
one-off housingOne-off housing is a term used in Ireland to refer to the building of individual rural houses, outside of towns and villages. The term is used to contrast with housing developments where multiple units are constructed as part of a housing estate or city street. Less commonly, the term is used to...
.
Rail Freight
Rail freight is viewed sceptically by the group given the low distances and tonnages involved in most rail freight operations in Ireland and the poor rail connectivity of many Irish seaports. They tend to favour diesel or electric
multiple unitThe term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelling train unit capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one cab...
vehicles solely for passengers rather than dual-use locomotives. Critics have claimed this demonstrates a "Rail for rail's sake" attitude that ignores the role rail transport plays in addressing environmental and other broader issues.
Transport 21
Platform 11 is compiling a list of details about each project in
Transport 21Transport 21 is an Irish infrastructure plan, announced on 1 November 2005 in Dublin Castle by the then Irish Minister for Transport Martin Cullen. It aims to greatly expand Ireland's transport network...
. They hope to have the most comprehensive database on the projects available. This will allow them to closely monitor all projects on a value for money basis with cost over runs and projects delays being highlighted to the appropriate authorities.
Criticisms
While Platform 11 has been a very successful consumer advocacy group, its approach has not always been orthodox.
Opposition to the Western Rail Corridor
Railway enthusiasts and rail transportation advocates were surprised at the idea of a rail pressure group opposing any rail project. Platform 11 took the view that it should only support projects they deemed viable and that other projects were more likely to hurt rather than help the cause of rail transport in Ireland. The Western Rail Corridor had very well organised support from people and politicians in the Mayo, Galway and Clare areas and has a considerable political profile in the West of Ireland, albeit with no meaningful follow-through such as local authority planning taking any account of the proposal. Supporters of this project were angered that Platform 11 opposed the reopening of this track on cost grounds, and viewed the language used by Platform 11 as patronising and emotive.
Adversarial Approach
Platform 11 are very critical of Irish Rail, the RPA (rail procurement agency) and the Irish Government, within the context of service provision, implementation of new projects and unconstructive interference in the planning and development of rail transport based transport projects.
Policy Changes
Platform 11 has changed policy positions dramatically since its formation in 2003 when it supported the Western Rail Corridor, opposed the
InterconnectorThe Interconnector , also known as DART Underground, is a planned railway tunnel in Ireland, expected to run under the city centre of Dublin...
project and attacked Irish Rail for concentrating development resources in
the PaleThe Pale or the English Pale , was the part of Ireland that was directly under the control of the English government in the late Middle Ages. It had reduced by the late 1400s to an area along the east coast stretching from Dalkey, south of Dublin, to the garrison town of Dundalk north of Drogheda...
. It now claims to favour the sections of the Western Railway Corridor from Ennis to Tuam which are about to be rebuilt.
Committee
Since 2005 the committee membership including a group photograph has been published on their web site
http://www.platform11.org/about_us/committee.php. All posts made by a committee member on the Platform 11 message board are accompanied by a small photograph. The committee holds regular meetings to develop policy and includes membership in the development of any policy through discussion. An
Annual General MeetingAn annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...
(AGM) is held typically in May or June where committee members are elected in an open fashion by the membership governed by a
constitutionA constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the...
. The AGM also includes invited speakers, in the case of 2006, Mr Tom O'Reilly Transport Planning Manager with the
Railway Procurement AgencyRailway Procurement Agency is a State Agency of the Department of Transport in the Republic of Ireland charged with the development of light railway and metro infrastructure...
.
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