Shock omission - Kilkenny platform extension not mentioned in national railway review

An all-island plan to develop the rail system does not include any recommendation that the platform in Kilkenny be extended.

While the report of the All-island Strategic Rail Review contains some positives for the Kilkenny line, the issue that has made headlines, in the recent past, is conspicuous by its absence. The line to Kilkenny, on the Waterford-Dublin line, has been included in plans for service frequency and speed improvements, as well as upgrades to the ‘passing loop’.

This section of the rail line is also earmarked for electrification, as part of a wider scheme to move away from diesel engines.

However, recently a call was made by Waterford TD Matt Shanahan for Iarnród Éireann to prioritise the restoration of a platform at Kilkenny Railway Station, which was shortened 20 years ago, significantly reducing the size of train it can service.

“The train from Waterford to Dublin is always extremely busy, and it’s not good enough that there’s been such a reduction in capacity for the last 20 years,” he said, in February.

The news for travellers on the route is that a platform extension is not among the many recommendations for improvements to the rail service in the island.

The strategic review identified challenges to the existing rail service in Ireland, including that ‘current infrastructure limits opportunities to deliver affordable, transformational improvements’.

Passenger experience can be improved by ‘targeting investments that add capacity to reduce overcrowding, such as longer trains and more frequent passenger services’.
Because of the platform length in Kilkenny it can not take longer trains.

The aim of improving the rail service, and creating more connectivity between communities via railways, is to see more passengers using trains. Additional capacity will then be needed. Again, infrastructure must be addressed. The report says: “Most capacity can be delivered by building additional track, upgrading junctions, and adding platform capacity in some places.”

The review process included public consultation. The responses from this consultation were used to develop and refine the goals and objectives of this study.
Most notably, a very high response rate from County Fermanagh saw the case for extending rail services to Enniskillen included in the second draft of the report.
Despite calls in public for the extension of the Kilkenny platform, there was very low engagement with the consultation from this county.

The report says: “A transformed railway would help reduce congestion on the island’s road networks, reduce accidents, improve air quality, reduce noise, and reduce the carbon footprint of the transport sector. It would also deliver a significant boost to the productivity of the economy in both jurisdictions through promoting agglomeration (productivity arising from pooling and sharing of resources and knowledge across labour markets) across the island of Ireland.”

The Dublin-Waterford line, via Kilkenny, is currently a single track, diesel engine line. This strategic review recommends an upgrade to a dual track from Dublin to Kilkenny; the electrification of the whole length of the line.
It is recommended the Kildare to Waterford section of the line be upgraded to allow trains travel at a speed of up to 200kph.
More frequent trains are recommended, as well as upgrading the ‘loop track’ on the Waterford-Kilkenny section of the line.