In November's edition of Railnews we have a special feature about developments – which are considerable – on the railways of one of our closest European neighbours, the Republic of Ireland.
Ireland’s railways were built as part of the ‘railway mania’ of the mid-nineteenth century. The first line opened in 1834 between Dublin and Dun Laoghaire and extensive construction continued until the early years of the 20th century.
Politics later intervened, and in 1925 all the railway companies whose lines fell on the southern side of the newly-created border between Northern Ireland and the Republic were amalgamated as the Great Southern Railway.
Then, between 1949 and 1960, huge changes took place. CIE, which became the Republic’s transport company, was nationalised and many lines closed. In the North, 80 per cent of Ulster’s railway system was also shut down.
Iarnród Éireann (Irish Railways) made an early change-over to diesel traction and by the end of 1962 – with further branch line closures imminent – steam traction was eliminated, five years ahead of Britain.
Although American-designed diesel traction was preferred, until the early `80s, rolling stock was largely bought from Britain. Now it invariably comes from Japan and South East Asia.
The last order from BR was for a fleet of Mk3 coaches, which was significant because it not only marked the last time Irish Railways purchased British rolling stock, it also led to the end of slam doors on British trains.
IE had specified that Mk3 coaches should be supplied with centrally-controlled doors. When BR’s then chief executive Sir Robert Reid (later BR’s chairman) saw these coaches, he insisted that all future BR passenger coaches should have automatic doors, as adopted by IE. These were then incorporated in the Class 442 electric trains built for the Bournemouth main line (now withdrawn by SWT).
It was around this time, while attending the British Transport Staff College, that I was first introduced to Ireland. Each of the college’s three-month general management courses involved a week’s study tour in another European country. Ours, in November 1981, was to be in Ireland. It took some time to persuade everyone they should go, as in those days most people only associated Ireland with The Troubles.
But during our visit it was very evident that the Republic’s government had great plans for economic growth by building on membership of the European Community, which Ireland had joined in 1973 along with the UK.
Among Ireland’s many problems was a need to completely rebuild and expand its infrastructure. Another major concern was its burgeoning population of schoolchildren who would soon need to be found employment. And that problem was most acute around Dublin, where two-thirds of the population lived.
An added problem in Dublin was that it had the worst traffic congestion, even then, of any major European city. This was being addressed by plans for improved bus services and Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART), to be based on electrification of the rail lines around Dublin Bay and operation of Metro-style trains similar to Tyne and Wear’s.
In 1981, to achieve economic growth and create new jobs for its young people, Ireland was seeking substantial inward investment from Europe and the rest of the world.
The Development Agency’s plans included paying a grant of 125 per cent (yes, 125 per cent!) to a then-undisclosed US company to create 6,000 new jobs. Subsequently, the Agency announced this was the initial deal for Intel to set up factories to manufacture computer chips in Ireland. That industry went on to create tens of thousands of jobs.
Since then, Ireland has never looked back – although only in recent times have railways started to play a major part in the Irish government’s long-term policies.
But it was very clear, back in 1981 – and still today – that when the Irish set their minds to improving a situation they do so rapidly and effectively, including exploiting to the full their membership of what is now the European Union.
In just one year – this year – Ireland will have gone from having the oldest InterCity train fleet in Europe to having the newest. And it is preparing for astounding traffic growth in the next 10 years, including quadrupling Dublin’s rail capacity.
Are there any lessons, for us, to be learned from this?
Maybe. Just consider this. In December 1981, at the end of my British Transport Staff College course, we had to make proposals for future transport projects. My syndicate group proposed the construction of a new Parkway station on the Midland main line, close to East Midlands Airport and the M1 motorway.
This scheme has finally been included in the new East Midlands train franchise and is due to open in December 2008 – exactly 27 years after we first proposed it.
In the same time, Ireland has gone from one of the poorest countries in Europe to being one of the most prosperous – including investing heavily in what is now Europe’s fastest-growing railway.