How, precisely, does the Irish network interoperate with the Continental network?Surely standard gauge would be required for any new build in Ireland. They are subject to the same interoperability requirements as the rest of the EU are they not?
How, precisely, does the Irish network interoperate with the Continental network?Surely standard gauge would be required for any new build in Ireland. They are subject to the same interoperability requirements as the rest of the EU are they not?
I'm not so sure that the rules do not apply. The new high speed network in Spain is built to standard gauge. Was it a requirement to have standard gauge for new build there? In principle the rules should apply equally, but clearly there is a huge cost involved in converting existing lines to standard gauge. So it's unlikely to happen any time soon. But it doesn't mean not planning for it at some in the future.What about Finland, Portugal and (most of) Spain? If the rules don't apply there then why should they apply to a network that will almost certainly never be connected to the rest of Europe ?
It doesn't directly - unless someone builds a tunnel under the Irish Sea connecting Britain with Ireland. Indirectly there are various common standards which would help with the procurement and supply of rolling stock for example. In theory it promotes competition and reduces costs.How, precisely, does the Irish network interoperate with the Continental network?
The other problem with bringing back the Irish Mk3s to the UK would presumably have been re-gauging the bogies or finding/making suitable replacements.
The MKIIIs were withdrawn en-masse despite only being about 25 years old. Those in power decided they were old and needed replacing with something shiny - when there was nothing wrong that a decent refurb couldn't have fixed. Instead, a small fortune was spent on buying more of the 22k, which despite them being arguably the nicest DMUs to be found in the British Isles was something of a waste given Irish Rails somewhat perilous finances. They were offered for sale but no purchase was ever likely - to run them in the UK, the only likely scenario, would have required a complete rewiring. And so most have been scrapped. Meanwhile, the 8200 class EMUs (dating from 2000) and the 2700 class DMUs (1998) have also been entirely withdrawn, and will most likely meet the same fate.
But given this is a company that still staffs stations that see 2 trains a day is anyone really surprised?
I'm not so sure that the rules do not apply. The new high speed network in Spain is built to standard gauge. Was it a requirement to have standard gauge for new build there? In principle the rules should apply equally, but clearly there is a huge cost involved in converting existing lines to standard gauge. So it's unlikely to happen any time soon. But it doesn't mean not planning for it at some in the future.
The competition aspect is all ready plentyful however if companies don't bid for contracts they're is nothing that can be done.
In theory interoperability allows a standard design to be used across a whole range of countries, which makes it likely that more companies will have something in their product range to bid for a particular requirement.
that is true. However the costs of regauging the network wouldn't be worth it just to have a couple more companies bidding to build trains for us. the disruption (which may likely exist) may kill the lot altogether.
the network barely gets enough as it is, funding it properly and encouraging more use of it are the issues that need dealing with and is where the money needs to be spent. On the list of things that need doing regauging is likely not on the governments list, and it certainly isn't on the wish list of us users.
Am I right in thinking that on the Irish rail network there isn't the variable loading gauge with passenger stock and in theory any passenger stock can run anywhere except of course for the DART trains.
But what loading gauge would it be built to?