Question about NI Railways

[4SRKT]

I would have thought though that EU law would at least have required track/ operator separation and the allowance of open access rights in NI?

Irish Rail operate over NIR metals, so Open Access is sort of covered. I don't know, but it's possible that within Translink some paper company exists to split them up, allowing them to both conform with and ignore EU law.

 

[Carlisle]

It's a political issue. Mrs Thatcher never privatised anything in Northern Ireland, due to the knowledge that it caused unemployment, and that unemployment causes (in Northern Ireland particularly, but also elsewhere) social unrest. In NI 'social unrest' can mean a hell of a lot more than setting fire to a furniture store. It was a very interesting tacit admission by the Tories that privatisation is NOT good for the people who actually work in the industries concerned. Making people redundant in an unstable area that had some characteristics of a war zone was a step too far. The region has been referred to as 'The Independent Keynesian Republic of Northern Ireland' by commentators.


Now that railway privatisation has been so thoroughly discredited, at least in the form Johns Major and McGregor did it, Translink and the people of Northern Ireland are safe from its evils.

I agree with you about the passanger rail and privitisation being a pretty poor idea although feel the freight side would benefit from some private companies operating trains if any were interested in setting up over there to try and win more traffic from road transport

 

[4SRKT]

I agree with you about the passanger rail and privitisation being a pretty poor idea although feel the freight side would benefit from some private companies operating trains if any were interested in setting up over there to try and win more traffic from road transport

Northern Ireland is too small for rail freight transport IMHO. Plus the UTA shut nearly all the lines leaving little more than a rump. All freight within NIR had been operated by CIE/Irish Rail for years before it ceased and consisted of little more than bulk fertiliser, cement, Guinness, and containers to and from Adelaide yard, plus add hoc fertiliser trains hauled by NIR locos between Adelaide and Derry for onward road distribution into Co. Donegal. The virtual disappearance of freight from Irish Rail in recent years speaks volumes of the difficulties faced by rail freight in a small country with mainly small flows of high value goods.

I agree that freight privatisation was the right move here BTW, and didn't make that clear.

 

[jamesontheroad]

A big issue relates to the sensitive situation in which NI maintains economic activity. As previous posters have pointed out, ever since the Troubles, no politician has wanted to pass legislation that might lead to unemployment.

Like much of the rest of the UK and RoI, NI lost most of its heavy industrial base during the twentieth century. To keep things fluid, shall we say, politicians both sides of the Irish Sea were happy to let the public sector grow substantially. Today, NI has a duplicate all of it's own for every Whitehall department.

Whereas around 19% of the UK's total workforce (GB+NI) works in the public sector, in NI it's more the 30%. By comparison, about 24% of Scotland's workforce is in the public sector. Very roughly, about one fifth of Northern Ireland's entire economic output is generated by the province's own public sector activity.

At the sharp end of things, this means that NI is remarkable as a small region which has almost 100% "public" public transport. There are a few regional operators who run commuter buses into Belfast and Dublin, and there is a privately run bus from Derry to the two Belfast airports, but that's about it. Translink run everything: Metro (formerly Citybus), Ulsterbus and NIR. And while my friends and family in NI never stop complaining about the state of public transport in the province, I find that it is still astonishingly comprehensive (reliable, if infrequent, Ulsterbus service to almost every village and town) and affordable.

 

[edwin_m]

I believe the Republic has a waiver from most EU railway directives including infrastructure/operations specification, though this may be time-limited. Not sure if the same applies to NI.

Incidentally IE are now running a couple of container workings within the Republic and the cement traffic never stopped entirely. It's possible some cross-border freight might restart in the future, especially as Derry is a potential railhead for nearby parts of the Republic.

 

[Cyberbeagle]

I believe the Republic has a waiver from most EU railway directives including infrastructure/operations specification, though this may be time-limited. Not sure if the same applies to NI.

Incidentally IE are now running a couple of container workings within the Republic and the cement traffic never stopped entirely. It's possible some cross-border freight might restart in the future, especially as Derry is a potential railhead for nearby parts of the Republic.

Irish Rail no longer have that derogation, but haven't heard similar for NIR.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...turing-as-derogation-ends/archiv/2012/03.html

 

[DT611]

edited as i just saw Cyberbeagle's post

 

[TUC]

I would have thought though that EU law would at least have required track/ operator separation and the allowance of open access rights in NI?

Irish Rail operate over NIR metals, so Open Access is sort of covered. I don't know, but it's possible that within Translink some paper company exists to split them up, allowing them to both conform with and ignore EU law.

i don't think any such paper company exists. The Enterprise service from Belfast to Dublin is just like services that exist between other european countries rather than being an example of open access.

 

[Carlisle]

i don't think any such paper company exists. The Enterprise service from Belfast to Dublin is just like services that exist between other european countries rather than being an example of open access.

The enterprise has been running since 1947 so it should have well established 'grandfather rights' if that's the correct phrase

 

[Eagle]

Not sure if the same applies to NI.

It could be claimed that NI is not a member of the EU; the UK is. And (most of) the UK definitely complies with the open access regulations.

Anyway, as well as Enterprise, there is one IÉ service in the early morning from Newry to Bray (for commuters to Dublin, mainly, as it's before the first Enterprise). Perhaps that counts as open access :P