Brennan 'will not allow' derailment to be used to close line

Iarnród Éireann will not be allowed to use the derailment of a freight train as an excuse to close down the Waterford to Limerick Junction line, the Minister for Transport has insisted in the Dáil.

Mr Brennan also said if Iarnród Éireann could not develop a strong freight service, "we should consider giving it to another body and take on the trade union and other difficulties that may cause".

Speaking during a special notice debate on the accident on the viaduct over the river Suir, Mr Brennan said: "I would not allow Iarnród Éireann to link a particular event such as this to the future assessment of the need for a line" which was "a separate issue completely".

The Minister also said he would check to see if parts of the line, not affected by the derailment early yesterday morning could be kept open, but preliminary indications were that the entire line would be closed for "some months" for repairs.

The accident happened at about 3.50 a.m. yesterday when a bulk cement train, with two locomotives and 22 wagons, derailed as it passed over the river Suir viaduct outside Cahir. The locomotives and one wagon remained fully on the track.

"The remaining 12 wagons fell from the centre span of the viaduct and landed on the bank of the river or in the river itself," Mr Brennan said.

"These wagons were extensively damaged. Part of the viaduct and a section of the track between the viaduct and Cahir station were also extensively damaged."

Opposition deputies expressed concern about the future of the railway line and said Iarnród Éireann wanted to close. Mr Brennan said it would "be silly for a country like this to go around closing railway lines".

He acknowledged that he was "more enthusiastic" about the Waterford to Limerick Junction line than Iarnród Éireann, but it was "incumbent on people to support the railway services". There was one passenger service in each direction a day on that line.

"I see no reason such a rail service should not be a good one, linking those two large areas of population."

Mr Eamon Ryan, the Green Party's transport spokesman, asked how could passengers use the service "when on occasions it would be quicker to cycle". He said the railway company "apparently sets its timing almost deliberately to discourage passenger use of the service. Ultimately the Minister is in charge," he said.

Labour's transport spokeswoman, Ms Róisín Shortall, accused the Minister of failing to provide the necessary funding to make the line a fully functioning one, and said the lack of investment in the line contributed to the accident.

Mr Brennan, rejecting the claim, said €400 million was invested in the railway each year and €1 billion in the past five years. He had kept the line open and it was not his job to set the timetable or to intervene in the day-to-day running of each railway line.