Home > Rail transport in Ireland
:For rail transport in Great Britain see rail transport in Great BritainAt present, rail services in Ireland are provided by two companies: Iarnród Éireann operating from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland Railways operating from Northern Ireland. Despite having at one stage one of the most extensive railway systems outside Great Britain, Ireland now has a greatly reduced route network (see History of rail transport in Ireland). Most routes in the Republic are radial from Dublin, while the North has only suburban routes from Belfast and a lengthy route to Derry (Londonderry) remaining. The map to the right shows the current railway routes in Ireland, including those closed to traffic but still somewhat in place, those used only for freight or inspections as well as those that are fully operational. Some of the airports are marked for reference – Farranfore and Belfast City Airport are the only two in walking distance of a railway station. The destinations serviced with ports are also shown, though only some are now rail-connected. Some mountains, lakes and placenames have been marked to provide context.
1 Traction
One of the 34 GM locomotives bought in the 1990sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s Years: Events and trends Computers, technology Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other techn, Iarnród Éireann locomotive 215 "River Avonmore - An Abhainn Mhor", sits at Grand Canal Dock DART station.
34 locomotives were added to the rail system in the early 1990sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s Years: Events and trends Computers, technology Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other techn. This was a joint order by IÉ and NIR, with 32 locos for the former and 2 for the latter. They were supplied by General Motors Electro-Motive DivisionGeneral Motors' Electro-Motive Division (normally shortened to GM EMD or just EMD is the world's largest builder of railroad locomotives. General Electric is (narrowly) No. 2, and between them they have built the overwhelming majority of the locomotives i. The NIR locos, although shipped in NIR livery, were repainted in 'Enterprise' livery as were at least two IÉ locos. Iarnród Éireann designated their locomotives the '201 class', the entire 34 locos being numbered 201 to 234 (The NIR locos were later prefixed with an 8). These locomotives are the heaviest to run in Ireland to date, and are 3,300 horse-power (2.5 MW).
IÉ's other locomotives are also from General Motors. There are 18 '071' class 1976, 2450 hp (1.8 MW), 12 '181' class 1966, 1000 hp (750 kW), 36 '141' class 1962, 950 hp (700 kW) and some remaining '121' class locos 1960, 950 hp (700 kW). Mostly 071 are used on intercity services, with the others reserved for freight services (formerly suburban services also, but these are mostly DMU operated now). NIR have three other GM locos, numbered 111,112 and 113. These are identical to the 071 class locos.
NIR and IÉ both run suburban services using diesel multiple units (DMUs) – these are often termed railcars in Ireland (see rail terminologyRail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the mainly American term "railroad" and the mainly British term "railway" is the most obvious trans-Atlantic difference in rail terminology. see usage of the terms railroad and ra). NIR are replacing some aging DMUs with new regional railcars built by CAFCAF may be: Confederation of African Football CAF, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles is a Spanish railway coach company A Cambridge Application Form is a university application form filled in by students applying to study at the University of Cam, which began to arrive in 2004. These have been designated 3000 class, and a series of difficulties have been encountered in testing, delaying the delivery and entering into service of some units. IÉ introduced 17 new suburban railcars in 19931993 is a common year starting on Friday and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003 Events January January 1 Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of independent Slovakia and Czech Republic. as the 2600 class (built by Tokyu, Japan) for the Kildare 'Arrow' commuter service. One of these has now been used for spare parts. Further additions to the fleet were made in 1999 (2700 class, 27 GEC- Alsthom built), 2000 (2800 class, 20 Tokyu built) and 2003 (2900 class, 80 CAF built). A further 36 CAF railcars will arrive in 2005. An order is being placed for regional railcars also. The lone 2600 railcar, and an unused single 2700 railcar have been sent to Scotland for overhaul, to enter service as a mixed pair designated 2651 and 2652.
