Malahide rail viaduct collapse 21 August, 2009

Irish Railway Safety Scandal



Under the Railway Safety Act 2005, Irish Rail is required to commission an independent audit of its safety management system every four years. The next audit is scheduled for 2010. It will consider if inspections of the Broadmeadow viaduct were regular enough, and if an underwater survey of the pier should have been conducted. Irish Rail and the RSC are also expected to appear before the Dail Transport Committee next month to answer questions about safety.



What is particularly disgraceful about the state of Irish Rail is that it has had ten years worth of European Union and taxpayer funded largesse and has spent money on high end capital projects and new equipment without even looking at the fundamental business cases for such expenditure or indeed reinforcing its basic operating discipline or customer focus in that time. Indeed it has dreamt up more grandiose schemes such as the 3 Bn Euro Dublin underground Interconnector to connect Heuston to Connolly Station even though they are already linked by Rail. Such is the Government’s lack of faith in Irish Rail that they bypassed them for the Dublin Light rail and proposed Metro system with the result that a separate Quango has now come up with totally disconnected and grandiose schemes for these. In Ireland they say “It’s an ill horse which blows no wind” and hopefully the collapse of the Celtic Tiger will ultimately result in more realistic Public transport policies and a safer system?



Original on Blogger;



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/08/irish-railway-safety-scandal.html

Irish Railway Safety Scandal

Collapsed Broadmeadow Viaduct

Irish Railways have always had a bit of a Noddy status suffering from a toxic mixture of neglect and confused pork barrel politics. The neglect resulted in the system being starved of meaningful investment for years and gaining a negative public perception for shabby crowded trains particularly at peak times. I remember standing in a 40 year old coach from Mullingar to Dublin where the floor was the ashtray for a carriage full of chain smokers. Over the past 50 years a number of lines have closed to passenger services and gone into that euphemistic state “In the care of the Chief Engineer.” More seriously railways have been justified on social grounds with bottomless subsidies given as a PSO (Public Service Obligation) and pensioners, irrespective of means given the “right” to free unlimited rail travel. Well, as Ireland has certainly found out recently, there is no such thing as a free lunch and somebody has had to pay for “free travel.”

The confusion in policy is very apparent on routes such as Dublin / Galway where the Irish state pays a subsidy on the rail trip, the bus trip (By the state bus monopoly) and on the flight (110 miles!) on Aer Arann. Whilst paying subsidies unnecessarily on competing links it has also improved the roads so much that it is quicker to drive from Dublin to Galway than go by train – Irish Rail no longer uses the shorter direct route to Galway to save on maintenance. Their operating standards have always been a cause for concern. When I was at college a friend of mine, who was studying engineering, worked for Irish Railways for the summer. He was somewhat incredulous to find when he inspected the newly installed pneumatic signals south of Pearse St. Station that they were now in fact hydraulic signals! – the bleed valves had not been opened and the compressed air tubes which operated the points had filled with water!



Last time I went by train from Dublin to Limerick I had checked at the ticket office that there was a First Class service on the next morning’s train. In going to Heuston Station in Dublin the next morning I had to stop three times to show my ticket BEFORE getting on the train and went into the First Class Carriage to be greeted with the well practiced words before I even sat down “You know there is no First Class on this train, they’ll refund the difference on your ticket!” Indeed a lot of use a refund in 2 months by way of a euro cheque would have been to me in the UK. I told him I had checked the night before so why was there no First Class. Quick as anything he replied “Staff Shortages.” I then had the surreal experience of spending the whole 3 hour trip to Limerick as the only person in First Class apart from THREE Irish rail staff who spent the entire trip listening to a Gaelic Football final on a radio! It seemed like a shortage of motivated staff. Indeed there is strict demarcation on Irish Rail as I noticed once on the Belfast Train when the staff had to break into the buffet as the “catering staff” had not opened it. Every year on some pretext the Train Drivers hold customers to ransom by going on strike to protect their lack of productivity and restrictive practices which would be laughed at in the commercial world. Go into www.irishrail.ie/ now and they will still take money off you for weekend services timetabled as First Class (Premium in Irish rail Speak) at weekends where there will be no such service. There is no concept of a “Train Manager” multi-tasking and ensuring joined up service is delivered to the customer on Irish Rail.

But more serious than the lack of customer focus and the free ride at the taxpayers’ expense are the safety lapses. On the main line to Belfast just 10 miles north of Dublin the Broadmeadow viaduct, which runs over open water in north Dublin, collapsed into the sea last Friday despite being passed as safe following two inspections by Irish Rail engineers. The company last night stood by its inspection regime, defending a decision to pass the structure as safe despite being told by the Malahide Sea Scouts (Hi Lo!) that one of the supporting piers was damaged. It has also emerged that the pier that collapsed, causing the viaduct to fall into the water, will not be rebuilt. Instead, engineers will strengthen the line.


Irish Passenger Rail Network

Critical railway safety checks have not been carried out for the past three years because the Irish Railway safety watchdog does not have enough staff. The Railway Safety Commission (RSC) was established under the Railway Safety Act 2005 on the back of EU legislation requiring each member state to have a national railway safety authority. And Irish Rail admitted last night that its inspection regime -covering more than 1,200 bridges - would need to be reviewed after one of the busiest rail lines in the country collapsed into the sea last week.

The RSC had warned about a lack of inspectors since it began operations in 2006. It said this "lack of resources" prevented it from "devoting the time we would wish" to safety checks. It had just four inspectors responsible for almost 2,000km of rail line and hundreds of bridges until this year. Only in 2009 could it recruit an additional three inspectors, bringing the total employed to seven. It revealed that it was too busy approving new rail projects to carry out planned safety checks, and it was only able to recruit its full complement of safety inspectors this year. The RSC is charged with ensuring Irish Rail and other operators perform to the highest safety standards, but last night it emerged that just half the necessary staff were in place to cope with the huge workload of checking safety systems. The RSC began operations on January 1, 2006. It is responsible for safety on the entire rail network, including heavy rail and tram systems. It currently employs seven inspectors - three of whom were only appointed this year. The commission has four primary tasks including safety approval, which assesses if new infrastructure or rolling stock is fit for purpose. It is also responsible for safety auditing and monitoring, safety enforcement and investigations. Auditing and monitoring has included studies on the safety of level crossings, emergency escapes at stations and bridge-protection warning systems. The RSC has warned in all three of its annual reports that it has committed less time to compliance auditing "than we would have wished".



And it emerged:

The collapse of the rail viaduct over Broadmeadow estuary in north Co Dublin last Friday evening might have been a disaster, causing significant loss of life. A commuter train had just passed over it minutes earlier and another would have followed but for the alertness of driver, Keith Farrelly, who raised the alarm when he noticed the bridge starting to collapse as his train was crossing it.

That is how close we came to a real human tragedy on Irish railways. Amazingly, it transpired that the 180 metre-long viaduct had been inspected just three days beforehand and no evidence of any defect was reported to Iarnród Éireann. Yet after one of its support piers had crumbled, the State railway company was able to say there was “little doubt” that tidal scouring was a factor in the incident.

Rail Users Ireland spokesman Mark Gleeson rightly suggested that what happened raises serious questions about the maintenance and inspection regime on Ireland’s rail network – and not for the first time. After the derailment of a cement train caused the partial collapse of the Cahir viaduct in Co Tipperary, the Railway Safety Commission found “serious deficiencies” in Iarnród Éireann’s management of its infrastructure, and concluded in its 2006 report that these critical shortcomings in the company’s inspection and maintenance regime “were principally responsible for the accident”. The number of passengers carried on the line that runs through Cahir from Limerick Junction to Rosslare is minuscule compared to the 20,000 passengers per day using Dublin’s northern commuter line or the Belfast Enterprise express.


Iarnród Éireann’s Logo

But serious questions have been raised over how a supposedly 'safe' bridge could fall into the sea after two inspections. There are also concerns about safety on the network, especially as the Railway Safety Programme was extended from five to seven years in an effort to reduce costs in last year's Budget. Ensuring that bridges, viaducts, rail lines, level crossings and all other pieces of rail infrastructure are safe is a key plank of the RSC's brief. Last year, it also approved 57 infrastructure projects, ranging from construction of new bridges to approval of Luas extensions, which led to it postponing inspections.


Broadmeadow Viaduct

"The number of railway projects that required RSC approval meant that we were able to commit less time to performance auditing and monitoring than we would have wished," it warned in its 2008 report. A safety management system is only as effective as its implementation. Assessing the railway undertakings' safety case compliance is an essential part of the RSC's work but lack of resources has, in the past, prevented us devoting the time we would wish to this task."

Fine Gael's Transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said that the Railway Safety Programme had seen its funding cut, and that there was a "lack of accountability" in relation to the Broadmeadow inquiry. "They're the regulator of the industry and the guarantor of safety on the trains. I would be very concerned," he said. Under the Railway Safety Act 2005, Irish Rail is required to commission an independent audit of its safety management system every four years. The next audit is scheduled for 2010. It will consider if inspections of the Broadmeadow viaduct were regular enough, and if an underwater survey of the pier should have been conducted. Irish Rail and the RSC are also expected to appear before the Dail Transport Committee next month to answer questions about safety.


Irish Rail Class 22000

What is particularly disgraceful about the state of Irish Rail is that it has had ten years worth of European Union and taxpayer funded largesse and has spent money on high end capital projects and new equipment without even looking at the fundamental business cases for such expenditure or indeed reinforcing its basic operating discipline or customer focus in that time. Indeed it has dreamt up more grandiose schemes such as the 3 Bn Euro Dublin underground Interconnector to connect Heuston to Connolly Station even though they are already linked by Rail. Such is the Government’s lack of faith in Irish Rail that they bypassed them for the Dublin Light rail and proposed Metro system with the result that a separate Quango has now come up with totally disconnected and grandiose schemes for these. In Ireland they say “It’s an ill horse which blows no wind” and hopefully the collapse of the Celtic Tiger will ultimately result in more realistic Public transport policies and a safer system?


Collapsed Broadmeadow Viaduct

Penalty fares – Fair to Passengers?

Penalty fares - 20 years old this month - began life under British Rail as a reasonable deterrent to fare-dodging. But for some of the privatised rail companies, these £20 fines for not having a ticket have become nice little earners in their own right. One operator made £32 million from them last year alone. Another, Stagecoach's South West Trains, sparked outrage when it started judging its guards' job performance by the number of penalty fare warnings they issued.

A confidential memo, seen by The Times newspaper, suggested that South West Trains is planning to introduce a system under which guards are judged according to the amount they collect in penalties. The memo, headed "commercially sensitive, please do not circulate", instructs guards to treat passengers as fare dodgers even if they ask to buy a ticket on the train. As well as being bad for customers and guards alike, the policy is legally dubious. Rail companies have to rely on the penalty fare rules 2002, made by the then Department of Transport, to levy such charges.
These rules are explicit. A penalty fare may not be charged if there were "no facilities to issue the appropriate ticket". This, at least arguably, means there must have been a window at which there is no queue. In plain English, a person is not available if he is serving a queue. Nor is a machine available if it is in use. SWT says its policy is to sell a ticket within, at most, five minutes of waiting. Although, that does not tie in exactly with the concept of "availability".



Indeed the Department of Transport’s own guidance recognises that the burden of proof rests squarely with the Rail Operator rather than the Passenger;

“3.2 A penalty fares scheme reverses the normal 'burden of proof' which would apply if a person was prosecuted for not paying their fare. In that case, the train operator would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant intended to avoid paying their fare. Under a penalty fares scheme, anyone found without a valid ticket must normally pay a penalty, if they have previously been given the opportunity to buy a ticket and have passed the penalty fares warning signs. In this case, the passenger would have to show that they had a valid reason for not having a ticket. For this reason, we see our main role as making sure that the interests of honest passengers are protected, both in the way existing schemes are run and in the contents of any new schemes which we approve.”

In an attempt to get around the problem, the train companies have come up with "conditions of carriage". These don't incorporate the rules' wording, but say a penalty fare is payable if there is no window open and no working machine. It is doubtful that a passenger who has bought no ticket, and hence made no contract with the rail company, could be subject to any conditions. The conditions are invalid if they do not follow the DoT's rules. Many passengers complain of a "take-no-prisoners" attitude, even where travellers have good reasons for not buying a ticket and every intention of paying. They say they are being penalised for train companies' failure to provide adequate station ticket offices, with staff and opening hours cut even as passenger numbers have risen.



But what most people do not know - and what the train companies are understandably reluctant for us to find out - is that more than a few demands for penalty fares are arguably illegal. The railways' new, hard-line approach is essentially a gigantic bluff, relying on our ignorance of our rights and our unwillingness to make a fuss when collared.

ORR has no remit in dealing with penalty fare notices and penalty fare schemes. In the first instance you should follow the instructions on the penalty fares notice and make an appeal to the Independent Penalty Fares Appeal Service (‘IPFAS’) within 21 days. It is important to observe this deadline.

IPFAS considers appeals on two grounds – inappropriate use of discretion by the member of staff charging the penalty fares and a failure by the train operators to comply with the requirements of the DfT's Penalty Fares Rules, the Penalty Fares Regulations or the provisions of the train operator’s own penalty fares schemes. However, if you have general comments or concerns about the operation of a penalty fares scheme, you should write to the train operator concerned. If these are not addressed satisfactorily, you may write to Passenger Focus or to the Department for Transport (DfT), which approves and regulates penalty fares schemes.


The value proposition on Britain's railways

The horror stories are many. The pensioner physically dragged, crying, off a crowded train by two "revenue protection" goons because she had forgotten her senior citizens railcard. The passengers stung for £20 because there was a queue at the ticket office and they had to hop on without paying or miss the train. The people bullied into paying unfair penalties by empty threats of prosecution and a criminal record. Because you do, in fact, have quite extensive rights not to be charged penalty fares, many of them set out in law. Rights designed, in the words of the Government, to "make sure that the interests of honest passengers are protected".

The chances are that if you have a reasonable excuse not to pay a penalty fare, you do not have to pay it - whatever a train company's staff may claim. If you are prepared to quote your rights and call their bluff, you will usually prevail. You might be surprised to know that the Rail Staff are incentivised to charge you Penalty Fares and get a commission on what they collect. To quote from the Department of Transport’s own guidance;

“4.26 Authorised collectors and other staff who sell tickets on trains often receive commission on the value of the tickets they sell. Some operators also pay staff a small amount of commission (typically 5%) on the value of the penalty fares charged. We have no objection to this, as long as the percentage is small and the relevant instructions about the use of discretion and the circumstances in which penalty fares may or may not be charged are strictly followed.”

Provided always that you do pay the normal single fare, the chances are that any threats made against you, particularly of criminal prosecution, are hollow. Richard Colbey, a barrister at Lamb Chambers, told the Guardian: "The policy is legally dubious. Penalty fares are not enforceable unless a court orders it - and a court would be unlikely to do so with someone prepared to make a fuss. There has been no reported case of a train company suing in this way - the last thing the rail industry would want is a pronouncement by a judge on its levying of penalty fares."
The DoT’s own guidance says;

“4.31 Minimum payment. The instructions must remind authorised collectors that passengers do not have to pay all of the penalty fare immediately. Authorised collectors may require the passenger to make a minimum payment that is equal to the normal fare payable for the journey which the passenger is making. However, passengers have 21 days in which to pay the rest of the penalty fare. The instructions must give authorised collectors the discretion not to require this minimum payment, but to allow passengers 21 days in which to pay all of the penalty fare. It may be appropriate to use this discretion towards season-ticket holders who have failed to carry their ticket (see paragraph 4.29), as well as towards people who are at risk.”



Another leading rail industry lawyer said he had himself been threatened with prosecution for not paying a penalty fare. "I wrote them a very polite letter explaining why I had not got a ticket," he said. "I told them to have a go if they felt like it and heard nothing more."

So here is a summary of your rights - and advice on avoiding unfair penalty fares.

10 RULES FOR BEATING THE TICKET INSPECTOR

This advice is for National Rail services only. TfL has different rules with fewer safeguards.

1. Make a reasonable effort to buy a ticket before you get on.

It will weaken your case if you start from a station where there is a functioning ticket office or machine but make no attempt to use them. This does not, however, mean that you have to wait in a long queue and miss your train. See Rule Eight for the Government's guidance on what constitutes a reasonable waiting time.

2. If asked for a penalty fare, check that you actually have to pay one.

There are several non-penalty fare locations in London and the South- East - most importantly, Stansted airport. If your journey started at one of these locations, you cannot be charged a penalty fare. This probably applies even if you changed trains on to a penalty-fare service en route (see other box for full details). There are other lines on which one operator has penalty fares and another does not (see box). If, for instance, you are asked for a penalty fare at the excess fares office at Euston and you have arrived on a train run by Virgin, not London Midland, you do not have to pay the penalty.

If you forget your season ticket, you do not have to pay a penalty fare. You may be issued with a "nil fare" penalty notice and asked to send in a photocopy of your season, or asked to buy a normal single ticket (which you can then get refunded at a ticket office on production of your season). You can only do this twice a year. If you have a ticket between two places with multiple rail routes (eg London-Southend) but it is not valid for the route you are using, you cannot be charged a penalty fare - only the difference in price between the routes.


Passenger's lobbying Lord Adonis, Transport Minister on rail fares

If you have a ticket for the right journey but it is not valid on the particular train you are using, this is a grey area. The Department for Transport's "Penalty Fares Policy" (clause 4.29) says you should not be charged a penalty fare, just the difference in price. But the National Rail conditions of carriage say holders of "some types of discounted tickets" can be charged a penalty. It is definitely worth arguing the point.

3. Check that the person asking for a penalty fare is an "authorised collector".

Under the Penalty Fares Rules 2002, sections 5 (2) and (3), only an "authorised collector ...individually authorised by or on behalf of the operator of that train" is allowed to collect penalty fares. Not all train guards and excess ticket office staff are authorised collectors. You have the right to ask them to produce the special identification document which proves that they are. (This also helps to return a measure of the "embarrassment factor", which some collectors use to get travellers to pay up.) The DoT’s own guidance states;

"4.25 Penalty fares may only be charged by staff who have been appointed as 'authorised collectors' (rule 5 of the Penalty Fare Rules). Under rule 5, authorised collectors must carry formal identification, which should include a photograph and identify the authorised collector by either name or number. To make sure that the form of identification is consistent between different operators, it must follow a code of practice approved by the SRA. ATOC has produced a code of practice which we have approved for this purpose.”

Check also whether the person asking you for a penalty has been authorised by the operator whose train you travelled on. At stations served by more than one Train Company, even where they both have penalty fares schemes, it may be that the people on the ticket barrier are authorised by one operator but not by the operator you used.



4. Even if they pass these tests, politely refuse to pay the penalty and simply pay the full single fare.

On the train or at the station, you have the absolute right to make only "a minimum payment that is equal to the full single fare which [you] would have had to pay for [your] journey if penalty fares had not applied." This is section 8 (2) of the Penalty Fares Rules 2002 - quote it if anyone tries to tell you different. (The full single fare means the fare without any railcard discounts, cheap offers etc.) Ignore any threats that may be made at this point if you refuse to pay the full sum - these are phoney and have no legal basis.

5. Never pay the penalty in the belief that you can recover it on appeal.

You are allowed to appeal against a penalty fare to one of two supposedly "independent" bodies. Most operators use the Independent Penalty Fares Appeals Service (IPFAS), others the Independent Appeals Service (IAS). But IPFAS is in fact owned by Southeastern Trains, is based at Southeastern's head office and all its staff are Southeastern employees. IAS was also until recently based in railway offices and its company secretary is a director of the company which runs the railways' ticketing system. In short, the appeal process is not independent of the rail operators, is not operated in your interests and is most unlikely to recover your money.




6. Give your correct name, address and journey details.

Once you have paid the single fare, the collector will then ask for your name and address so that they can send a demand for the rest to be paid within 21 days. They can check names and addresses while you wait with the electoral roll database. The only criminal offence in the whole penalty fares legislation is refusing to give a name and address, or giving a false one. So give the right details.

7. Once you have paid the minimum, they will hand you a form.

Check this carefully. It must show the authorised collector's name and identity, your correct details, the details of the journey you have taken and how much you have paid. Collectors are often careless. If any of these details are omitted or are wrong, and you can prove it, it is game over.

8. When the letter demanding the rest arrives, write back politely, again refusing to pay, and explaining why you were unable to buy a ticket before travelling.

This is where the most useful part of the Penalty Fares Rules comes in - Rule 7 (4), which states that a penalty fare must not be charged "if ... there were no facilities available for selling the appropriate ticket or other authority for the journey the person wanted to make".

The Rules themselves do not define what "no facilities available" means. But in separate guidance on penalty fares ("Penalty Fares Policy") issued by the Department for Transport, it is made quite clear, in clauses 4.2 and 4.11, that passengers must be given "sufficient opportunity" to buy a ticket and that regular queues over three minutes (off-peak) and five minutes (peak) breach the definition of what is "sufficient". It is not clear whether this definition has any legal force - but if you quote it in your letter back to the train company, you are unlikely to be bothered again.



The Penalty Fares Policy also tells companies to "use discretion" towards the elderly, pregnant women, people who have enough money to buy a ticket "but not in the form needed to use the [ticket] machine" and "all passengers when the train service is severely disrupted". Once again, if you can truthfully quote any of these, you are unlikely to be bothered.

9. Remember: penalty fares are a civil, not a criminal-matter.

Train companies often scare people into paying up by threatening prosecution and a criminal record. However, the legislation establishing penalty fares, the Railways Act 1993, section 130, states that apart from failing to give your right name and address, "nothing in this section creates, or authorises the creation of any [criminal] offence". The Penalty Fares Regulations 1994 state that "the recovery of a penalty fare is a civil debt". So even if after reading your letter the company still decides it wants the money, it has to sue you - probably not worthwhile for such a small sum.

Railway companies sometimes threaten people with the main criminal law against fare-dodgers, the Regulation of Railways Act 1889. But this says there has to be "intent to avoid payment". You could argue that you haven't intended to avoid payment because you have, in fact, paid the full single fare.

10. Don't abuse the system.

The safeguards provided in the law and the regulations are intended for people who want to pay the proper fare but occasionally fall foul of inadequate facilities. If you constantly board trains without buying a ticket, or if you lie to train company staff, this could be construed as intent to avoid payment and the chances of criminal prosecution will rise.



In summary;

Those who couldn't buy a ticket should politely refuse to pay the penalty. The guard is entitled to a name and address and to know where they got on, and will get off. Mentioning paragraph 7.4 of the penalty fare rules is likely to win the argument, at least on the train.

If the guard issues a penalty notice anyway, there is 21 days to appeal to the company. However even if there is no appeal, or the appeal is not allowed, the company is not automatically entitled to its money. It first has to sue in the county court. Judges hearing such claims would not give judgment for the penalty sum unless the company could justify it.

There has been no reported case of a train company suing in this way. The last thing the rail industry would want is a pronouncement by a judge on its levying of penalty fares.

The other great imbalance is that no matter how bad the service, no matter how many cancellations or closures for “Improving your Railway” (Translation; Cutting THEIR cost of maintenance and renewal) there is No question of getting a cash refund from a rail operator. Take the chaos after New Year 2009 when the mainline rail into Euston was shut for a week. However, if you were affected by delayed or cancelled trains then you should take the time to claim compensation from your train operators.

Each rail company has a Passenger Charter, which sets out your entitlement to compensation for travel problems. Andrew Adonis, transport minister, says: “I strongly urge passengers who suffered from a series of different incidents that disrupted their journeys to claim what they are entitled to. Compensation forms are available at stations, and for passengers from Euston these can also be downloaded from the Virgin and London Midland websites as appropriate."



Most of the train operators offer at least a partial refund in cash or rail vouchers if your trains run late. The refunds normally start after a delay of an hour or more but the emphasis is always on the commuter to remember the scheduled arrival time and the actual arrival time so that they can fill in the claim forms. Even then they don’t make it easy. For instance if you look around a Chiltern Railway station all you see are “Customer Comment” forms – you need staff to tell you you use these to claim a refund.

Despite inflation-busting price rises on rail fares announced for the New Year, some train operators are far from generous when it comes to giving customers refunds for lengthy train delays, says Which? The consumer organisation checked the refund and ticketing policies of 22 train companies and found that while a 30 minute hold-up on First TransPennine and London Overground trains would result in a full refund, passengers on Merseyrail would get a refund of just 20% for a delay of three hours.
Ticketing policies were also a postcode lottery. Most train companies only allow ‘anytime’ fares to be bought on board, with no discount for railcards. But customers on First Hull (London to Hull), Grand Central (London to Sunderland), and Wrexham & Shropshire (London to Wrexham) can use railcards and buy off-peak tickets on board, which can make a huge difference to the fare.

Which? also checked prices on five intercity routes over a 12-week period and found that buying in advance could slash the cost of a journey by up to 80% although you have to travel on a specific train. The cheapest prices were generally available from 10 weeks ahead of departure. Good savings were still available on off-peak services until at least two weeks ahead of departure, and on peak services until the day before departure.

Nikki Ratcliff, Head of Services Research, Which? magazine, says: “The price of walk-up tickets on peak time train services can be eye-watering. The good news is that buying your ticket in advance can result in big savings, but you may have to book a long way ahead to get the best price, you won’t be able to change your travel plans or get a refund, and there’s no guarantee that a cheaper ticket won’t become available at a later date. Depending on the train company you travel with, you could get surprisingly little back even if there’s a long delay to your journey or you need to cancel your booking, so check with your train operator before you book.”
Here are the policies of the various UK Rail Operators which once again begs the question for the harassed and abused UK rail user “Who represents the customer?”




Train fare refund

Train Operating Company Admin charge for refund on unused ticket >30 min delay % of single fare refunded >60 min delay % of single fare refunded >120 min delay % of single fare refunded >180 min delay % of single fare refunded

Arriva Trains Wales £10.00 0% 20% 100% 100%
C2C £10.00 0% 50% 50% 50%
Chiltern £5.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
CrossCountry £5.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
East Midlands £10.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
FGW £10.00 0% 100% 100% 100%
FGWL £10.00 50% 50% 50% 50%
Wessex Trains £10.00 0% 50% 100% 100%
First Capital Connect £10.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
First ScotRail £10.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
First TransPennine £10.00 100% 100% 100% 100%
Grand Central £10.00 0% 25% 50% 100%
Hull Trains £10.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
London Midland £0.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
London Overground £10.00 100% 100% 100% 100%
Merseyrail £10.00 0% 20% 20% 20%
Northern Rail £5.00 50% 50% 50% 50%
NXEA £10.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
NXEC £10.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
South West Trains £10.00 0% 100% 100% 100%
Southeastern £5.00 50% 100% 100% 100%
Southern £5.00 0% 50% 100% 100%
Virgin £10.00 0% 25% 100% 100%
Wrexham & Shropshire £10.00 50% 100% 100% 100%

Teddy Kennedy

The death of Teddy Kennedy is no doubt a momentous event and the Kennedy Family have always produced mixed feelings in Britain. Kennedy battled a malignant brain tumour first diagnosed in May 2008, which greatly limited his appearances in the Senate; though he survived longer than doctors first expected, he died just before midnight on August 25, 2009 at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Here in the UK there is the legacy of their Patriarch “Ambassador” Joe Kennedy who was seen as anti-British and having written off Britain before World War II. A more considered view may have been surprised that had he not reacted well to the British Imperial proposition that because they were “superior” they were entitled to lift up the “White Man’s Burden” and rule a quarter of the world. Their Catholicism was resented in a Britain which still had a certain sectarian undercurrent, all the more so because they were wealthy and successful, and their support for Irish Nationalism stuck in the Great British craw. Not that anybody, whatever their viewpoint, can argue that the partition of a Small Island which was always united has been anything other than a disaster for Irish People, whatever their persuasion. But just as Doctors tell us we can’t defy nature so we can’t undo history. The drivers behind Partition I’ve explored elsewhere;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/towards-somme-personal-journey.html



Ted Kennedy & Barack Obama

However even the Celtic Sage has been taken aback at the amount of invective directed towards Ted Kennedy in what appears to be orchestrated comments in British media which wrongly accuse him of being an IRA supporter and a cheerleader and fundraiser for “ terrorists”. It is perhaps too much with a public figure to expect people to be guided by the good Latin proverb “de mortuis nil nisi bonum” - Never speak ill of the dead, which is based on a declaration by a 6th. Century B.C. Spartan magistrate as the Dead had no ability to defend themselves. Indeed when looking at the bile directed at Ted Kennedy it is not over egging things to recall the words spoken by Anthony in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar; “The good that men do is oft' buried with them, whilst the evil they do outlives them.”

One of the more printable comments sums it up;

“Teddy Kennedy may be seen as a great politician and family father-figure in the US, but in the UK he will be remembered mostly for two things:
1. Mary Jo Kopechne and Chappaquiddick,
2. His support for the IRA.
That´s about it.”

Well I have no useful comment to make about Chappaquiddick but Ted Kennedy was NEVER a supporter of the IRA or terrorism. Rather he was a staunch supporter of Irish Nationalism - at one time calling for British troops to leave Northern Ireland - although he was later involved in the peace process leading to the Good Friday Agreement. The unification of the Island of Ireland and the reconciliation of the People of Ireland is a legitimate political cause dating back to Britain’s first attempts to colonise Ireland and is not a view that requires an apology. Nor indeed is it a cause which we should allow crypto fascists masquerading as “Irish Republicans” to hijack or allow patronising British commentators to devalue by sticking religious and tribal labels on this legitimate political aspiration. Indeed it would have been surprising if a staunch supporter of the Civil Rights movement in the United States did not apply the same views to Ireland and genuine Irish Republicanism, not the obscene campaign of the Provisional IRA, has the same history, ideals and aspirations as French and American Republicanism.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/years-of-french.html

Ted Kennedy’s life and career were acted out within the shadow of his brothers’ unworldly and somewhat undeserved aura of saintliness and flecked with both huge failure and considerable success. He became a Democratic Massachusetts senator in 1962, replacing his brother when he resigned to become president, and was re-elected seven times. Senator Kennedy was a dominant force in US politics for almost 50 years.


Ted Kennedy's election to the Senate 1962

A more considered assessment than those found in the British media is provided by Steve Clemons on Huffington Post.

“Sen. (Edward) Ted Kennedy is dead. He was a friend of Ireland and a foe of gunmen. A hero of the less privileged and a champion of peace. The last tower of Camelot is gone but the change he campaigned for all his life in Ireland and in America is happening today in many ways because of him.
The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.”

President Barack Obama, of whom he was an active supporter, said he was "heartbroken" to hear of his death. "An important chapter in our history has come to an end," he said. "Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time." Senator Kennedy had championed issues such as education and healthcare, central to Mr Obama's first term.

In 2006, Time magazine named him as one of America's "Ten Best Senators" saying that he had "amassed a titanic record of legislation affecting the lives of virtually every man, woman and child in the country". He one of the most effective and popular legislators in American history skilled at forging alliances across party lines: pushing an education initiative with President George W Bush, and immigration reform with Republican John McCain. But he was a fierce critic of the Bush administration, in particular over Iraq and the prisoner abuse scandal.


The Kennedy Brothers, JFK, Robert and Ted

Edward Kennedy was the only one of four brothers to die a natural death. His brother Joseph was killed in an air crash in World War II, and both President John F Kennedy and presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy were assassinated in the 1960s. He was widely expected to be the next Kennedy in the White House, but he was never able to fully overcome the scandal caused in 1969, when he drove a car off a bridge at Chappaquiddick near his home, killing his female passenger. The incident helped derail his only presidential bid, more than a decade later.


Kennedy Dynasty

But he remained active in politics right up until his death, famously endorsing Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination during a tight race with Hillary Clinton last year. At his death, he was the third longest serving senator in US history. Last week, he asked the Massachusetts governor to change state law to allow a speedy succession when his Senate seat became vacant. Analysts suggest that Senator Kennedy feared a lengthy gap could deny Democrats a crucial vote on Mr Obama's flagship health reform. His death comes weeks after that of his older sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, on 11 August. With his passing Jean Ann Kennedy Smith, 81, the sister of President Kennedy is the only surviving child of the nine born to Joseph P Kennedy Snr and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. Appointed US ambassador to Ireland in 1993, she now runs a charity which promotes the artistic talents of mentally and physically challenged children.


Kennedy family with Ted in a Boston Hospital

Edward Kennedy sometimes failed to meet the huge expectations placed upon him following the deaths of his older brothers. But his commitment to what he called their "justice, excellence and courage" ensured he guarded their memory fiercely and, despite his flaws, he left a substantial political legacy. He will be missed, especially in Ireland.

“In many ways, he was the last man standing, straddling a mythic family mantle of fame and a vaunted career of political service, all the while wearing the crown of Camelot decades after its heyday...the senator's death brought to a close a storied political era - of assassinations, Jackie O, Palm Beach, Chappaquiddick - and a lifetime of both tragedy and public service. “

Andrea Billup writes in the “The Washington Times” that 'Camelot' fades with Kennedy passing

“He was a Rabelaisian figure in the Senate and in life, instantly recognizable by his shock of white hair, his florid, oversize face, his booming Boston brogue, his powerful but pained stride. He was a celebrity, sometimes a self-parody, a hearty friend, an implacable foe, a man of large faith and large flaws, a melancholy character who persevered, drank deeply and sang loudly. He was a Kennedy. “

“New York Times” journalist John M Broder describes the Kennedy effect.


Teddy Kennedy 1932 - 2009

Drown the River Dancers!

This video reinforces my long held prejudice - They should have drowned the River Dancers!

My own Irish dancing career was noticeably unsuccessful – at the third class I attended I put a foot wrong, the large female teacher slapped me on the leg, I suggested (even as a six year old I had a poetic talent) she possessed a distinct bovine resemblance and I was banned from the class! This did not endear me to “Irish dancing” – in reality a Victorian contrivance by Taliban 19th Century Irish Clergy to stop “immoral dancing”, hence no touching and no upper body movement. The resurgent Catholic Church in Ireland after Catholic Emancipation in Ireland was in no doubt that syncopation leads to procreation!


Riverdance Troupe

Riverdance was first performed during the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest on April 30, 1994. It received a standing ovation as it was a brilliant and riveting interval piece. This first performance featured Irish Dancing Champions Jean Butler & Michael Flatley, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Celtic choral group Anúna with a score written by Bill Whelan. Whelan had also composed "Timedance" — an early version of "Riverdance" — for the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, performed by Planxty. Most of the show's choreography was created by Flatley who grew up in Chicago.


DayGlo dancers with inflammable wigs!

In 1998 I remember getting free tickets for it at the Hammersmith Palais and being bored senseless – Free was too expensive! The attempt to drag out an interval feature which had huge visual and aural impact due to the “thunderclap” where 100 dancers stop all together into a two hour “Story of the Dance” which would unify Mankind and with loads of cod-Celtic mythology thrown in was embarrassing. A couple of years ago whilst walking around Manchester’s wonderful Gothic Revival City Hall I realised to my horror that the “Cheshire Céilí” a major plastic paddy celebration in those parts was taking place. As I tried hard to ignore the proceedings wandering through this iconic building I was terrified by these young possessed kids “practicing” like Dervishes on speed coming towards you at high velocity decked out in “traditional” day-glo dresses (for television!) and with equally traditional fire risks on their heads of “beautiful curly hair” which had come from an oil refinery with the ringlets designed to bounce up and down with the steps.

Yesireee, this lot were doing “The Walls of Limerick” brick by brick! To paraphrase the immortal Jim Royle “Irish Dancing me A#se!”

Words written on being asked to buy a JET-FM Lottery Ticket

DC,

We're fundraising for the radio with a confined closed draw - 300
Members 12 draws - 60 prizes good prospects! €5 per month - 12 months or 12 draws.

Would you like to be included?

Thanks,

P


Podge,

We all want to be included - it's a basic human need!! However, you are today taking advantage of a vulnerable and frail human being.

I spent the weekend painting myself and occasionally the walls, ceiling and skirting, not fixing cabinets with the shitty little fixings they give you etc; My gift for DIY is similar to Van Gogh's ear for music!! Bad you may say? Depressed you may say? Well you may say this, but like the say in Springhill, Nova Scotia, worse was to come.

For I celebrated the dawn of a bright new day (and even brighter bathrooms) by stepping confidently onto the new hygienic plastic duckboard my present wife had procured and before you could say "Cresta Run" one foot slid forward the other gashed on the metal threshold of the shower and I sprained the arm which was holding the grab handle!

So all day I have been limping about the office doing a passable and heartfelt impersonation of Quasimodo. My colleagues have not commented which I put down to one of two possibilities;

1. I fit in better like this.
2. They don't care.

So the answer to your question is YES, put me in for the Jet-FM lottery and I'll fix up with you in warm Euros when we meet soon! However you can feel no sense of achievement taking advantage of a person whose ebb is so low. I am planning my retaliation and as soon as I find a lottery for the Buckinghamshire Dead Calf Rescue Centre you will be hearing from me!!

Yours in all probability,

DC



JET- FM - A serious note!

Community Radio is an important voluntary movement in Ireland and a real community builder – One of the more successful stations which has led on promoting local issues and exploring the history of Ireland’s first New Town has been JET FM, Shannon Community Radio.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/05/shannon-airport-ireland.html

It returns to the airwaves on Saturday, September 5th on 88.1 FM. It will broadcast on Saturdays only as a further part of the process leading to a full licence from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. Broadcasting from new studios in Shannon's SkyCourt Centre, programmes will start at 7.54am and continue until 10pm with a mix of music, current affairs and special interest shows.



"Saturday Lunchtime" from noon to 2pm sees the return to the local airwaves of former RTE frontline news presenter Andrew Kelly, with a mix of music from the 70s right through to today. Andrew Kelly has joined Shannon Community Radio's volunteer team as Jet FM station manager. "We have a number of very talented people on the technical, production and presentation teams", he said, and it is our plan to deliver a range of excellent programmes that will entertain and inform, and make Jet FM the station of choice on Saturdays in Shannon, Newmarket and Sixmilebridge".

JetFM - Shannon Community Radio is licensed by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station may be contacted on 061 362 878 or by email;

manager@shannoncommunityradio.org

Shannon & District Community Radio has been allocated a frequency on the FM band by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland - this is 88.1FM. Shannon Community Radio. The community radio station, which broadcasts to the Shannon area in County Clare, Ireland on 88.1FM, will be on air every Saturday from 5th September until the end of the year.

This is Shannon Community Radio’s fourth period on air under the BCI’s temporary licence scheme – they first appeared in January 2005. The station has 60 volunteers and is totally financed via subscriptions and donations.

http://www.shannoncommunityradio.org/


Shannon Airport

Aung San Suu Kyi - matching words with action

From Amnesty International;

Leaders worldwide condemned Myanmar's decision last week to extend Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's imprisonment by 18 months after finding her guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest.

It's time for global leaders to match words with actions.

While Amnesty applauds the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' condemnation of the verdict in Aung San Suu Kyi's trial, the 10-nation ASEAN bloc must ratchet up pressure for the release of Suu Kyi and thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar.

The head of the Myanmar's ruling military junta, Than Shwe, has brushed off criticisms before, and there's little reason to believe he'll clean-up his act unless ASEAN shows that this time it means business.

That's why we're calling on ASEAN to convene a meeting of the top brass in foreign affairs from all 10 member nations to come up with concrete measures to finally address the growing human rights crisis in Myanmar.


General Than Shwe

We're turning up the heat ourselves by calling on supporters to send 10,000 postcards – instead of emails – to the Thai government, which currently chairs ASEAN. (Don't worry – we'll send the postcard for you, so you don't have to buy postage, lick stamps or find a mailbox.)

Send a postcard today demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar. Time is running out. Vietnam will replace Thailand as chair of ASEAN at the end of next month. Critics have raised concerns that ASEAN's new human rights body will be toothless under Vietnam's leadership.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/98b8a476-7548-11de-9ed5-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

We must ramp up our calls on Thailand to show leadership on human rights in Myanmar in order for it to make a difference in the remaining weeks of its chairmanship.

Act now. Help us send 10,000 postcards to the Thai government by September 1st to urge them to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar.

Paste this link into your browser to send a postcard.

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/site/c.jhKPIXPCIoE/b.5380275/k.7928/Free_Aung_San_Suu_Kyi/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=5380275&ICID=I0908A02&tr=y&auid=5207238

Are you right there Michael - Brendan O`Dowda

West Clare Railway

Once upon a time, not too long ago, there were 27 unique narrow gauge railways and tramways in Ireland. The last of these to close was the West Clare Railway in 1961, a line immortalised in song and remembered by railway enthusiasts as a special railway with more than its fair share of lore and colourful stories which ran from Ennis, the county town of Clare through a unique landscape to the wild Atlantic coast at Kilkee and Kilrush. There it stopped for the next station would have been America!




Percy French


"Are Ye Right There Michael" by Percy French (1902)

You may talk of Columbus's sailing
Across the Atlantical sea,
But he never tried to go railing
From Ennis as far as Kilkee.
You run for the train in the morning,
The excursion train starting at eight.
You're there when the guard gives the warning,
And there for an hour you'll wait.
And while you're waiting in the train,
You'll hear the guard sing this refrain:
Are ye right there, Michael, are ye right?
Do you think that we'll be home before the night?
Ye've been so long in startin',
That ye couldn't say for certain'
Still ye might now, Michael,
So ye might!

They find out where the engine's been hiding,
And it drags you to sweet Corofin;
Says the guard: Back her down on the siding,
There's a goods from Kilrush comin' in.
Perhaps it comes in two hours,
Perhaps it breaks down on the way;
If it does, says the guard, be the powers,
We're here for the rest of the day!
And while you sit and curse your luck,
The train backs down into a truck.
Are ye right there, Michael, are ye right?
Have ye got the parcel there for Mrs. White?
Ye haven't, oh begorra,
Say it's comin' down tomorra -
And well it might now, Michael,
So it might!

At Lahinch the sea shines like a jewel,
With joy you are ready to shout,
When the stoker cries out: There's no fuel,
And the fire is teetotally out.
But hand up that bit of a log there -
I'll soon have ye out of the fix;
There's fine clamp of turf in the bog there.
And the rest can go gatherin' sticks
And while you're breakin' bits off trees,
You hear some wise remarks like these:
Are ye right there, Michael? Are ye right?
Do ye think that you can get the fire to light?
Oh, an hour you'll require,
For the turf it might be drier,
Well it might now, Michael,
So it might!

Kilkee! Oh, ye'll never get near it,
You're in luck if the train brings you back.
For the permanent way is so queer, it
Spends most of its time off the track.
Uphill the oul' engine is climbing,
As the passengers push with a will.
You're in luck when you reach Ennistimon,
For all the way home is downhill.
And as you're wobbling through the dark,
You'll hear someone make this remark:
Are ye right there, Michael? Are ye right?
Do you think that we'll be there before it's light?
Oh, it's all depending whether,
The oul' engine holds together,
But it might now, Michael,
So it might!


http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/08/west-clare-railway.html

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/09/on-west-clare-railway.html

West Clare Railway

Locomotive No.5 “Slieve Callan” working the trains from Moyasta Photo P. Halton

Once upon a time, not too long ago, there were 27 unique narrow gauge railways and tramways in Ireland. The last of these to close was the West Clare Railway in 1961, a line immortalised in song and remembered by railway enthusiasts as a special railway with more than its fair share of lore and colourful stories which ran from Ennis, the county town of Clare through a unique landscape to the wild Atlantic coast at Kilkee and Kilrush. There it stopped for the next station would have been America! Ireland in the 1960’s was in a grip of an urge to modernise and railways were just so yesterday as the pork barrel politicians concentrated on road and buses and turning Ireland’s Georgian Heritage into a quarry for the client builders and developers who contributed to their political coffers. The legacy of these short sighted and economically illiterate policies can be seen today in “Gridlock Ireland” and the over 90 Bn Euros of toxic property “assets” the state is having to nationalise to preserve the Irish banking system. The Celtic Tiger has gone to the great cattery in the sky and the hapless Irish taxpayer is left holding worthless “assets” in Dubai, Bulgaria, London and the States whilst property speculators bellow from their mansions at the end of half mile long driveways that their “family homes” are sacrosanct!





Even at the time the closure of the West Clare Railway was controversial; a small fortune had been spent on improving the line and converting to diesel traction, passenger numbers were good and County Clare was heading for a tourist boom due to the advent of trans-Atlantic jet travel through Shannon Airport.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/05/shannon-airport-ireland.html

The West Clare would have been a great tourist attraction through my favourite Irish county described so evocatively by the poet John Betjeman;


Tulira Castle


John Betjeman

“Stony seaboard, far and foreign,
Stony hills poured over space,
Stony outcrop of the Burren,
Stones in every fertile place,
Little fields with boulders dotted,
Grey-stone shoulders saffron-spotted,
Stone-walled cabins thatched with reeds,
Where a Stone Age people breeds
The last of Europe's Stone Age race,

Has it held, the June warm weather?
Draining shallow-seapools dry,
When we bicycled together
Down the bohreens fuchsia-high.
Till there rose, abrupt and lonely,
A ruined abbey, chancel only,
Lichen-crusted time-befriended,
Soared the arches, splayed and splendid,
Romanesque against the sky ...

IRELAND WITH EMILY; - Betjeman had fallen in love with the beautiful American wife of Lord Hemphill of Tulira Castle, the Victorian house built by Edward Martyn and immortalised in George Moore's “Hail and Farewell”.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/cliffs-of-moher.html

Now, 48 years after its closure, in a resurrection which would make Lazarus proud, a 2 mile section of the line was reopened on 5th July 2009 as the first stage of a restoration programme and remarkably it has one of the longer serving steam engines on the WCR, Locomotive No.5 “Slieve Callan” working the trains from Moyasta Junction. In 2000, she was sent away to England where she has undergone a major restoration and she returned to her native land on July 5th to be placed back on her original tracks at Moyasta where, once again, she is delighting visitors with the sights and sounds of a veteran locomotive in full steam working order – after a steam passenger traffic absence of 55 years.




Moyasta

The West Clare Railway was one of a network of 3ft gauge lines which mushroomed across rural Ireland in the wake of the 1883 Tramways Act. Opened throughout in 1892, it connected the market town of Ennis with the coastal settlements of Kilrush and Kilkee. Dogged by money problems from the outset, the Railway was propelled into the limelight in 1896 when the entertainer Percy French was prevented from fulfilling an engagement in Kilkee by the breakdown of his West Clare train - his poem 'Are Ye Right There Michael' and the resulting Court case ensuring a lasting worldwide fame for the Railway, although not in circumstances it would have chosen! Other hazards the West Clare had to face included the weather - no less than five trains were blown off the metals by ferocious Atlantic storms, eventually resulting in the installation of an ammeter at Quilty, and instructions that all trains should be halted when winds exceeded 80mph.


Route of the WCR - Edmund Linehan, "Walking the West Clare"


Rail Map of Ireland 1906

The West Clare Railway (WCR) operated in County Clare, Ireland between 1887 and 1961. This 914 mm (3 ft) gauge narrow gauge railway ran from the county town of Ennis, via numerous stopping-points along the West Clare coast to two termini, at Kilrush and Kilkee (the routes diverging at Moyasta Junction). The system was the last operating narrow gauge passenger system in Ireland and connected with the mainline rail system at Ennis, where a station still stands today for bus and train services to Limerick. A train connection to Galway will re-open in August 2009. Intermediate stops included Ennistymon, Lahinch and Miltown Malbay.


Slieve Callan on a plinth at Ennis Station


Ennis Station - The narrow gauge WCR departed from here until 1961 from the bay platform just visible on the extreme right.

The 43.4 km (27 mi) West Clare Railway between Ennis and Miltown Malbay was built a few years' earlier than the South Clare Railway. The first sod was cut on 26 January 1885 at Miltown Malbay by Charles Stewart Parnell, M.P., although actual work on the line had begun in November 1884. The line was opened on 2 July 1887.


Co. Clare, Ireland

The South Clare Railway built the extension from Miltown Malbay to Kilrush, Cappagh Pier (Kilrush Pier) and Kilrush docks with a branch to Kilkee from Moyasta, with work starting on the extension in October 1890 and opening on 11 May 1892. The extension was worked by the West Clare Railway and was initially dogged by poor service and time keeping, but this later improved.


Abandoned trackbed near Lahinch


The former Station at Miltown Malbay

The West Clare Railway was the topic of Percy French's song written in 1902, "Are Ye Right There Michael, are ye right?", deriding the poor time keeping and poor track quality of the time. Though amusing, some complained that this jesting nevertheless did little to further the cause for keeping the line open. However it is still the most famous railway song extant and was the subject of an unsuccessful libel action by the Railway Directors against Percy French. Because of a slow train and the decision of the driver to stop for no apparent reason while en route in Corofin, French, though having left Sligo in the early morning, arrived so late for an 8 PM recital, which he was due to give that the audience had left. The ballad caused considerable embarrassment for the rail company, who were mocked in music halls throughout Ireland and Britain because of the song. It led to an unsuccessful libel action against French.

It is said that French arrived late for the libel hearing at the court, and when questioned by the judge on his lateness, he responded "Your honour, I travelled by the West Clare Railway", resulting in the case being thrown out.




Percy French


"Are Ye Right There Michael" by Percy French (1902)

You may talk of Columbus's sailing
Across the Atlantical sea,
But he never tried to go railing
From Ennis as far as Kilkee.
You run for the train in the morning,
The excursion train starting at eight.
You're there when the guard gives the warning,
And there for an hour you'll wait.
And while you're waiting in the train,
You'll hear the guard sing this refrain:
Are ye right there, Michael, are ye right?
Do you think that we'll be home before the night?
Ye've been so long in startin',
That ye couldn't say for certain'
Still ye might now, Michael,
So ye might!

They find out where the engine's been hiding,
And it drags you to sweet Corofin;
Says the guard: Back her down on the siding,
There's a goods from Kilrush comin' in.
Perhaps it comes in two hours,
Perhaps it breaks down on the way;
If it does, says the guard, be the powers,
We're here for the rest of the day!
And while you sit and curse your luck,
The train backs down into a truck.
Are ye right there, Michael, are ye right?
Have ye got the parcel there for Mrs. White?
Ye haven't, oh begorra,
Say it's comin' down tomorra -
And well it might now, Michael,
So it might!

At Lahinch the sea shines like a jewel,
With joy you are ready to shout,
When the stoker cries out: There's no fuel,
And the fire is teetotally out.
But hand up that bit of a log there -
I'll soon have ye out of the fix;
There's fine clamp of turf in the bog there.
And the rest can go gatherin' sticks
And while you're breakin' bits off trees,
You hear some wise remarks like these:
Are ye right there, Michael? Are ye right?
Do ye think that you can get the fire to light?
Oh, an hour you'll require,
For the turf it might be drier,
Well it might now, Michael,
So it might!

Kilkee! Oh, ye'll never get near it,
You're in luck if the train brings you back.
For the permanent way is so queer, it
Spends most of its time off the track.
Uphill the oul' engine is climbing,
As the passengers push with a will.
You're in luck when you reach Ennistimon,
For all the way home is downhill.
And as you're wobbling through the dark,
You'll hear someone make this remark:
Are ye right there, Michael? Are ye right?
Do you think that we'll be there before it's light?
Oh, it's all depending whether,
The oul' engine holds together,
But it might now, Michael,
So it might!



Despite the dieselisation of passenger services in 1952 and freight in 1953 the system was still closed. On 27 September 1960, CIÉ gave notice of its intending closure with effect from 1 February 1961. CIÉ said that the West Clare was losing £23,000 (€1.2M 2006 equivalent) per year, despite the considerable traffic handled. In December it was announced that the line would close completely on 1 January 1961. Eventually the line closed on 31 January 1961 with CIÉ starting work on dismantling the line the day after closure on 1 February 1961.


Rusting Signal Levers on the old line

By the time of its closure the West Clare Railway was the last narrow gauge railway in Ireland offering a passenger service; various lines operated by Bord na Móna continue to operate in connection with the peat industry. The railway employed about 70 people in Ennis alone. It continued to run quite successfully up until World War II, when the pressure of improving roads finally began to tell and in 1948 the Irish National Railway (CIE) decided to close the line, but instead they replaced the steam engines with diesel engines. In 1952 four new diesel engines were supplied and in 1953 CIE bought three more. The last steam passenger train left Ennis on March 15, 1952.


Abandoned Viaduct Enistymon


Former goods shed at Enistymon

In 1955, the West Clare was the only diesel run, narrow gauge railway in Britain and Ireland. It continued to run at a loss and finally all services were closed down on February 1961. The Ennis station house built around 1860 served as the terminus of the West Clare Railway. Many of the old railway bridges, piers, banks and other such works are still standing.

Efforts were made by a preservation society to recreate part of the original route. This group succeeded in acquiring Moyasta station, and 5 km (3 miles) of track bed. In 2008 a standard gauge ex-Irish Rail 001 class diesel loco, No.015 (formally A15), was acquired for static display. On 5 July 2009 No. 5 Slieve Callan was returned to the West Clare Railway at Moyasta Junction following restoration in England by Alan Keefe Ltd. The locomotive was steamed for the first time on July 14th marking the return of steam to the West Clare railway after an absence of over 57 years.






No. 5 Slieve Callan at Kilkee 1950

The locomotive No 5 was built to the order of the South Clare Railways by Dubs and Co. of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1892. Costing the magnificent sum of £1,750, she was their first locomotive but the fifth to work on the entire West Clare Railway, as it eventually became. She was delivered by sea to Kilrush in March 1892 and proved to be the longest serving of all the railway's locomotives - not being withdrawn until 1958. She had also carried the last steam passenger train in 1955 and had starred in the John Ford film, "A Minute's Wait", filmed at Kilkee in 1956. Between 1959 and 1996, she remained a memorial to the railway at Ennis Station where she sat on a plinth as the sole remaining item of rolling stock preserved from the old railway.


Jackie Whelan

In a report in the Irish Times Jackie Whelan remembers loading turf on a wagon to supply the West Clare Railway as a nine-year-old in 1948. It was an important part of the local economy before it became the last of Ireland’s narrow gauge railways to close in 1961. “A wagon of turf from Shragh where we came from was £5 and that £5 would buy you 10 stone of flour, which was talked about as a half-sack of flour. You’d make 140 griddle cakes out of that. It would do a good household with six or seven in the family for two months. And then, when you had the flour out of the bag you’d have a sheet made for the bed out of the bag or two pillow cases,” he said. Now he is the owner of the revived steam railway, which is based at Moyasta Junction as a tourist venture.


Patrick Taylor's history of the WCR

In brilliant sunshine, the last steam locomotive to run on the line between Ennis and Kilrush via Lahinch took delighted passengers in two third-class replica carriages on a short trip at 15mph, before Whelan opened a magnum of champagne to mark the relaunch of the West Clare Railway 124 years after Charles Stewart Parnell turned the sod on the original project in 1885.

The Slieve Callan, named after west Clare’s modestly high peak of 391m (1,283ft), has been refurbished and refitted with a new boiler and tanks with a capacity of 1,000 litres. For the moment, it is taking passengers on a 4km trip on narrow gauge track, but Whelan hopes to run the train to Kilrush again over the next few years. Of the 19 steam locomotives that served the railway, the Slieve Callan is the sole survivor. It is wonderful to see the revival of this most atmospheric of railways in one of Ireland’s loveliest counties which as well a beautiful and primeval scenery on the wild Atlantic coast boasts a plethora of attractions for visitors and natives alike. Let us wish this wonderful project well and hope we never have to sing the refrain other than in jest;


“Are ye right there, Michael, are ye right?”

I leave the last word to Edmund Lenihan in his “In the tracks of the West Clare Railway” (see below)

“To the men who closed the West Clare branch of CIE in 1961 it must have appeared their decision was a sensible one …………..

But one thing they did not reckon on; that thirty years later it would not have died. Rather it would be remembered larger than life, whereas they, if they were remembered at all, would not be seen as men who did the country a service but rather as a short sighted cabal of bunglers who tried to destroy a legend – and failed.”


Restored West Clare carriage


Directions: On the N67 between Kilrush and Kilkee.

Fully wheelchair accessible

Open all year round. October - March 10.00hrs - 16.00hrs daily. March - October 10.00hrs - 18.00hrs Monday - Saturday. Sunday 12.00hrs - 18.00hrs.

Souvenir shop.

Parking on-site for aprox. 50 cars plus 2 buses.
In the dining carriage tea / coffee and snacks are served. Also a mineral bar. Seating capacity 40 persons.




West Clare Resources;

Railway website;

http://www.westclarerailway.ie/

West Clare Garden Railway – This is truly remarkable! A railway enthusiast who has recreated sections of the WCR in his garden in New Jersey. Even more remarkably there is a link to the New Jersey Museum of Transportation which has a full loco and train set from the Tralee and Dingle Railway.

http://www.wcgardenrail.com/

IRRS (Irish Railway Record Society) - As a member of the London Area for many years I attended many an interesting evening in a draughty hall in Drummond St. just by Euston Station. They maintain a great archive of Irish Railway history and photographs. In a fine example of division of labour the RPIS (Railway Preservation Society of Ireland) restores and maintains the rolling stock in Northern Ireland and runs the annual Rail tour over 3 – 4 days each summer.

http://www.irrs.ie/

Publications;

The West Clare Railway. Patrick Taylor. Plateway Press ISBN 1-871980-16X (1994). A comprehensive history from a man who lived all his life by the line; contains lots of background information, stock drawings, timetables etc.

In the Tracks of the West Clare Railway. Edmund Linehan. The Mercier Press ISBN 0-85342-909-X. Description of a walking journey over the remains of the line almost thirty years after closure by a well known amateur local historian.

Johnson's Atlas & Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland. SM Johnson. Midland Publishing Ltd, Leicester (1997) ISBN 1-85780-044-3. Highly detailed route maps of all Irish Railways.

Irish Narrow Gauge Vol.1: From Cork to Cavan (Chapter 6) T Ferris. Midland Publishing Ltd, Leicester (1993) ISBN 1-85780-010-9. Brief description of the railway and it's history. Ordnance Survey Maps. Some good clear photographs of stock. Particular favourite of mine as I bought a signed copy off Tom when he generously gave a presentation to IRRS members in London.