Monday 5 March 2007

Next stop, eco-paradise. . . new €400m 'green' trains arrive

THEY'RE cleaner and actually have toilets that work - but will they end the overcrowding and delays?

The new generation of inter-city trains (right) finally arrives in Ireland today after travelling the high seas from Korea.

Hyped as the greenest diesel train fleet in Europe, the 183-carriage, €400m fleet will transform quality, comfort and frequency across the rail network, according to Iarnrod Eireann.

The trains will be rolled out on the Sligo-Dublin line from this Autumn.

All inter-city and a number of long-distance commuter routes will eventually benefit from the new fleet - serving routes from Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Limerick, Kerry, Waterford, Rosslare, Carlow, Portlaoise and Athlone to Dublin.

They will complete the process of transforming Iarnrod Eireann's fleet from the oldest in the European Union to the newest.

The trains were bought from from Mitsui of Japan, and constructed by Rotem of South Korea.

TREACY HOGAN
Irish Indepependent

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