PLANS are underway to introduce a 200-km-per-hour rail service between Dublin and Cork, reducing journey time by one hour.
Under the plan, similar to the high-speed TGV French service, the number of stops would be reduced to two, although these have not yet been decided.
It has been estimated that the cost of the project will be somewhere between €60m and €100m and is due to be in place by 2010.
Engineers from Iarnrod Eireann are currently examining the track in order to decide what adjustments will need to be made to allow trains to run at the new high speeds.
Contractors
The state body is tendering for outside contractors to help assess the track. When that is completed, the proposed works will be put out to tender.
While the new fleet of carriages being used will be able to handle the increased speed, the locomotive engines will need "certain enhancements", according to a spokesperson.
Any sharp curves which exist on the track will have to be removed in order to deal with the higher speeds.
The use of high-speed lines will be made possible by the €300m Kildare route project which is due to be finished in 2009. As a result, commuter trains will be taken off the line used by inter-city services.
"The Kildare project will significantly increase our speed because we won't have to stop at those inner-commuter stations and there will be two dedicated inner-city tracks," said an Iarnrod Eireann spokesperson.
"At Portarlington and Limerick junction there are curves in the tracks. We are working to eliminate them so we don't have a speed restriction."
Tracks
The spokesperson said it was too early to say whether prices for the tracks will increase or decrease as a result of the new technology. The use of the trains on the Dublin to Belfast line has also been raised, which would reduce the journey time to less than 90 minutes.
It is expected that the project would be done on a cross-border agreement as Iarnrod Eireann is only responsible for the line to the border.
Shane Hickey
Irish Independent
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