FOR around seven years DickFearn has been at the centre ofwhat can only be described as arailway renaissance in Ireland.

It’s a story of huge investment innew trains, line reopenings, mod-ernised signalling, stations revamped…the list goes on.

Dick, 55, who joined Irish Rail aschief operating officer in 2003 after acareer that took him to some of thetop jobs in British Rail and Railtrack,admits his timing for crossing theIrish Sea was opportune.

But the face of the man who be-came the network’s chief executive in2006 takes on a serious look as headmits that even with such huge stateinvestment, financial reality alwayskicks in – particularly now, whenEurozone Ireland is facing a massivepublic deficit.

On the day Railnews visits Dick athis lofty-ceilinged office at Irish RailHQ, next to Connolly station in Dub-lin, the railway has announced thesuspension of services on the Rosslareto Waterford route.

A steep fall in passenger numbersover a number of years and the loss ofthe sugar beet freight business hasmade the service no longer economi-cally viable.

“The service costs around 4 millioneuros a year to operate but generatedonly 40,000 euros from ticket sales,”Dick tells me. “Once, foot passengerswere regulars on the ferry to Rosslare,

now they fly in on low cost airlines.We have to be realistic.”

For the future, a final decision hasto be taken by the National TransportAuthority, and various options arebeing considered for the route fromthe port, including the possibility of a heritage line.

It’s a setback in the success story,but in these financially stringenttimes some casualties are inevitable.

But Dick is keen to allay fearsabout the general picture of railwayinvestment in a country that, 13 yearsago, had a crumbling railway infra-structure, old and tired rolling stock,shabby stations and little real funding

By the time Dick arrived in Irelandas chief operating officer a differentpicture was emerging, but servicequality and frequency of trains wasstill a major issue and meant that hecould still make his mark.

When he decided to cut his tieswith Railtrack, where he had beendirector of Midland Zone – followingroles running South Eastern andNetwork SouthEast’s Thames andChiltern division – he made his rea-sons clear. He wanted to “get his armsaround a whole railway again, not justpart of it”.

Irish Rail offered him that opportu-nity. State-owned and vertically inte-grated, it meant he would have thechance to be responsible for bothtrack and trains, making it easier todeliver benefits to rail passengers.

And not only that: the purse stringshad been loosened and investmentcash was pouring into the rail networkagain. Under a 10-year transport pro-gramme called Target 21 – which runsuntil 2015 – Irish Rail has a budget ofaround 500 million euros a year.

“No one is saying we should stop,and this is a great credit to the gov-ernment,” he says. “We will still bespending about 400 million euros ayear – that’s a huge commitment torail. This has been a tremendous pro-gramme of investment.”

In fact, between 2004 and 2007Irish Rail grew faster in passengernumbers than any other passengeroperation in Europe – a rate of 15 to16 per cent across the network. Theimpressive level of growth – 45 mil-lion passenger journeys a year – is inmost part a direct result of thechanges Irish Rail has been making,most significantly in the quality oftrains and frequencies. There are 536passenger services daily.

“In the mid ‘90s many trains werelife expired – we had one of the oldestfleets in Europe. Now it is one of themost modern fleets.”

One of Dick’s biggest concerns waspoor frequency of services. “When Ifirst came in 2003 I was, frankly,shocked by the frequencies. Cork,Ireland’s second city, had a two and ahalf hour gap between services. Therolling stock – long, loco-hauled trains– was also inappropriate.

“If you caught a train from Dublinto Cork at 07.10 there was not anoth-er one until 10.55.

“But bit by bit we increased theservices to trains every two hoursand now, with new, 117 million europush-pull trains, one every hour, onthe hour, from Heuston station inDublin.”

New diesel train fleets have been at the crux of the vastly improvedservices. Irish Rail runs train servicesunder three distinct brands – Inter-city, Commuter and the Dublin AreaRapid Transit system, known as theDART, which is celebrating 25 yearsof operation this year.

Working on the tried and testedphilosophy that good frequenciesgrow your rail business, Dick and histop team have overseen the introduc-tion so far of 183 new Intercity railcars. The stock is made up of 10 setsof six-car trains built by Rotem ofKorea in partnership with Mitsui ofJapan and Tokyu Car Construction ofJapan which offer first class andcatering services, plus another 29three-car sets. Still to come are 19three-car sets, which will completethe new fleet.

The Intercity trains ‘feel wider and

more spacious’, with seating predomi-nantly arranged as four table seatsaligned to windows.

“Remember, we have a 1600mm(5ft 3ins) gauge here in Ireland,” saysDick. “When I go over to England Ialways ask former colleagues, ‘How’sit going on the narrow gauge?’” helaughs.

The Commuter fleet has also beenmodernised, with four-car sets builtby CAF in Spain. By 2009 its numberof rail cars had risen to 180.

“On our Commuter trains we can ac-commodate 1,000 people on an eight-car train. They have huge vestibulesfor standing passengers who are oftenonly on board for around 20 minutes.”

The new fleets have brought huge

benefits to most areas of Irelandserved by the rail network.

There are now better long distancefrequencies to Sligo in the north west,served by trains from Connolly stationin Dublin, while services from DublinHeuston station to Balina, Westport,Galway, Limerick, Tralee, and Water-ford all have more trains.

Dick says: “The new Intercity trainsare quality DMUs – Diesel MultipleUnits. We did not want them to be like the noisy and cramp-ed Voyagers introduced in Britain,which have been, I believe, a disap-pointment.

“We wanted comfortable trains,with under-train noise from engineswell suppressed, and nearly all seats at

‘There are still a great many exciting things happening, such as DART Underground, and investmentis still going into the rest of the system. The government, through Dr John Lynch, the chairman ofCIE – the government-owned transport group under which we come – is being very supportive, evenwith all its problems. We have been allowed to do so much.’ Dick Fearn, chief executive, Irish Rail

Feature16 July 2010 | Railnews

www.railnews.co.uk

IRELAND: English rail chief steers railway through 13 year transformation

Railnews | July 2010 17

IRISH Rail has seen unprecedented government investment ineverything from new trains to the reopening of old lines in thepast 13 years. Paul Whiting travelled to Dublin to talk to IrishRail chief executive Dick Fearn about how the state fundingcommitment has transformed a decrepit rail system into thefastest growing passenger operation in Europe.

IE

IE

IE

IE

IE

IE

IE

IE

TR

TR

TR

Ennis

Gort

ArdrahanCraughwell

Limerick Jun.

Charleville

TipperaryCahir

Clonmel

Carrick-on-SuirCampile Wexford

EnniscorthyThomastown

Gorey

Arklow

Muine Bheag

Carlow

Athy

Tullamore

Clara

Athlone

Ballina

Foxford

Castlerea

Collooney

Boyle

Carrick-on-Shannon

Dromod

EdgworthstownLongford

Mullingar

Enfield

Pace

DunboyneKilcock

MaynoothHowth

Ballymote

Ballyhaunis

Claremorris

Manulla Jun.Castlebar

Ballinasloe

WoodlawnAthenry

Castleconnell

Birdhill

Nenagh

Portlaoise

Cloughjordan

Roscrea

Ballybrophy

Templemore

ThurlesKilkenny

Attymon

Roscommon

PortarlingtonNewbridge

Sallins & Naas

Monasteravan

Wicklow

Rathdrum

GreystonesBray

Malahide

Drogheda

Dundalk

Newry

PoyntzpassScarva

Antrim

Ballymena

Cullybackey

Coleraine

Castlerock Dhu VarrenUniversity

Ballymoney

LurganLisburn

Bangor

Whitehead

Whiteabbey

Moira

Portadown

Kilcoole

Dun Laoghaire

Strand

EuroportBridgetown

Mallow

Midleton

Farranfore

KillarneyMillstreet

RathmoreBanteer

Cobh

Limerick

Kildare

Larne Harbour

Portrush

Derry/Londonderry

Galway

Westport

Sligo

Waterford

Rosslare

DUBLIN

BELFAST

Cork

Tralee

Glounthaune

[Droichead Nua]

Whiteabbey

12.5 25 37.5 50 62.5

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km 20 40 60 80 100miles

Rags to riches: the remarkable rebirth of Irish Rail

table. I think we have achieved this.”The Intercity fleet looks sleek in its

silver livery – a move away from the‘old world’ orange and black.

Meanwhile, the DART – the onlyelectrified railway in Ireland – whichserves the Dublin city area and itsenvirons, has also seen a record expan-sion of the train fleet with old trainscompletely refurbished by Siemens.

The proposed DART Underground,which is destined to be tunnelledunder Dublin, will link the two sepa-rate overground lines and interchangewith many other transport services.

Over one service, however, a majorquestion mark remains – the Dublinto Belfast cross-border Enterpriseservice, which has three push-pulltrains of older locos and rolling stockrotating at low frequencies.

With the peace process now makingit easier to operate, Irish Rail hasbeen looking at how the joint servicewith Northern Ireland Railways couldbe improved in what is the most heav-ily populated coastal strip betweenthe two cities.

“This is a truly joint service, but weneed new rolling stock. NorthernIreland Railways must take theirshare but they cannot get a com-mitment on investment, so nothing ishappening,” says Dick.

� See page 10 – Plans unveiled forDublin’s first Underground system

Restoring themissing linksIT is not only new train fleets that have beengrabbing Ireland’s rail headlines. Lines have beenreopening.

On 29 March this year the link betweenLimerick and Galway was reopened to passengertraffic – some 34 years after the last passengertrain ran.

The Western Rail Corridor, as it is called, hasbeen completely renewed at a cost of 106.5 million euros between Ennis and Athenry to facilitate the reopening of the link in the west.Thirty-six miles of track has been renewed, 100level crossings eliminated, new stations built atSixmilebridge, Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell and signalling modernised.

It was the longest section of line, and the firstIntercity line, to be reopened, all funded by theIrish government under Transport 21.

Further south, the line between Midleton andCork – a commuter belt – has reopened whilePace is the proposed site of the first parkwaystation near to the M3 motorway on a line to beopened between Cloncilla and Pace.

Over several years much of the rail networkhas been resignalled, with old local signal cabinsbeing dispensed with and much of train controlmoving to the Dublin-based Central Traffic ControlCentre where signallers and controller can moni-tor the whole network.

But with many routes only single line, localisedsignalling has been maintained in some areas sothat signallers can interact. “We have passingloops, but if trains run out of course we have tohave local signalling intervention,” says Dick.

Punctuality levels are generally high, withsome routes hitting the mid 90 per cent of trainsrunning on time – a ‘within five minutes of righttime’ is a management target while ‘10 minutesof right time’ is measured under the Passenger’sCharter.

Irish Rail staff numbers are now around the4,500 mark, compared with more than 5,000 afew years ago. Catering is now outsourced toRail Gourmet and there has also been ‘staff slim-ming’ through signalling schemes and DOO –Driver Only Operation – on trains.

Dick has never regretted his move to Irish Rail.“There are still a great many exciting things hap-pening, such as DART Underground, and invest-ment is still going into the rest of the system.

“The government, through Dr John Lynch, thechairman of CIE , the government-owned trans-port group under which we come – is being verysupportive, even with all its problems. We havebeen allowed to do so much.”

SIX things you may not know about Irish Rail� In the ‘90s, services had an average frequency of two and a half hours andsome of the oldest rolling stock in Europe (see picture below).� Under a 10 year transport programme, it has an annual budget of 5-6 billioneuros (£4-5 billion sterling). � DART – the Dublin Area Rapid Transit system – is the only electrified railwayin Ireland.� The Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast is run as a joint servicebetween Irish Rail and Northern Ireland Railways.� Much of the Irish rail network is controlled from one place – the Dublin-basedCentral Traffic Control Centre.� Passengers travelling without a valid ticket face a stiff 100 euro (£84) fine.

An Intercity unit and a Commuter diesel train await departure from Connolly station.

A DART line train arrives at Connolly station where passengers change forCommuter, Intercity and Enterprise services.

Left:Connollystation whereIntercitytrains leavefor Sligo andCommuterservicesdepart forLongford,Dundalk andBray.Right: Thenew PhoenixPark station.

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