{"id":365707,"date":"2026-02-10T17:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T07:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=69161"},"modified":"2026-02-10T17:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T07:15:10","slug":"freight-figures-in-all-ireland-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=365707","title":{"rendered":"Freight figures in all-Ireland ambitions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The recently published Rail Project Prioritisation Strategy \u2013 2025, the implementation plan flowing from the All-Island Strategic Rail Review, places renewed focus on passenger service enhancements across Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, freight, long a minor player in the island\u2019s rail planning, finally gets its own points of emphasis. The strategy builds on the Review\u2019s vision to grow rail freight\u2019s contribution to the economy and better integrate port and rail infrastructure, even as practical freight commitments remain limited in the short run.<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The parent document, the All-Island Strategic Rail Review, sets out a suite of strategic objectives aimed at growing rail freight\u2019s share of transport on the island. Key proposals include strengthening rail connectivity to major ports, reducing track access charges to make rail freight more competitive, and developing first\/last-mile rail access solutions \u2014 particularly for Dublin Port \u2014 to enable efficient intermodal transfer and underpin more sustainable logistics chains.<\/p>\n

Freight on the agenda \u2014 from ports to hinterlands<\/h2>\n

The Review\u2019s freight goals are mainly quantitative. Under full implementation, around two-thirds of the island\u2019s freight tonnage would move through rail-served ports, a dramatic increase on the current sub-1% rail freight mode share. One of the most tangible freight projects already underway is the reinstatement of the 42km Limerick\u2013Foynes rail line<\/a>, long dormant since the early 2000s but now being rebuilt to reconnect Shannon Foynes Port with the national rail network. The \u20ac65 million project, a key element of Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann\u2019s Rail Freight 2040 strategy, is expected to see freight services begin this year.<\/p>\n

\"Irish
Irish interventions explainer. Image: \u00a9 Irish Government<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The work is framed as a crucial part of building sustainable, intermodal freight corridors between port and hinterland, and is explicitly designed so that future passenger services could be introduced if circumstances warrant. This reinstatement will be the most significant restoration of freight rail in Ireland for decades and is widely seen as a bellwether for the potential role of rail freight in broader economic and transport planning.<\/p>\n

Not just passengers first, not just freight last<\/h2>\n

The \u2018freight first\u2019 nature of the Foynes project is in stark contrast to the almost excessively passenger-focused plans in Great Britain. However, it should be stressed that much of the Rail Project Prioritisation Strategy centres on boosting passenger capacity, resilience and journey times: new passing loops, platforms, intercity electrification and improved frequencies, which dominate the early interventions and medium-term major projects. For freight advocates, this means that while there is explicit recognition of freight\u2019s role and potential, most immediate project delivery is in the passenger sphere, and freight projects beyond Foynes still await deeper policy and funding commitments.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial
Aerial shot of an intermodal train by the banks of the River Suir in Waterford, Ireland. Image: \u00a9 Irish Rail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alongside physical rail links, the Review encourages development of first\/last-mile solutions \u2014 particularly for complex urban freight gateways like Dublin Port<\/a> \u2014 to overcome one of rail freight\u2019s traditional barriers: the gap between the rail network and port terminals or industrial estates. The prioritisation approach recognises that boosting rail freight activity demands not just long-distance lines but connectivity into road and port infrastructure, and new inland terminals close to major cities. In this respect, Britain can claim a lead over Ireland, in that recent freight development (especially intermodal) does go hand in hand with road access.<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland freight \u2014 vision but limited action<\/h2>\n

Freight services have effectively disappeared from the rail network in the UK territory of Northern Ireland. Over a period of decades, freight traffic declined, and lines were closed. Belfast\u2019s Adelaide intermodal terminal was the last significant infrastructure to go – and it\u2019s now, ironically, the site of a critical passenger maintenance depot.<\/p>\n

While the strategy and Review envisage future enhancements<\/a> \u2014 including potential reconnection of underserved regions and ports \u2014 there is little in the current prioritised programme that immediately restores freight on these corridors. The long-term vision includes reinstating cross-border routes such as Portadown to Derry\/Londonderry and even extending access toward Letterkenny and beyond, which, in theory, could support future freight movements; however, realisation of these ambitions remains decades away and hinges on political and planning progress in both jurisdictions (the UK and Ireland).<\/p>\n

The island\u2019s rail strategy charts an ambitious 2050 vision in which rail freight plays a much stronger role in the movement of goods, enhances port connectivity, and integrates with broader transport and environmental goals. But for the rail freight sector, the next steps will be critical. Turning the Review\u2019s strategic freight recommendations and prioritisation signals into deliverable, funded infrastructure projects. It may be Foynes the first, but let\u2019s hope that it\u2019s not also Limerick the last.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The recently published Rail Project Prioritisation Strategy \u2013 2025, the implementation plan flowing from the All-Island Strategic Rail Review, places renewed focus on passenger service\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11314,1869,471,4991,336,4992,47,19518,85],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-365707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-foynes","category-ireland","category-news","category-northern-ireland","category-policy","category-rail-freight-2040-strategy","category-rail-news","category-rail-project-prioritisation-strategy","category-uk","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=365707"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":365752,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365707\/revisions\/365752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=365707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=365707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=365707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}