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ONE of the country's historic freight train services has reached the end of the line but the move has prompted angry criticism of "irresponsible cutbacks".
The final train on the 19-mile stretch from Kingscourt in Co Cavan to Tara Mines Junction outside Navan will leave at 9.30am today as Irish Rail begins slashing its freight train service.
The service has been operating since 1875 to ferry gypsum from Kingscourt to various cement makers.
Its closure is part of Irish Rail's programme to reduce freight volume carried by 46pc.
Railway enthusiasts said the Government had failed to support the line even though its closure would mean extra lorries clogging up already congested roads with serious implications for public safety.
Hassard Stacpoole, editor of an internet newsletter on Irish railways, said the closure was "another nail in the coffin for rail freight".
The Kingscourt freight service had been profitable for more than 50 years and shutting it down didn't make sense, as just last year Irish Rail had upgraded one of the bridges on the route.
"It's a pity more effort hasn't been made to save this service as there have been trains running there since 1875 and the freight service was profitable for over 50 years," he said.
One union leader accused the Government of allowing the publicly-owned railway company to proceed with the cutback.
Brendan Ogle of the Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association said the Government was behaving "irresponsibly" in allowing Irish Rail to dismantle its freight service while handing over record sums for track and signalling improvements.
However, Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny said the service was ending because their customers had switched to road transport during last year's train-drivers' industrial strike.
The line would need £3.5m investment to upgrade it which was not economically viable given the reduced demand, he added.
But Mr Stacpoole said the Government should support environmentally friendly rail transport as the cost of building roads was not factored into the expense of freighting goods with lorries.
The line was the northern spur to the old railway line between Clonsilla in Co Dublin and Navan in Co Meath, said Irish Rail's heritage officer Gregg Ryan.
But partition of the country took its toll. There was an extensive rail service in Co Cavan up until the 1950s when rail closures in the North meant they had no place left to go, he said.
Mr Kenny said the railway tracks will remain in place as the company no longer rips up old lines in case economic circumstances improve.
Aideen Sheehan
Copyright © Independent Newspapers 2001
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