Page 49 - Linkline Autumn 2016
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Minister Welcomes Transfer of Wicklow Port to Wicklow County Council
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross TD, has signed an order transferring Wicklow Port Company to Wicklow County Council with the consent of his colleagues Paschal Donohoe T. D., Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and Simon Coveney T.D. Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.
Wicklow Port is the first port to transfer under National Ports Policy, which was approved by Government and published in 2013.
The National Ports Policy recommended that designated Ports of Regional Significance – Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow – transfer to more appropriate local authority led governance structures.
These ports are important to their regional economies and the transfers support the Government’s reforms in the area of local government generally, through enhancing the role of the local authority in regional economic development.
Ports of Regional Significance retain important regional roles as freight distribution hubs and also increasingly important roles in areas such as marine leisure and tourism.
The Harbours Act 2015 provides the legislative basis for the trans- fers to proceed.
Minister Ross welcomed the transfer and said:
“Wicklow Port is a thriving regional commercial port and the trans- fer will provide new opportunities for the development of ma- rine-related activities and regional freight, and to further develop
marine leisure and tourism, cultural and recreation amenities in the area, offering significant potential for local employment creation.
“As many of you are aware our commercial ports are vital to our future economic growth.
“They are the gateways for most of our merchandise trade, and for significant numbers of tourists and passengers. National ports poli- cy encourages every port to develop its full potential to ensure that each port can contribute to growth in the overall sector.
Ports of Regional significance serve a niche market and provide an important regional and local function.”
  Irish Rail Completes Trial of 50% Longer Freight Trains
Freight trains in Ireland are about to get a lot longer. Last June Irish Rail (Iarnrod Éireann) completed a series of three freight train trials that will enable trains to carry loads 50% larger.
The trial in June involved a multimodel service operated from Dub- lin Port (North Wall) to Claremorris, Co. Mayo. The train stretched all of 440-metres and was made up of 27 wagons. It was the longest train ever to run on an Irish rail network.
Until this latest trail the longest train to have operated in Ireland had 18 wagons (36 TEUs) – another recent trial that ran successfully between Limerick and Waterford.
The train was hauled by a class 201 General Motors diesel, the most powerful operated in Ireland. The load weighed approximately 1,110 tonnes and was operated on behalf of International Ware- housing & Transport of Dublin (IWT).
The longer trains will be a big boost to the competitiveness of rail for industry. There are also substantial environmental benefits to higher capacity services.
Currently moving freight by rail instead of road reduces emissions up to 75% per unit, and longer trains could see emissions reduced to as little as one-tenth of the road equivalent.
Currently, the principle rail freight traffics on the Irish network include container traffic from Ballina to Waterford and Dublin Port, pulpwood from Ballina and Westport to Waterford Port, and zinc ore from Tara Mines in Navan to Dublin Port.
Irish Rail is expecting to begin full operations of the longer freight trains from the fourth quarter 2016.
  The CharTered InsTITuTe of LogIsTICs & TransporT 49
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