New rail service to take 5,000 lorry journeys off one of Kilkenny’s most notorious roads

A new rail service which will take 5,000 lorry journeys off of one of county Kilkenny’s busiest roads is due to start next month.

Iarnród Éireann, XPO Logistics and the Port of Waterford in Belview, county Kilkenny this morning announced they are to begin a new twice-weekly rail freight service between Ballina in county Mayo and Plunkett Station in Waterford.

The news comes as a huge boost to the economy of the South East and has potential to benefit both Belview Port in county Kilkenny and Rosslare Europort in county Wexford.

The twice weekly rail service – in both directions, will reduce emission on the delivery of the freight by 75% and will travel through county Kilkenny to Dublin, before heading west toe County Mayo.

The new service will take up to 100 lorries a week off the busy N24 road which has been the site of many accidents and deaths over the past two decades.

Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive Jim Meade said, “We are entering a very exciting phase where rail freight can offer key solutions for the movement of freight as the country addresses both environmental and congestion challenges in this sector.

“Today’s announcement with XPO and Waterford Port demonstrates the viable opportunities that can be developed that will not just support industry and the logistics sector but is also fully aligned with the country’s climate action plan,” Mr Meade concluded.

Dan Myers, managing director, transport – UK and Ireland, XPO Logistics, said: “We take environmental protection seriously at XPO. So we are pleased to work in partnership with Irish Rail in delivering an intermodal solution, with the flexibility of loading and unloading goods in a drop-trailer setting. Our goal is always to manage supply chain activities as efficiently as possible whilst helping our customers lower their carbon footprint.”

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan welcomed the announcement and said: “The way we choose to connect communities and businesses will be critically important as we look to halve our emissions by 2030.

Rail and other sustainable solutions will play an important role on our journey to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This new freight service offers a climate friendly option connecting enterprises from the West to the Southeast of the country and onwards to export markets,” Minister Ryan concluded.