The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan will reopen the railway line between Limerick Junction and Waterford today. Chris Ashmore reports.
The 45-mile stretch was closed last October following the derailment of a cement train as it crossed the Cahir viaduct in Co Tipperary. An investigation into the accident found that the design of the freight wagons, their weight and the track, caused the train to derail.
Iarnród Éireann is offering a special introductory day return fare of €10 between Limerick and Waterford and a €5 day return fare between the intermediate stations in Co Tipperary and Waterford. The new passenger services begin tomorrow.
The new trains will serve Tipperary, Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir and as well as restoring the inter-city link between Waterford and Limerick, it is also hoped that commuter traffic could develop as well.
Before the crash, they often carried fewer than 100 passengers a day on trains dating from the 1960s and operating on a "boat train" timetable to tie in with ferry services in Rosslare.
Iarnród Éireann decided to renew the viaduct at a cost of €2.6 million and to enhance train services using new railcars. A spokeswoman for Iarnród Éireann said the company had intended to develop services on the line before the accident.
"We hope that the local people will now use the new services and make a case for the development in the future," she said.
While the new services will be widely welcomed, the lack of resources available to Iarnród Éireann for much of the last 30 years has meant that the track on the route is in need of upgrading.
The maximum speed limit along much of the route is less than 50 m.p.h. The fastest train from Waterford to Limerick will take two hours and 21 minutes to cover the 77-mile journey - an average speed of less than 35 m.p.h.
The line is also important for freight and had up to nine trains a day before the closure. Much of the traffic is sugar beet which is transported by rail from south Wexford to Mallow. The sugar beet traffic will resume next month.