Bridge collapse rail line to re-open in weeks
Rail chiefs are on track to re-open one of Ireland’s busiest lines within the coming weeks following the near catastrophic collapse of a bridge into the sea, they said today.
Iarnród Éireann said the closed section of the cross-border Dublin to Belfast line near Malahide, north Co Dublin, will be fully operational again by the end of November.
Thousands of passengers have been forced to make alternative travel arrangements since the viaduct, which carried more than 90 trains a day, fell into Broadmeadow estuary last month.
Barry Kenny, spokesman for Iarnród Éireann, said the structure will be fully rebuilt, strengthened and independently tested within the company’s original three-month timeframe.
“We will be complete by the end of November,” he said.
“When it opens it will be fit for purpose, it won’t be a partial reopening.”
Mr Kenny confirmed an internal review into exactly what went wrong will not be completed before service returns to normal, in time for the usually busy Christmas shopping period.
But he stressed that extra measures will be put in place to monitor the railway bridge for some time after the re-opening.
“We will have very intensive monitoring of that structure for a significant length of time after it opens,” he said.
As well as Iarnród Éireann's own internal tests, the section of railway is to be independently examined by structural engineers Roughan and O’Donovan and the Railway Safety Commission.
The internal investigation, expected to take six months, includes a modelling of the estuary and its water flows to establish how one the bridge’s piers collapsed.
It is suspected seabed erosion, caused by low tides and heavy rains, was to blame.
However, Iarnród Éireann has come under criticism for its failure to have an early warning system and stricter tests in place at the viaduct, which it says is unique in terms of the geographic features around and underneath it.
Heroic train driver Keith Farrelly averted tragedy when he spotted subsidence on the track moments after evening rush hour commuter services carrying hundreds of passengers passed over it on Friday, August 21.
Engineers had examined the structure four days earlier after a member of the public raised concerns about suspected erosion and markings on the piers.
An Oireachtas transport committee travelled to the scene today for an update on the progress of the reconstruction.
Mr Kenny said a full audit of 84 other rail crossings over water around the country was underway, but no problems had been flagged up so far.
