Collapsed viaduct to re-open at cost of €10m
Thursday November 12 2009
The collapse of the Malahide viaduct in August -- now due to reopen on Monday -- will cost Irish Rail over €10m, it emerged last night.
Irish Rail have confirmed that the total cost of the mishap will exceed €10m, including the estimated €5m cost to replace the weir, lost business and the cost of adding alternative bus and shuttle services.
The full train service is set to resume on Monday for thousands of rail commuters who were forced to find alternative transport since the viaduct collapsed.
However, the green light to resume the Belfast Enterprise and Northern Commuter line service won't be given until the Railway Safety Commission (RSC) issues a final safety certificate tomorrow.
But Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny last night said he was confident the RSC will give the go-ahead to proceed.
"It's one of the most important lines in the network," he told the Irish Independent.
"We're confident in our service and that we will get our business back. There were a lot of people who had seriously elongated commutes because of it, but the key has been to ensure customer confidence," he said.
A major rail disaster was narrowly averted when a section of the railway bridge over the estuary collapsed into the sea on August 31 just minutes after two commuter trains had passed over it.
Mr Kenny said the important thing is that service has been restored as soon as possible and that the line is safe.
Crews have been doing test runs on the viaduct and will continue to run test trains this weekend before the first passenger train leaves Dundalk bound for Dublin's Pearse station at 5.40am on Monday.
All regular schedules will resume and there will be no foreseeable delays in timetables, he said.
However, passengers will notice that the train will slow down as it crosses the viaduct, which is normal for new railway lines.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accident was caused by erosion of the weir at the seabed which caused one of the weir's supports to collapse.
It will be early 2010 before Irish Rail issues a full report on the incident.
- Allison Bray
Irish Independent
