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Changes to Irish Rail on way as Ireland gives up EU exemption

Currently Ireland is the only EU country with a single rail operator.

MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT Leo Varadkar has signalled a change is imminent at Irish Rail as the Government has decided not to seek an extension to Ireland’s derogation under EU rail market legislation.

The exemption, which expires in March next year, allows Ireland to retain a single operator which regulates, operates and maintains the country’s mainline rail network.

Varadkar said that Ireland is the only country in the EU which has such an arrangement in place.

Following a Cabinet meeting today, he announced a wide-ranging consultation process which will consider how best to restructure Irish Rail.

A separate body will be established to determine charges for access to the railway system and how capacity should be allocated.

Varadkar says he sees the end of the derogation as an opportunity to “encourage greater efficiency and transparency” in the rail sector.

“European law supports greater competition and freer access to the rail network sector across Europe, principally in the area of freight. I would like Ireland to be well prepared to avail of any such opportunities in the future,” he added.

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62 Comments
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    Mute Alex Falcone
    Favourite Alex Falcone
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 11:30 AM

    Absolute disaster of a country where life is cheap, disease is rampant, parents maim their children and turn them into beggars in order to survive and the rivers are polluted with floating corpses and the upper classes while away their time working on their British accents.

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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 11:39 AM

    @Alex Falcone: you’re worse than David Hogan. You should use your opinionated big brain to say things less about the specifics of what happened instead of throw away generalisations

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    Mute Alex Falcone
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 12:58 PM

    @Donal Proctor:
    It is a disaster of a country, and that’s why accidents like this happen again and again and again and again….

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    Mute Shane Lynn
    Favourite Shane Lynn
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 4:29 PM

    @Alex Falcone: Have you been Alex? At 1.25 billion people in India, 15k deaths annually makes their trains statistically a lot safer than our roads, scaling by population.

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    Mute Donal Proctor
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 11:36 AM

    @David Hogan: How insightful and inciting of you David to say something so crass. Wasent the first thing that popped into my head to be honest. Poor people. Hope the death toll dosent grow further. Hope they invest money and make the rail system safer. Hope the rich poor divide in India narrows.

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