ERDF Stories
Contact NWRA
Northern & Western Regional Assembly
Dillon House, Ballaghaderreen
Co. Roscommon
F45 WY26
Ireland
+353 (0) 94 986 2970
ERDF Stories
Public Transport Development
Part of €43 Million Project
They say a bridge has no allegiance to either side. But connecting the west with Dublin was inspiration behind the reconstructed Drumsna Railway Bridge in Co Leitrim
Specialist Structural Engineer with Irish Rail, Aidan McAdam says: “The existing bridge was old and in need of constant repair, so trains could only travel at a speed of 10 miles per hour in the vicinity of the bridge.
“Now trains can travel at a speed of 75 miles per hour for the entire journey, which makes a huge difference to the lives of regular passengers.”
The reconstruction had been considered numerous times, but the cost was too high. It finally got the go ahead in 2008 thanks to the European Regional Development Fund, which supported the bridge’s renewal as part of a rail safety program.
The location of the railway bridge – it crosses the River Shannon from Leitrim to Roscommon at a spot that can’t be reached by the road – meant that engineers needed to construct a temporary road to safely reach and work on the bridge.
“One of the world’s largest cranes was hired to lift out the old spans, lift in the new bed stones, and put in the new spans before laying a new track across the bridge and connecting to the existing track,” explains Mr. McAdam.
All the initial preparation work was done out of train operating hours to minimise the disruption to passengers and then the track was closed for 10 days while the works were safely carried out.
The reconstruction, which cost total of €5.5 million, resulted in a more reliable bridge structure that has improved train journey times from Sligo to Dublin by ten minutes and the new structure is expected to last for 120 years.
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
Accept All CookiesManage PreferencesNecessary Cookies OnlyWe use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set optional analytics cookies to help us improve it. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.
For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookies Page
Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
You can read about our privacy policy in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
Privacy