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Mobility and Transport

The final section of the North Sea – Mediterranean corridor runs along the east coast of Ireland and Northern Ireland, from Belfast to Dublin and Cork.

Infrastructure Managers

Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) is the Irish national rail company and operates in the Irish network with a broad-gauge of 1600 mm. This network has a part which belongs to the North Sea – Mediterranean corridor including over 360 km.

The national ERTMS Implementation Plan document states that the nature of the Irish rail network (isolated from the UK and the continent), the different track gauge and the low population in the country result in few train services. ERTMS will be introduced in the future, included in a signalling systems renewal policy, and following a cost-benefit analysis.

National implementation plan

The Irish National Implementation Plan (NIP) was delivered in 2017. It is exempt from following the ERTMS European Deployment Plan.

According to the Irish NIP, ERTMS is not expected to be deployed in Ireland. However, according to updated documents, the Irish authorities have plans to deploy Level 1 ETCS on the whole network by 2040. A GSM-R voice system is being rolled out to replace the existing analogue radio network by 2025.” 

National Implementation Plans (NIP) country by country

National Safety Authority

CRR (Commission for Railway Regulation) is the Irish National Safety Agency.