Colm Walsh, a long-time member of Dublin Cycling Campaign, cycled the Portadown-Newry-Carlingford Greenways on a trip in August 2024. In this article he reports on his mini-adventure.
Having viewed the Newry Canal from the train over the years, I chose a weekday in August and cycled Portadown-Newry-Carlingford-Dundalk. Below is my round-up.
The ‘trailhead’ at Albert Lock, Newry
Overall, it’s not a great route – it feels unfinished and disconnected: Enterprise train 09:30 Dublin to Portadown, good coffee and plenty of bike hooks in the Guards’ Wagon. Easy way-finding from train station – helpful ticket inspector, 250m across roads to trailhead, nice cafe area there & east along the Bann river, branching off southward to Newry after a few 100m. Peaceful canalside towpath, gravelly, tree roots in places, small cafes, caravan coffee stops if you wish, Scarva village couple larger choices.
The Trailhead at Portadown
Scarva village
Hit Newry about 2hours 15mins later. Dumped in the city centre, not very cycle friendly, no parking racks, found a large pub “Oliver’s” on the river for pitstop ‘only takes cash’’ (?) but when I protested at the house ATM fees, they produced a card machine! Fine. Off and down the river southward, but missed the start of the new and still-being-completed Carlingford Greenway. Instead of finding here the entrance to the canal towpath at Newry on the Albert Lock – which isn’t signposted and you just have to know it’s there – which brings you between the lough and the canal to Victoria lock, I ended up cycling past a Traveller encampment in wasteland, quite a scrappy start to greenway, then dumped on the road alongside the Albert Basin to the Victoria carpark and supposed start to the Carlingford Greenway, but not complete, only bits/bobs?
Some unloved signage along the way on the Newry canal, Co. Down
Unless I missed an entrance, I ended up cycling to Omeath before I could get access, many signs telling me ‘No Greenway Access’ heading towards the Greenway, which I could see parallel to me across fields, but genuinely couldn’t work out how to get on! Only in County Louth did wayfinding improve, but even in Omeath it was not clear how to start on the Greenway. I ended up going in through a caravan park. It’s fine, a bit gravelly, but the southerly wind the whole way didn’t help!
These were visible – but no – ‘Greenway this way’ signs! In Co. Louth
Couple coffee stops available, hit Carlingford, and awful cycle on the hard shoulders of R173, a busy road serving ports & headwind until I turned west. Under pressure to catch 17:20 train, I stopped only very briefly, and quaffed the most delicious IPA at the Railway Bar, Dundalk after 76km or so with 15 mins to train. Back on Irish Rail, with three bicycles occupying two berths (that I had booked), so the guard turned a blind eye. Bring on the new carriages. I wouldn’t rush back to do that, kept going to Dundalk to avoid doubling back – but would not recommend that section, and ironically passing so many ‘No to Cooley Greenway’ signs!
Thanks to Dave Anderson & Mairéad Forsythe for input.
Note: If any other of our members have recently tried out some new (or perhaps older) signed cycle routes and would like to pen an article about your experiences, we would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact us here.
Cyclist.ie made a submission today in regard to the consultation process associated with the all island Strategic Rail Review. You can read the consultation documents here.
And you can read the submission of Cyclist.ie and An Taisce in the following text.
The first public commuter line in Ireland, from Dublin to Dun Laoghaire, was launched in 1834 – and the lines stretched out to Belfast, Cork and Galway over the following decades. The point here is that the rail corridors and infrastructure put in place back then have shaped development and settlement patterns for almost two centuries. When planning the future of rail on the island of Ireland we need to have similar timelines in mind, and be thinking about what type of transportation system and settlement patterns we want to end up with, not just in 2050 but in 2100 and 2200. This is the opportunity to shape that future.
Our current rail “system” is almost exclusively a set of radial lines (with much of it single track) running to and from Dublin, with minimal direct inter-connectivity between towns and cities outside of the capital. This needs to change completely if we are to arrive at a transport network and system – and future settlement pattern – which is in line with our requirement to decarbonise our entire transport system (and economy and society by 2050) as per the Paris Agreement and our own brand new Climate Action Plan. There needs to be far greater recognition of the shaping effect of our transport infrastructure on where development ends up taking place. Additionally, we note the over-representation in the road traffic collision statistics of heavy goods vehicles in serious and fatal collisions (and particularly those involving vulnerable road users). The future of freight movement in Ireland needs to acknowledge this fact, and to maximise the movement of goods by rail, and not on roads with the associated road carnage that ensues.
Image from page 7 of the Consultation Document
Therefore, the priority over the coming decades but starting now needs to be around connecting our regional cities with high quality rail infrastructure and services and then prioritising transit oriented development – i.e. development of almost every type close to rail stations (in line with the 15 Minute City / Town concept). There needs to be high quality, high capacity, direct and resilient connections from Dublin to Wexford/Rosslare (thinking ahead to take into account coastal erosion patterns) and on to Waterford and on to Cork and to Limerick and to Galway and to Sligo and on to Derry and then Belfast and back to Dublin. The North West of the island is severely lacking in high quality rail transport and there is no better time than now to rectify this problem – as against investing in road based options which will, inevitably, stimulate dispersed car-based development patterns and car trips (and hence higher energy use, emissions and use of raw materials).
The mainline train lines (Dublin to Cork, Galway and Belfast) should be upgraded to electric. Ireland is anomalous in Europe in mainline services being all diesel. There are local air quality issues at stake here as well as carbon emissions.
The other point we wish to stress in this submission is the need to think about inter-modal journeys, and low / zero carbon trips. The catchment area of a train station when considering people cycling to it is approximately 9 times the area of the catchment area of the station for those walking to it (given that average cycling speeds are approximately 3 times those of average walking speeds). Therefore, there needs to be a full acknowledgement of the need to provide for bike / rail journeys when planning investment in the future of rail. Of most concern here is the following:
– The design of safe and attractive cycle routes to every train station and stop in the country, and this must include making areas close to stations properly permeable and well connected for those walking and cycling to stations (‘filtered permeability’ as it is called).
– The need for high quality, safe and secure bicycle parking at every train station / stop in the country. In cities, there needs to be a quantum leap in ambition and investment priority so as to provide high capacity / high quality infrastructure such as we see in cities such as Utrecht, Malmö and Munster (in Germany). See for example the facilities in Utrecht in this video:
– The carriage of bikes on all trains needs to be greatly improved – at a minimum to match proposed EU levels of 8 bikes per train (as per this ECF article).
Bicycle spaces on trains must be easy to use and suitable for a variety of bike types, including bicycles loaded with pannier bags (so as to nurture a strong cycle tourism culture), or even cargo bikes. Cyclists who do not have good upper body strength (e.g. most women), find it hard to use some of the spaces on the existing Irish rail fleet. Furthermore, the bicycle compartment should be visibly indicated on the rolling stock itself – many logos on carriage doors showing the bicycle spaces are much too small. Some of the intercity trains in Ireland now have fine big logos which is welcome, and such logos should be placed on all trains. Such a simple and inexpensive change would make life a lot simpler for people with bicycles trying to board trains.
Cycle friendly rolling stock (Germany) – Photo kindly provided by Ray Ryan (Skerries Cycling Initiative)
– Additionally, there needs to be signs on the platforms showing where cyclists should wait (see Bath Spa station in the UK for example). Note that high-speed trains often stop only for a few minutes. To properly manage the timely loading of bicycles and avoid possible delays, customers need to know which section of the platform their coach is going to halt. They should be guided by diagrams, either paper (e.g. Deutsche Bahn) or electronic (e.g. SNCF), which clearly indicate where the coaches are going to stop. In addition, platform voice announcements should be given before the arrival of the train.
As above, the north west quadrant of the country is severely depleted in regard to rail infrastructure. Similarly West Cork has a very large and long gap without any rail infrastructure.
Furthermore, it is not wise to lift unused lines such as Waterford to Rosslare for conversion to greenways, when the first priority needs to be the reinstatement of high quality rail links. The closures were to a large extent due to very poor service frequency and timing from Irish Rail. This needs to be acknowledged and addressed. Lines also need to be made available to other operators if this improves services.
In addition, the current level of service on the Dublin to Rosslare line is extremely poor and results in an anomalously low modal share for train in this corridor. The problem is exacerbated by the lack of connectivity between the ferry services to and from Rosslare and the train services. This means that people who want to travel without a car on these ferry services effectively cannot do so.
We recommend strongly that a direct curve is provided towards Dublin at Ballybrophy to make the services on the Nenagh line connect to Dublin. The current track layout there does not promote a fast service.
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Dr. Damien Ó Tuama National Cycling Coordinator, Cyclist.ie http://cyclist.ie/ and An Taisce https://www.antaisce.org/ Vice-President, European Cyclists’ Federation (2016 – 2021) https://ecf.com/ The Tailors’ Hall Back Lane Dublin D08 X2A3
Streets 4 All NI’s second webinar will take place on Thursday 25th November 2021 from 8pm to 9pm.
In this webinar you’ll hear perspectives from Germany on the cycling industry, cycling advocacy, and progress in liveability, and from Northern Ireland on issues around transport and infrastructure development that affect the mobility of disabled people and older people.
Burkhard Stork is the Managing Director / CEO of Zweirad-Industrie-Verband (the German Bicycle Industry Association), and former Director of Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club (ADFC, the German National Cyclists’ Association).
Michael Lorimer is the Executive Secretary of IMTAC (the Inclusive Mobility and Transport Advisory Committee) which advises the Government and others in Northern Ireland.
You are very welcome to join this one hour webinar hosted by Cyclist.ie. Attendance is free, and registration is required – see here.
Streets4All is a new collective of people who have come together to create one voice in the campaign to make the streets, cities and places in Northern Ireland better for walking, wheeling, cycling and living.
The group has a wealth of expertise but, most importantly, a strong desire to create greener, healthier and more active ways of living and travelling. Its aim is:
to campaign for changes in the way we live in Northern Ireland. For too long now our streets and cities have been overrun and dominated by cars and private vehicles. We want to claim back these spaces to allow people to move freely in a positive manner.
On Thursday 23rd of September at 8pm, Streets4All will host a webinar facilitated by Cyclist.ie to showcase what is going on in the UK and Ireland by other campaigners, what has been achieved in terms of active travel and liveability, and how something similar can happen in Northern Ireland.
Speakers will include Agustina Martire, Giulia Vallone, Adam Tranter and Damien Ó Tuama. You can read brief bios for them below.
You can register in advance for this free webinar via this link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Do please spread the word on this event, especially to friends and colleagues in Northern Ireland. We look forward to meeting you all online then.
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Bios of Speakers
Agustina Martire Agustina is senior lecturer in architecture at Queen’s University Belfast. She teaches urban history and theory and architectural design. She leads the StreetSpace project, an international and interdisciplinary project that studies everyday streets, shedding light on the way streets are used, experienced and represented. She works with a series of NGOs and government departments, advocating for equitable and just mobility and housing in Belfast.
Giulia Vallone Giulia is an award winning architect and urban designer with Cork County Council. Her focus is excellence in design of public works and townscape through a people centred design approach generating civic stewardship and placemaking. She is a passionate believer in the delivery of quality outcomes from collaborative and multi-disciplinary design process applied to all public investments in the urban environment, and not just those traditionally associated with architectural design. Her work with Cork County Council has won several design awards, in particular the “Clonakilty 400” Masterplan [phase I-II] winner of The RIAI Public Choice Award in 2014, The Academy of Urbanism Award, The Irish Design Award and RIAI Best Place in Ireland in 2017 and the latter triennial European Gubbio Prize in 2018.
Adam Tranter Adam is the CEO of communications agency Fusion Media, specialising in marketing communications around cycling and active travel. He also co-hosts the Streets Ahead podcast on active travel and liveable streets. Adam volunteers as the Bicycle Mayor for Coventry, which helps coordinate between existing cyclists, the community, government, and non-profits to make cycling better in Coventry. He was the first Bicycle Mayor in a UK city – the programme founded in Amsterdam where it is supported by the city government.
Damien Ó Tuama Damien is the National Cycling Coordinator with Cyclist.ie and An Taisce. His main focus is in supporting Cyclist’s 25+ member groups in collaborating effectively and advancing Cyclist.ie’s new strategy. He has worked in the mobilities space for over 20 years and completed his doctoral research exploring transitions in mobility systems in 2015 (Trinity College Dublin). He was a board member of the European Cyclists’ Federation from 2016 to 2021, and is currently on the board of Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
Donegal County Council issue tender for first phase of Muff-Derry greenway
Donegal County Council’s Roads & Transportation Directorate has published the tender for the Muff part of the Derry-Muff greenway. The 2.3km section – of an overall 10km route – will be delivered under the auspices of the cross-border North West Greenway Network.
Works will include: segregated infrastructure, the widening of existing footpaths on the R238, new and upgraded lighting, landscaping, drainage works and the provision of bicycle parking facilities at Muff Community Park.
Funding has been provided by INTERREG VA, administered by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), with match-funding from the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland and the Department of Transport in Ireland. The route is part of 46.5kms being developed by Donegal County Council in conjunction with the lead partner, Derry City & Strabane District Council.
Welcoming the announcement, the Communications Officer for the North West Greenway Network, Rónán Gallagher, said: ‘this project has been developed over three years and it is fantastic that this tender has now been issued. With a little bit of luck, construction will commence by summer.’ He continued: ‘our goal is to encourage modal shift while reducing carbon emissions. This will provide a crucial new artery linking Muff to Derry City as well as a fantastic amenity for people living in the village. It is also a tangible example of how Donegal County Council is encouraging active travel and creating a sustainable future for the people living in the county.’
With work on the Lifford-Strabane section nearing completion and the planning application for the Bridgend to Buncrana section of the Buncrana-Derry greenway due to be lodged later this year, Donegal County Council in conjunction with Derry City & Strabane District Council is taking a significant step to improving cross-border green infrastructure that will encourage modal shift and active travel across the North West Region.
Details on the North West Greenway Network – see here.
In the first week of December the CHIPS (Cycle Highways Innovation for smarter People transport and Spatial planning) partners met in the surprisingly sunny city of Belfast to discuss the results of CHIPS survey and to design the behavioural change campaigns to attract more users on the cycle highways. The survey which was conducted by the project partners in Northern Ireland revealed the main barriers faced by commuters while cycling to work. Most respondents claimed that non-segregation of traffic is the biggest problem, while a smaller group of surveyed people has identified weather as the biggest problem. Read more
At the beginning of December an official press release for the funding of three cross-border greenway projects in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland was announced that will open up new sustainable cross border travel routes for both cyclists and pedestrians. The EU’s INTERREG VA Programme has offered approximately €23.27 million.This will fund the development of greenways in three different areas including one joining Carlingford to Newry, a route from Monaghan into Armagh along the Ulster Canal and three different routes in the North West, one from Strabane to Lifford and two from Derry/ Londonderry into Donegal. One of these routes is good news for the further development of EuroVelo 1 in Ireland. Read article
Cyclist.ie Belfast member Jonathan Hobbs, who moderates NI Greenways, and is active in lobbying for greater cycling provision in Northern Ireland, writes on a major move by Northern Ireland’s Infrastructure Minister, Chris Hazzard in laying out an exciting long term strategy for development of Greenways.
Would that we here in the Republic could manage to get a similar strategy agreed by our incumbent minister of Transport Tourism & Sport, who has yet to make any statement of substance in relation to Active Travel, and sustainable transport. Cyclist.ie continues to seek a meeting with Minister Shane Ross, to put the case for a greater share of transport investment for cycling. We have yet to get an agreed meeting.
In the meantime why do we need to look North to get a definitive statement of belief in cycling as a central and important mode of transport, as well as providing major health and environmental benefits!?
Shane Ross needs to wake up to the future of transport in a reduced carbon emission world
Cyclist.ie has made contributions about everyday cycling strategy to the NI Assembly Regional Development sub-committee at Stormont as well as to NI Minister for DRD, Danny Kennedy MLA, and his officials.
Some members of Cyclist.ie will be attending at the public seminar on the Strategy on 16 October in Belfast.
In the ROI we are at the half-way stage with our NCPF (2009) which sets a target of 10% of everyday trips to be made by bike by 2020. The target is slipping away unless the government commits in the Budget next Tuesday to enhanced funding for cycling promotion and the establishment of a national Cycling Officer and a team of specialists based at DoTTAS to really drive the promotion of cycling for commuting for work and school, shopping, children socialising around their neighbourhoods, etc.
Cyclist.ie, the Irish national cycling lobby group, has reacted with dismay and deep concern to news of a proposal to make it illegal for people to cycle in Northern Ireland unless they wear a helmet.
Cyclist.ie chairperson Dr. Mike McKillen stated “The regular exercise provided by cycling confers protection against heart disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes. There is a straightforward public health imperative to get as many people as possible to make daily journeys by bicycle. If this aim is be realised, we must not get distracted by counterproductive debates about helmet wearing. The drop in the number of cyclists following vigorous helmet promotion in other jurisdictions draws a stark picture: you can promote cycling or you can promote helmets; you cannot do both” Continue reading Northern Ireland Bike Helmet Law proposals: Helmet Law would be a public health disaster say cyclists→
