The railine between Limerick and Ennis reopened from first service this Tuesday morning.
The line had been closed since late February due to flooding at Ballycar in Newmarket-on-Fergus.
Iarnród Éireann is advising customers that due to Covid-19 a revised timetable is in place and only essential travel is permitted. For those who must travel, they should check www.irishrail.ie before travelling for times.
The railway track at Ballycar Lough has flooded on a number of occasions in recent years. This flooding has led to temporary closures of the railway line for extended periods of up to 20 weeks at a time, although this closure was not as prolonged.
Flood waters rose to a maximum height of 1.6 metre above the railway track during some flood events, despite works, which saw Iarnród Éireann raise the track level by 60 centimetres at Ballycar in 2003 to mitigate against the effects of flooding. This time flood waters reached 1metre above the track.
Work is ongoing on a feasibility study to explore engineering solutions to further mitigate against flooding.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.