Bray Head Train Track Move Rejected

Cliff Walk sunrise by Adrian Hendroff

ith negotiations with local landowners currently underway as plans to move parts of The Cliff Walk inland, it would appear the neighbouring train tracks are staying put.

Concerns have been raised for decades about coastal erosion along Bray Head but Iarnród Éireann and the National Transport Authority have reportedly rejected the proposal to move the tracks.

Instead, according to The Sunday Business Post, a €230m series of projects known as the East Coast Railway Infrastructure Protection Projects will explore alternative onshore and offshore solutions – including one that doesn’t involve moving that historical train line between Greystones and Bray.

The news comes in the week that contracts were signed to carry out work on the Bray end of The Cliff Walk to stabilize overhead rocks that are at risk of falling. One such collapse caused the close of the walk last October.

Whatever Iarnród Éireann and the NTA now have planned for that Bray Head train line – the Dart+ Sheme website is, so far, giving nothing away – it will no doubt work hand-in-hand with Wicklow County Council’s plans to save The Cliff Walk for future generations.

Well, we say no doubt, but it seems as though joined-up thinking is somewhat frowned upon around here.