Ireland is a country that at one time hosted over 3,000 miles of standard gauge railway. Given our land's outstanding railway heritage and history, we feel that there is the potential for a preserved standard gauge railway in Ireland to help recreate the once vibrant scenes of yesteryear and to preserve and safeguard a piece of our history.

A committee of dedicated volunteers are working to examine the potential and possibilty of opening a preserved railway in the Republic of Ireland as well as the pitfalls that exist in relation to same. Thus far, we are looking to identify any potential sites for such a line, to investigate a business case for and against any line and to look at the many practical issues that running a preserved line may encounter. Already, we have started to visit some potential sites and inroads have been made on some of the practical issues. Things are moving apace and are looking good.

If you are interested in helping us out at some stage, then we would love to hear from you. Maybe you know of a potential railway line that we can look at; perhaps you even have railway arctefacts that you can loan us or know of items we may be able to use at some stage in the future? Maybe you have an interest in trains, history or community projects and assisting same and would like to join our committee?

Either way, all offers of help and information are more than welcome!

Official website: www.heritagerailway.ie
Bebo group: http://www.bebo.com/irishrailway
Facebook group: Log in and enter "Irish Heritage Railway Group" in the site's search facility.