Regions for Port and Maritime Consultancy ~ Ireland

Socio-economic and Business Case for Rosslare–Waterford Rail Line, Ireland

The Rosslare-Limerick Junction Railway is approximately 192 km of railway infrastructure linking population centres across the south of Ireland. Due to poor performance, a national report identified the Rosslare-Waterford section of the line for possible closure.

The National Transport Authority invited a submission from the affected regional and local authorities to inform its decision. The South-East Regional Authority therefore commissioned a project team comprising KSA, Imrecon and Fisher Associates, to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the complete Rosslare-Waterford-Limerick rail corridor. This included an in-depth review of all of the relevant policy context, consideration of the socio-economic and business case for an alternative strategy to address the performance issues, and review of the business case submitted by Irish Rail to the NTA.

Fisher Associates role concerned demonstration of the freight and passenger potential of the line through improved linkages with the Port of Rosslare. (2010)

Port Operations Review, Cork, Ireland

Fisher Associates, in association with Arup, was commissioned by Origin Enterprises plc to advise on issues related to their planning application for redevelopment of R&H Hall's site at Cork City Quays. (2009)

The specific points under consideration related to "port operations" issues. The review included:

• Observation of port operations on City Quays.
• Assessment of operational efficiency.
• Determine specific physical effects of Origin development.
• Assess impact of Origin development on operational efficiency.
• Draw conclusions.
  

Marine Advisor to Cork City Council, Ireland

Fisher Associates was commissioned by Cork City Council (CCC) to advise on issues related to the Port of Cork, in connection with CCC's compulsory purchase order application related to development of Cork City Docklands, and specifically on the construction of two bridges just downstream of Cork City Quays. The services provided included:

• Identification of the key marine issues raised by objectors to the CPO application, and providing a lead for CCC on discussions related to marine operational impacts of bridges, and arrangements required to mitigate these.
• Preparation of a risk assessment, on both a with and without bridges basis, based on best practice according to the UK's Port Marine Safety Code.
• Assessment of the ongoing commercial consequences of the bridges, and the impact on the competitiveness of the Port of Cork once the bridges were in place, based on a review of the market and revenues and general commercial prospects for City Quays.
• An assessment of the real potential impact of road traffic taking priority over navigation during morning and evening traffic peaks, including a tidal analysis and analysis of shipping traffic.
• Preparation of an outline valuation, considering the complexities of the specific circumstances applying in this case.

The application became subject of an Oral Hearing, at which Fisher Associates provided expert witnesses on both the marine technical and commercial issues. (2008/9)

Container Demand Analysis, Republic of Ireland

In the context of a public enquiry for the proposed Port of Cork Oyster Bay Container Terminal, Fisher Associates was commissioned to review future LoLo demand in the Republic of Ireland, and implications for the proposed Port of Cork Oyster Bay LoLo terminal. The scope of work comprised: (2008)

• Reviewing our previous national traffic projections completed for the Irish Department for Transport in the light of most recent trends.
• Updating our knowledge of progress in the various terminal projects in Ireland.
• Drawing broad conclusions on implications for the proposed container terminal in Cork, and coming to an objective view on the issue of whether it was reasonable to predict the need for a capacity of 400,000 TEU terminal at Cork in 10 to 15 years.

Based on data in the public domain at the time, the methodology employed in this work was consistent with that used in a study on national unitised traffic projections, and capacity scenarios, completed for the DfT in 2005 / 06.

Irish Sea Ferry Services Study

We were appointed by a confidential client to undertake a review of Irish Sea ferry services. The review considered key vessel deployments and service options on one of the main Ireland-UK Corridors, and considered key strategic, demand and cost drivers for the main players. It also considered the development of terminal operations in a key port. (2007)

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