Increased use of rail freight is a desired outcome for a new study of railway utilisation in Ireland. A joint initiative has been proposed by the devolved UK government in Belfast, and the Irish Republic’s government in Dublin. Co-operation between the two administrations could see freight traffic grow in the south; and return to the rails in the north for the first time in several decades. The study comes in response to economic and environmental factors, which would benefit business and promote the low-carbon agendas of both UK and Irish parliaments.