Search Results for 'Western Railway Corridor'

The campaign to reopen the railway track linking Claremorris to Sligo in the north and Galway and Limerick in the south has run out of steam and should give way to proposals for a greenway route along the track instead.

There was disagreement over the future of part of the proposed Western Rail Corridor this week, when it was proposed that part of the track the old line follows be used for a greenway project in east Mayo. Cllr Joe Mellett raised the issue at Monday’s special county development plan meeting, where he suggested that a walking and cycling track be developed alongside the track at the planned rail corridor.

Protecting infrastructure such as the Tuam to Athenry railway line is one step in ensuring that future investment and development in the west is not put at risk, that is according to the majority of county councillors who fiercely disagreed with suggestions that hopes of one day reopening the line should be abandoned and a greenway put in its place.

The Tuam to Athenry section of the Western Rail Corridor is still very much a viable option and is a valuable piece of infrastructure for the west of the country that should be protected, that is according to county councillors who voted this week to remove it from the Galway County Walking and Cycling Strategy which had proposed it as a possible walking and cycling greenway.

In a statement this week, Senator Lorraine Higgins has urged for swift action to be undertaken in alleviating the traffic congestion which has been caused by train delays at Athenry. She insists that “Irish Rail must adopt an imaginative solution to the persistent traffic chaos that ensues when trains are delayed at Athenry. Unless something is done immediately, the town will lose significant trade to neighbouring areas.” When trains on the Galway/Limerick and Dublin/Galway are delayed on the single track system, it has a significant knock-on effect, not just on arrival and departure times for passengers.”

It was a rocky week for the West on Track campaigners who seemed to have taken a severe blow on Tuesday when the Minister for Transport, Tourism, and Sport Leo Varadkar was quoted in The Irish Times as saying that the line would not be extended from Athenry to Tuam.

A rail link between Athenry and Tuam should be given “serious consideration” according to a new report and a recently formed campaign group based in the Tuam area.

Dear Editor,

Mayo Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony has vowed to continue to campaign for the completion of the Western Rail Corridor. Speaking in the aftermath of the announcement on cuts to capital funding, Deputy O’Mahony said it was important for the public to recognise that the project has been deferred and not cancelled.

Government investment for infrastructural projects in the West of Ireland is not a waste of money but an investment in job creation, transport, and economic growth.