There will be disruptions at Oranmore Train Station in October due to the construction of a new pedestrian underpass. The news was confirmed at the Athenry Municipal District Meeting on Tuesday, September 9.
The new underpass is part of an Urban Regeneration and Development Fund project at Oranmore Train Station. Construction will take place over the weekend beginning October 10 with reopening scheduled for 6am on Tuesday morning, October 14. Closures will be communicated on relevant social media platforms and on local radio. Senior planner for Galway County Council Valerie Loughnane said that the aim is to keep disruptions to a minimum.
Loughnane also confirmed that the pedestrian underpass will also have a cycle lane and disability access. She said that “including bicycle and disability access is not usually part of these projects but its inclusion was negotiated”.
Preparatory works will begin on September 22. On the day before construction, on October 8, the car park at the train station will be reduced to 100 car park spaces. There will be a full closure of the car park over the weekend of construction. Construction will take place over the weekend beginning October 10 with reopening scheduled for 6am on Tuesday morning, October 14.
Galway County Council iterated the importance that the car park is fully cleared prior to construction works beginning on October 9.
Loughnane said that “there will be heavy machinery going into the car park and the workers will need access and room. In the unlikely event that a vehicle needs to be removed, they will be removed but Galway County Council will attempt to contact the vehicle owner first”.
Over the weekend, services will terminate at Athenry. Passengers will disembark at Athenry and a bus service will continue the journey into Galway city. When Cllr Peter Feeney (FG ) enquired whether this bus service would serve Oranmore, Loughnane confirmed that it would do. Access to the car park will be closed but the bus service will serve Oranmore Train Station.
Cllr Feeney welcomed the project after what he described as “endless decades of neglect”.
Cllr Cillian Keane (FF ) shared the enthusiasm for a new underpass and said it was “good to see a plan coordinated for the carpark” to navigate the closures. He added that a carpark redesign project has to “follow very quicky” behind the construction of the underpass at Oranmore Train Station.
The underpass will be completed and Oranmore Train Station will be reopened at 6am Tuesday, October 14. This will mark the completion of phase one of the works with tendering for the second phase due in mid-2026.
