Anton McNulty
Enda Kenny is fully supportive of the campaign to re-open the Western Rail Corridor according to West-on-Track despite suggestions that the Fine Gael leader wants to turn the Claremorris to Collooney line into a cycleway.
An article which appeared in last week’s Irish Times appeared to suggest that Deputy Kenny had lent his support to plans to turn part of the Western Rail Corridor (WRC) into a walking and cycling greenway similar to the Newport to Mulranny greenway.
“I favour this kind of development… which will have a considerable impact in respect of tourism,” Mr Kenny was reported to have told Sligo-based greenway promoter Brendan Quinn.
However, Colman Ó Rallaghaigh, spokesperson for West-on-Track who have campaigned to re-open the WRC to Collooney told The Mayo News that Deputy Kenny’s comments were taken out of context and they are confident that he is behind their campaign.
“Enda Kenny has supported our campaign from the beginning and continues to support it and his colleagues in Mayo also support the campaign. Like all reasonable people he is open to the idea of developing a greenway adjacent to the Western Rail Corridor while at the same time protecting the railway for future development. That is West-on-Track’s position as well,” he said.
The first stage of the re-opening of the WRC between Ennis and Athenry opened last year while the second phase from Athenry to Tuam line is due to open later this year. The extension of the line to Claremorris which was due to re-open in 2014 has been put on ‘hold’.
In his reference to the West-on-Track campaign, Mr Quinn said the entire rail corridor was unlikely to happen ‘any time soon, or at all’ and called on Mayo County Council to create a new greenway on the Mayo part of the line rather than persist with the ‘rather forlorn idea’ that the line would reopen.
He added that he did not think the Ennis to Athenry line has ‘set the world alight’ and that a bus journey was more frequent and quicker than this train.
However, this was disputed by Sinn Féin’s General election candidate, Cllr Thérèse Ruane, who is also Chairperson of Smart Travel Castlebar. She said that the new line has been so successful that Iarnród Éireann were putting on extra commuter trains from Galway.
