West on Track welcomes recommendation in rail review to re-open Mayo-Galway rail link

West on Track has warmly welcomed the news that the Mayo-Galway railway has been recommended for re-opening in the draft report of the first All-Island Strategic Rail Review, which Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan will bring to Cabinet later today.

A spokesman for West on Track said the development would represent a major delivery of key infrastructure as part of the Atlantic Economic Corridor and provide a huge boost for the western region. He expected that the railway would reopen for freight initially and for passengers thereafter:

“Since taking office in 2020, Minister Ryan has been supportive of the Atlantic Rail Corridor concept and has had the vision to see that our railways can deliver significant carbon savings for Ireland at a time when transport emissions are continuing to rise.

“Large multi-national companies in the west, such as Baxter in Castlebar, have already begun the transition to rail freight. The reopening of the link from Athenry to Claremorris will now allow for the direct movement of freight to the southern ports of Waterford and Foynes for the first time in over twenty years.

“This is a major infrastructural development for the West of Ireland. This next phase of the Western Rail Corridor can be made operational within 3-4 years, linking Tuam, Westport, Ballina, Castlebar and Claremorris to Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford and is the only shovel-ready infrastructural project for the west that can be initiated without delay.

“With congestion in the regional capital of Galway reaching crisis proportions the logical next step of re-opening the Galway-Mayo rail link for passengers will also have a major positive impact. This is strongly supported by Galway City and County Councils and by Mayo County Council.

“When open for passengers it will make an enormous difference to places like Tuam and Claremorris, allowing people to commute easily into their local city for work, business and medical appointments etc. and even allowing many students to travel in and out to college while living at home, representing a massive saving in accommodation fees.

“Taking people out of cars and attracting them to public transport has been one of the reasons that Phase 1 of the WRC has succeeded so dramatically in the past few years, making it the fastest growing rail route in the country.We are confident that the restored Mayo-Galway rail link will have a similar impact, as well as facilitating direct freight flows to the south for the first time in over 20 years,” concluded the spokesperson.