Irish Rail support keeping Claremorris to Collooney line for rail traffic only

The Chair of the Western Inter-County Railway Committee has welcomed comments from the Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann that the Claremorris to Collooney line will remain for rail traffic and ‘not for anything else’.

The Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann, Mr. Jim Meade, has told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport on Wednesday that Iarnród Éireann supports keeping the railway from Claremorris to Collooney for rail traffic.

“We know it’s an ambition of our own Minister to reinstate it [the Western Rail Corridor] if he can. It’s called out in the Strategic Review. We have started doing some vegetation works on it recently to keep the line clean and open, some de-vegetation. But particularly for a freight corridor, the review is saying it’s very viable for a freight corridor and you would do it probably in stages from Athenry to Claremorris.

“Beyond Claremorris, we certainly would support the ambition to keep that for rail traffic, not for anything else, and in time if the decision is made to connect to Collooney, so be it,” Mr Meade told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport.

The all-island strategic rail review recommended that reinstatement of the western rail corridor from Athenry to Claremorris via Tuam be commenced by 2030 with the project to cost between €400 million and €600 million.

Mr Meade also indicated that the next phase of the rail corridor will require a lead-in period of two years for planning and preparation at an estimated cost of €7m to €12m and that it will then require a three year construction period.

His comments were welcomed by Cllr Michael Connolly, Chair of the Western Inter-County Railway Committee, which is an association of elected members drawn from five local authorities committed to the restoration of passenger and freight train services between Limerick, Galway, Mayo and Sligo.

“I want to warmly welcome the comments by the Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, where he said that Iarnród Éireann would support the ambition to keep the railway from Claremorris to Collooney for rail traffic, and not for any other use,” Cllr Connolly said at a meeting of the Committee in Sligo City Hall.

“The 47 miles of existing railway from Claremorris to Collooney is an extremely valuable piece of state-owned public transport infrastructure, passing an international airport [Ireland West Airport Knock] and connecting many towns, which would cost many hundreds of millions to acquire today. To build an equivalent line to the Mayo-Sligo section from scratch could potentially cost €15m/km or close to €1.5bn. It is therefore essential that the rail alignment is protected for future rail use.

“The likelihood that the Galway line is soon to reopen as far north as Claremorris offers an important opportunity for Sligo as it means that the Sligo-Galway line will then be more than 60 percent in operation. Mayo’s industries will then be able to use the WRC line for moving raw materials and finished products, saving time and money and reducing their carbon footprint. The same opportunity needs to be afforded to Sligo,” the Galway-based councillor concluded.