Fresh uncertainty over Western Rail Corridor extending to Sligo
The potential development of a greenway in Sligo on disused rail tracks has raised questions about the prospects of extending the Western Rail Corridor to the town, with commercial semi-state company Irish Rail citing a lack of medium-term plans to reopen the railway.
The news today that Irish Rail has agreed to lease over thirty kilometres of old rail tracks to Sligo County Council to develop a greenway has placed a big question mark on whether the Western Rail Corridor will extend to Sligo.
The development of a Greenway in Sligo on the disused rail tracks appears to deal a blow to any prospects in the near future of a rail line linking Galway, Mayo and Sligo.
Iarnród Éireann has agreed to licence its lands in the form of the disused railway alignment between Bellaghy and Collooney to Sligo County Council.
The rationale from the commercial semi-state company is that "the merits of the proposal in the absence of specific medium-term plans to reopen the railway".
However, Irish Rail says that the successful delivery of the Western Rail Corridor between Athenry and Claremorris “may strengthen the business case for the reinstatement of the Western Rail Corridor as far north as Sligo in line with Iarnród Éireann’s ambitions, and this will be considered as part of periodic reviews.”
It also told The Mayo News that it “will work with Sligo County Council on the precise routing of the greenway with the aim of minimising the need for any land acquisition and associated costs to the Exchequer, while also preserving the possibility of the alignment being reopened for rail services at some point in the future.”
Work is already underway on the rail network connecting Tuam to Claremorris via Athenry and the line has already been described as a 'game-changer.'
West on Track, one of the driving forces behind the Western Rail Corridor, has been clear that the eventual plan for the project is to run from Galway, through Mayo and up to Sligo.
Speaking last year, Kevin Kelly, Chief Executive of Mayo County Council, said that the development of the Western Rail Corridor was a critically important project for the whole region and that it was also important that it would continue northwards to Sligo with a link to Ireland West Airport which was expected to carry almost a million passengers this year.
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