Six new environmentally friendly train carriages had their maiden journey from Galway to Dublin at 7.15am yesterday and Green Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin has welcomed this as a “portent of good things to come”.
Cllr Ó Brolcháin said that as well as the new carriages, there will be a Galway to Limerick and Cork service resumed “for the first time in many decades” next year.
“I recently travelled between Galway and Tralee by train,” he said. “It took three trains there and four trains back and around six hours in each direction. We should soon be able to make this journey much more directly and much more quickly.”
Cllr Ó Brolcháin is also looking for extra and faster services from Galway to Dublin and has been assured by Iarnród Éireann that 10 services per day between the two cities is a realistic target.
“Despite the doom and gloom of the recent budget, the Western Rail Corridor remains on track as the only major public transport initiative in the West of Ireland, included in Transport 21”, said Cllr Ó Brolcháin.
“Even if it doesn’t happen as quickly as we would like in the current economic climate, it is clearly recognised by all political parties as the key piece of public transport infrastructure in the West of Ireland.”
