A plan to re-open the Mayo-Galway railway line was warmly welcomed this week, however, a petition to turn it into a Greenway has also been lodged - on the basis the rail route could take years to materialise.
In the draft report of the first All-Island Strategic Rail Review by the Department of Transport (Ireland ) and the Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland ) published this week, 30 recommendations were made, including to 'Reinstate the Western Rail Corridor between Claremorris and Athenry'.
The campaign group West on Track welcomed the proposal, with a spokesperson stating: “Large multi-nationals such as Baxter in Castlebar have already begun the transition to rail freight. 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."
However, The Western Rail Trail campaign wants to utilise the route as a Greenway - and this week submitted a petition with over 26,000 signatures requesting same to the Oireachtas Petitions Committee.
Spokesperson Brendan Quinn said: "The government has now published intentions to potentially re-open the closed railway from Athenry to Claremorris in the strategic railway review, which is welcome news, but there is no timeframe on when this might happen; in fact the railway is unlikely to be re-opened for many years to come. The old rusting tracks are meaningless, they will have to be ripped up and replaced and a lot of engineering work done to restore the closed railway. Until such time, let’s use this route as a greenway to protect the alignment and when and if the railway is re-opened, a parallel greenway could be built alongside it." More details inside.
