Mayo Fine Gael councillor Patsy O’Brien recently dismissed the idea of a greenway along the northern section of the Western Rail Corridor line, north of Claremorris, as “short term gain” and “ad-hockery”. I am not sure what he meant by this term, but the Sligo Mayo Greenway campaign says the idea should not be dismissed flippantly and needs to be examined as a realistic alternative to any proposed railway in the current climate.
Cllr O’Brien also recently said when comparing the idea of a greenway on the route north of Claremorris with the Great Western Greenway: “There is one major difference between that project and the northern section of the Western Rail Corridor, and that is the fact that this particular railway still exists, and offers the possibility of being reopened as a rail route in the medium term.”
I think it is worth examining some of the facts about the rail line north of Claremorris in order to clarify what Cllr O’Brien is saying.
A government report into the concept of the Western Rail Corridor (the McCann Report ) published in 2005 identified the section of the line from Claremorris to Collooney for special mention. The report highlighted two issues and stated: “Firstly when it was built in 1891-1892 the section was constructed as a light railway. If it were to be brought into the Irish Rail network the formation would have to be rebuilt to the national heavy rail standard. The second relates to the cost of necessary alterations to level crossings, of which there are a total of 290 along the section, two of which alone would cost €24m to create grade separations.”
As a result of the findings of the McCann Report, the last government only ever committed to re-open the Western Rail Corridor from Athenry to Tuam and then possibly to Claremorris. The only commitment on the section north of Claremorris was to preserve and protect this part of the line. No undertaking has ever been taken to re-open this part of the line, and if you read the McCann report of 2005 you can understand why.
Time to dispel myths
I think it is time to nail a couple of myths on the head in regard to the rail line north of Claremorris.
Myth 1: Rebuilding the Claremorris – Collooney line is not a simple matter of lifting the old tracks and laying new ones down in their place. The 2005 McCann report stated it would be the most expensive part of the Western Rail Corridor to restore should it be considered and there are significant engineering issues to be addressed.
Myth 2: No government has ever committed to re-open the Claremorris to Collooney railway line, despite what you may have heard in the media.
Hasn’t the time finally come to say, instead of campaigning for something that will not happen in the medium to long term – if ever - let’s consider the achievable, and increasingly to many, the more desirable option for this route: A greenway. Let’s get behind the campaign for this idea, because it could happen soon and it would create jobs now.
I am convinced for the Claremorris to Collooney route a greenway along this part of the rail alignment is the most realistic aspiration we can hope for and actually will deliver a facility that will do the greater good for the greater number of people in the west. The number of people using the Great Western Greenway is evidence of the success the Sligo Mayo Greenway would be.
The Great Western Greenway was built for about €125,000 per km, using this as a benchmark, the 70 km route of the Sligo Mayo Greenway could be built for about €8.75 million, yes a lot of money; but put this in the context of the local construction jobs it will create immediately and the sustainable tourism and support jobs it will create in the long term. The project could pay for itself in as little as five years with the jobs it creates and the cost savings on unemployment those jobs replace.
Network of greenways
The Sligo Mayo Greenway could form the backbone of a network of greenways in the west and northwest of Ireland eventually connecting with the Great Western Greenway and allowing cycling and long distance walking tourism in Ireland to flourish once again. What is more, should the railway line ever come on the agenda again in the future a greenway will protect the alignment – and contrary to the opinion expressed by Mr O’Brien it is quite feasible to have railway lines and greenways running side by side. There is plenty of evidence to show this can be done.
The Sligo Mayo Greenway campaign has grown virally on the internet - the growing list of 600+ Facebook “campaign friends” includes many TDs, senators, and councillors and many local community based groups who use Facebook. Go to sligomayogreenwaycampaign on Facebook or sligomayogreenway.com to find out more.
The idea also has the support of Enda Kenny. Mr Kenny sent an email to Sligo Mayo Greenway in December of last year in which he said this about the Sligo Mayo Greenway idea: “Re the Greenway along the section of the Claremorris/Collooney Western rail line. I favour this kind of development…… for relatively small money….. which will have a considerable impact in respect of tourism.”
He followed this up with another email in January 2011 in which he said: “May I also congratulate you on your efforts to date in progressing the Mayo-Sligo Greenway.”
Sligo-Mayo Greenway, Mayo Sligo Greenway – who cares! I guess it depends where you start from. Certainly if I was a Mayo county councillor I would be more inclined to follow the Taoiseach’s views for an achievable project that will deliver jobs for Sligo and Mayo now.
Brendan Quinn launched www.Sligomayogreenway.com in 2010.
Sligomayogreenwaycampaign on Facebook has 600+ campaign friends including businesses, community groups, sports clubs and individuals. More than 20 TDs plus senators and councillors from all sides of the political spectrum are friends. To join the campaign on Facebook put sligomayogreenway into the Facebook search facility.
