Irish Rail CEO has said that the company is looking ‘at the end of this decade’ for construction works to commence
Speaking at the latest meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport, Ms Considine told members that Irish Rail is looking “at the end of this decade to at least have construction well underway.”
Ms Considine informed the committee that early-stage work has begun and that the route and design feasibility are already being examined by a dedicated team. However, she acknowledged that the lack of a specific funding stream is an issue.
“There is identification of the route and the preliminary designs and feasibility works. There is already a team in our organisation looking at that,” she said, “There is not a specific pot of funding allocated to this project at the moment, so that is a constraint.”
Irish Rail has begun feasibility works using funding from the Department of Transport, but additional resources are needed to move to the detailed design stage of the development.
“We have started the feasibility works with some funding from the Department of Transport but we need funding for the next stage to do that detailed design. We are having those conversations,” she said.
Ms Considine told the meeting that the next step will depend on the National Development Plan (NDP), where priority transport projects are expected to be outlined in the coming weeks.
“It will go back to those priority projects that will be identified in the NDP. We hope to have sight of that in the coming month as well as information as to how they will be funded,” she said.
The Western Rail Corridor is a key regional recommendation of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review (AISRR), and is seen as a game-changer for regional connectivity in County Mayo and surrounding western counties.
The Claremorris to Athenry section would reconnect Mayo with Galway and Limerick, the AISRR describes the reopening as crucial for “freight and regional connectivity objectives in the West of Ireland.”
The possibility of reopening the Claremorris to Collooney section, in the long term, was also raised during the committee meeting.
If developed, this would create a continuous western rail connection from Sligo to Limerick
While this extension is not currently in the AISRR, Ms Considine said the opportunity remains open, and stated that early indications are positive.
“It goes back to the point about the Western Rail Corridor. The initial feasibility and the initial soundings are looking very positive for that route, and the more there is demand for it, the more the extension to Collooney looks like it would be viable,” she said.
“Regarding the extension out to Collooney, the line is being preserved for future rail reuse. That is really important. The plan is a framework.”
Her comments also reaffirmed that the route will not be repurposed for a greenway, a subject that has been debated in previous years.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
