Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The first step that could be taken is to utilise the existing rail network in the west. I want a commitment from the Minister that we get our fair share of the 41 new carriages that are coming on track. I want a commitment from him, in the first instance, that we will get two new rail sets based in Athlone, the city-designate that everybody seems to be forgetting about, including one that shuttles between Galway, Ballinasloe and Athlone, connecting passengers with the Dublin-Mayo rail services, but also providing commuter rail services into Galway city. The second set should be used to shuttle between Mayo and Athlone to connect the Roscommon and Mayo passengers with the Galway-Dublin services. Those two sets alone would dramatically transform rail services throughout the west, connecting counties Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and Westmeath for the first time since the foundation of the State and providing the type of transformation that the OECD is calling for.

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