Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There were stations at Cratloe and Crusheen. Reading the background on it, they were used right into the 1980s, and 1990s even, mainly for freight or if there was a big match day, or whatever, to get to Thurles. That is in living memory. It is not as if there is not a station there. We would need to upgrade, obviously, and put in proper platforms. It is not that expensive.

The big question is whether there would be demand. The population of both villages is not that large. According to the census, both are under 1,000. The question would be: what sort of demand would there be from neighbouring villages, etc.?

I think particularly of Cratloe in terms of the Limerick metropolitan rail system because we need to develop on all four lines going into Limerick. If we do regular services, and when we start to increase, put in stations in Moyross, etc., we will keep it under review.

Cratloe also depends to a certain extent on where the rail might connect to Shannon. Should it go via Sixmilebridge or via Cratloe? Indeed, a previous study looked at where you would go on a circular route via Sixmilebridge and back via Cratloe to Limerick.

We will keep it under review. The key issue is probably the population density and the closeness to the station to justify it.

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