Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this issue and I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, to the House.

I am a member of the Western Inter-County Railway Committee which has been campaigning since 1979 to restore the railway from Sligo to Limerick and on to Rosslare as an important transport infrastructure for passengers and freight servicing the west. Such a viable infrastructure would contribute to the balanced development of the wide area served by the cross-radial railway, often referred to as the western rail corridor. We are very fortunate to have a former Member of this House, Martin J. O'Toole, as chairman and Fr. Micheál MacGréil as secretary. I welcome Fr. MacGréil to the House this evening.

There is great support for this development in the west from the statutory voluntary bodies and county councillors, people who are interested in the quality and balanced development of the west. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, intervened in the past to stop the railway being lifted north of Tuam, for which I thank him. The Leader of the House, Senator O'Rourke, was very supportive of this line and put it on a study programme. I hope we will get positive action on this issue. We are very disappointed at the unilateral action of Iarnród Éireann in severing the north-south link line at Athenry. It has annoyed and disappointed members of the committee and community in County Galway.

The promise to reopen the Athenry turnout to Tuam in the event of a positive Government decision does not satisfy the committee. It is difficult for our committee to fathom the pre-emptive strike by Iarnród Éireann against the northern half of the western corridor. It is another blow against the proper development of the west and north west. We must never forget that the railway belongs to the people. In fact, we are not looking for a lot of money. Fr. MacGréil has often referred to it as "crumbs from the table". I hope the Minister will be able to help us in this regard.

As well as the action in Athenry, the railway committee is totally opposed to the phasing out of freight traffic on the railway. There are many plans to transport timber from the forests to the west and north west. It has been reported that private freight companies would be interested in developing the western rail corridor as a major route should the infrastructure be made available. It is the policy of our committee to promote cross-radial inter-city passenger and commuter traffic between rural towns in Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Clare and in and out of the three major cities of Limerick, Galway and Sligo. There is a huge amount of traffic and congestion on the N17 between Tuam and Galway. A railway line which is in existence can bring commuters right into Eyre Square. In fact, part of the film, "The Quiet Man" was filmed on this particular line at Ballyglunin.

The western rail corridor is in the Border, midland and western region, known as the BMW region. Objective One status was achieved because of the disadvantage of the region. If Objective One status means anything, it should mean extra resources for infrastructures such as railways, for example, the western rail corridor. I hope the Minister will be able to help us as other Ministers have done in the past.