Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of the western rail corridor, in particular extending it from Athenry in County Galway to Claremorris in County Mayo. There is a myth that would be expensive and the rail journey would be slower than the journey by bus or car. A report carried out by consultants and published by the Department of Transport last December concluded the case for the reopening of the disused line was weak and would be extremely expensive. However, West-on-Track, a community group that has been engaging and campaigning for many years for a rail corridor down the Atlantic seaboard connecting Waterford and Rosslare to Cork, Limerick, Galway, Mayo and Sligo, commissioned an independent report. It was carried out by the former Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, research professor, Dr. John Bradley. It counters the key findings of the Department’s previous report, as Dr. Bradley argues it would cost half of what the original report claimed and journey times from Claremorris and Tuam to Galway would be considerably quicker, certainly quicker than the journey by bus and quicker than the journey by car during peak hours. Dr. Bradley found the journey times from Claremorris and Tuam to Galway would be 58 minutes and 38 minutes, respectively.

The Limerick to Galway line via Athenry was reopened a decade ago, as the Cathaoirleach will be aware. Despite negative sceptics at the time, it has proven a major success in the years since then. The line carried more than half a million passengers in 2019. Investment in improving our transport, whether it be road or rail, is a long-term one and almost inevitably one that will prove worthwhile. We must expand and enhance our rail network. Doing so has a wide range of benefits, including assisting with housing as more people are willing to live rurally if they have access to reliable transport lines. Certainly that has been enhanced with the pandemic. I would be grateful if the Leader would invite the Minister, Deputy Ryan, into the Seanad for a discussion on this topic.