Seanad debates

Tuesday, 24 September 2024

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Rail Network

1:00 pm

Photo of Timmy DooleyTimmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I know that this issue is also close to the Acting Chairperson's heart. I refer to the development or effective reopening of a train station at Crusheen in County Clare. It is on the line between Ennis and Galway and it was, in a bygone era, a very busy station. Efforts have been made by a group in the locality who were lone voices for a long time, particularly back in the noughties when everybody travelled by car and some even travelled by helicopter from those areas to various destinations, but Mr. Sean Keehan and Mr. Michael O'Doherty never gave up hope of reopening the station. They have continued their campaign, in addition to supporting the significant advancement of the western rail corridor. Indeed, they were to the fore in driving that at the start. We have seen a massive increase in passenger journeys since the opening of that line, from around 220,000 in 2013 to over 630,000 now between Limerick and Galway. There has been more than a threefold increase in activity, including passengers from Crusheen and its surrounding areas.

Clare County Council has got involved through Councillor Pat Hayes who is working with Mr. Keehan and Mr. O'Doherty. They carried out a socioeconomic study of the area. There are 6,000 people living within a couple of kilometres of the station. There was a 50% increase in the population of the area between 2002 and 2022. In the last couple of years alone about 150 houses have gone in there, more land has been zoned for housing and planning permission is being sought. We are going to see a very significant growth in population. Crusheen is a village between Gort and Ennis.When you consider where people are now settling, outside of the bigger towns but in bigger villages where they have all the services, access to rail is what it is all about. The whole strategy of getting cars off the road as part of the decarbonisation of transport is a highly important facet of meeting our 2030 and 2050 goals. Here is a golden opportunity. It is a relatively small amount of money. The local authority has bought lands adjoining the old station house. There is 300 m of track frontage. At one time, road frontage was important but it is now track frontage. The authority has also bought land for additional car parking spaces. This is a gem waiting to be developed.

I nearly had this over the line back in 2011 and 2012, when we hit the financial crash. Iarnród Éireann had allocated moneys. The former chairman, the late John Lynch, was instrumental in assigning moneys at that time. However, we then hit the financial crash and all capital projects were eliminated. I have kept heart with it. Sean Keehan, Michael O'Doherty, Councillor Pat Hayes and many others have now come on board. We really need to see a push from the Department of Transport to have TII recognise the strategic importance of this village because of its access to the track. It must recognise the population that is already there but must also look to the future to see the growth potential and the growth that is actually taking place and say once and for all that it is going to open the station. It is not going to cost a hell of a lot of money because the local authority is on board. It is removing many of the hurdles that might have been there.

This can demonstrate that areas can grow around strategic transport links, getting cars off the road and allowing students to travel to college. We know of the pressures in Galway and Limerick as regards student accommodation. There are many families in and around Crusheen who are driving to another point to get on the train. There is no need for it. We can show best practice, promote public transport, work towards decarbonising our transport footprint and do something that makes common sense and that previous generations did. As the Minister of State will know, we did an awful thing in the past in ripping up rail track and closing rail lines for the modern convenience of the car. We are now trying to go back. Let us look at this. The infrastructure is sitting beside the track, the village is there and the people are there. Let this be a beacon of light for the people of Crusheen and the wider area. Let us get it done. I am pleased to have had the indulgence of the Acting Chairperson who, as I said at the outset, is equally as interested in this as I am.

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