Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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127. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide an update on the reopening of the western rail corridor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34005/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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128. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount of money that has been ring-fenced towards the commencement of works on the re-opening of the western rail corridor between Mayo and Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27502/25]

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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133. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will outline the progress made on the western rail corridor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33943/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 127, 128 and 133 together.

As the Deputy may be aware, the All-Island Strategic Rail Review was undertaken by the Department of Transport in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.

The Review’s Final Report was published on 31st July 2024. The Review sets out 32 strategic recommendations to enhance and expand the rail system in Ireland and Northern Ireland up to 2050. The recommendations seek to transform the quality of the rail system to the benefit of passengers and wider society on the island, through additional track capacity, electrification, increased speeds, higher service frequencies and new routes, including the reinstatement of the Western Rail Corridor between Athenry and Claremorris.

Assisted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) Advisory Services, the Department of Transport and Department for Infrastructure, and agencies north and south, are working to progress the Report’s recommendations in the years ahead. As part of this work, a Project Prioritisation Strategy, which considers how best to optimise the sequencing and implementation of the Review recommendations, including both short-term interventions and longer-term projects, is at an advanced stage of preparation and is planned for publication later this year.

This work also involves a more detailed examination of a number of projects, one of which is the reinstatement Western Rail Corridor between Athenry and Claremorris, and in this regard the Department of Transport has recently agreed to allocate Iarnród Éireann circa €300,000 this year to progress a scoping study on the reinstatement of the line.

This work will inform the Department's engagement on the review of the National Development Plan (NDP), which is currently underway. Once the NDP review is complete, it will help provide clarity on the funding available to progress projects over the medium term.

It should be noted that that individual programmes and projects referred to within the final Review Report will be advanced subject to funding and relevant approvals.