Flooding delays rail corridor opening

THE opening of the Western Rail Corridor, which had been due to take place in January, a year behind schedule, has been delayed indefinitely, after extensive flooding on the line that links Galway to Limerick.

According to an Iarnród Eireann spokesperson, the company had planned to announce an early January opening date for the railway until parts of it were submerged in water after heavy rain over the past week.
“We were ready to get going. The driver trainer had started and was going to schedule for us but with the flooding we have had to stop everything and are waiting to see what will come after the line is checked by engineers,” Rita Butterly, Iarnród Eireann Corporate Communications said.
Kilbeacanty-based councillor Gerry Finnerty admitted that the decision by Iarnród Eireann to delay the opening of the route was disappointing but he said that from a safety point of view it was inevitable.
“Obviously, we’d like to see the line open but I suppose the decision to put back the opening is wise. In Kiltartan, as far as the eye could see along the line in the direction of Gort was water. It was within two feet of the top of the red flashing warning lights. I would say the water is 12 to 14 feet deep on that part of the railway,” the Fianna Fáil councillor stated on Tuesday night.
While the track between Ennis and Limerick was closed earlier in the week, it reopened on Monday night. Over the past week, there has been serious flooding in Gort, Labane, Craughwell and in Clare at Crusheen, Ennis and Ballycar in Newmarket-on-Fergus.
Work began on the line in October 2007 and the track between Ennis and Athenry had been due to open in January 2009 but this launch date was put back to late summer, before being further delayed to December this year.
The Athenry to Ennis line will form part of the Western Rail Corridor, which by 2014 was supposed to run from Claremorris in County Mayo to Limerick City, stopping at stations in Tuam, Athenry, Craughwell, Ardrahan, Gort, Ennis, Sixmilebridge and terminating in Limerick.
According to Ms Butterly, work on the stations was going according to schedule and all stations were due to open with the line in January.
The Western Rail Corridor is one of the most significant infrastructural projects undertaken in recent years and to date involved the renewal of 36 miles of track, including all necessary fencing and drainage and installation of points and crossings at Gort and Ennis, the renovation and reopening of stations at Gort and Sixmilebridge and the upgrade of Ennis and Athenry stations.