Iarnród Éireann denies €20m cost for WRC extension

A claim that extending the Western Rail Corridor to Tuam would cost €20 million less than previously thought was refuted by Iarnród Éireann this week. A spokesperson for the company said the revised projection is not for the original Tuam to Athenry project but a “lesser scheme”.
A West on Track spokesman said the group is confident the project would now be included as part of the next national public transport programme as it represented good value for money and would provide a major infrastructural and economic boost for the Tuam-Galway area.
“Our understanding is that there is a strong business case for this extension of the Galway commuter rail zone,” adding that there are no plans to turn the Athenry to Claremorris section into a walking route.
“The outgoing CEO of Iarnród Éireann, Dick Fearn, told West on Track recently that a greenway would be ‘entirely incompatible’ with any proposed future development of the rail route either for freight or passenger traffic.”
“In order for any part of the railway, either north or south of Tuam to be turned into a greenway the railway would have to be formally closed and abandoned. We do not believe that the government has any such intention,” said a West on Track spokesman.
“Any such development would also contravene the Regional and County Galway development plans both of which specifically recommend the reopening of the railway.
“It should also be noted that the development of the entire Athenry-Claremorris link is being supported by the Irish Exporters Association and West on Track as part of a strategic freight corridor from Ballina to Waterford and Foynes ports and is likely to form part of a future freight network plan to be developed by Iarnród Éireann.
“As in the case of the recently mooted Foynes-Limerick rail link this could see parts of the railway not in use initially for passengers being reopened in the first instance at a lower cost to a specific freight standard. The 24 mile Foynes-Limerick link has been costed at just €12m while Tuam to Claremorris is seven miles shorter,” the spokesperson for the lobby group concluded.
However, a representative of Iarnród Éireann has warned that extending train services to Tuam “has not been the subject of any detailed assessment or business case analysis by Iarnród Éireann”.
“The revised costing quoted by West on Track is not for the original Tuam to Athenry project as envisaged under Transport 21, but rather for a desktop estimate by Iarnród Éireann of the cost of a lesser scheme.
“This lesser scheme would have slower speeds, no signalling and passing loops, meaning no more than one train could be on the line at any time, allowing fewer services to operate, no station at Ballyglunin, no removal of level crossings, and a number of other reductions to the original project.”
The company also ruled out the possibility of any cycleway on the route in the near future saying it “is committed to retaining ownership of the alignment and protecting the alignment so as it remains available for a future rail line”.