The purpose of this matter is to request that a feasibility study be carried out to establish the prospect of reopening the Collooney-Claremorris railway line. Such a study could explore this regional resource and the possibilities offered by the restoration of the line.
The western inter-county railway committee which is representative of the five county councils in Connacht and of all political parties has been actively engaged in a campaign to restore the Collooney-Claremorris line as part of the Sligo-Limerick route. The line has been closed to passengers since 1963 and to freight since 1975. The committee has published two detailed studies in support of the case for restoration – the Sligo-Limerick Railway by Dr. MacGreil in January 1981 and Sligo-Limerick-Rosslare Rail Link by European Consultancy Services in 1992. As a result of this research and the case made to successive Governments, the board of CIE and more recently to Iarnród Éireann, the committee succeeded in preventing the total abandonment of the line from Collooney to Claremorris. I praise the committee for its outstanding work in that regard.
The section is an integral part of the cross-radial link between Sligo and Rosslare which serves the major container ports of Rosslare and Waterford. It also serves six towns and their communities – Collooney, Tubbercurry, Charlestown, Swinford, Kiltimagh and Claremorris. If improved access to and from Europe is to benefit the counties and the communities along the west coast, a direct multi-modal link to Shannon and Limerick and to Waterford and Rosslare is vital. In recent years, there has been strong support from development agencies in the counties along the line for the reopening of the closed section and a feasibility study in that regard is required.
A common theme in the submissions from the north-west, west and mid-west areas for the current round of EU Structural Funds was the need to develop this route. Support from Europe for the cost of this study would be justified. The Construction Industry Federation in a submission to the Government proposed the development of a euro route from Sligo through Galway to Limerick and Rosslare. The study could also examine the benefits of tourism at regional and local level, access to the region, access from a region served by Knock and Sligo Airports, transport through the region, environmental advantages such as reductions in road traffic, accident reduction, energy savings and economic regeneration of the region.
Abandonment of the line would seriously diminish the value of the remainder of the Sligo-Limerick line and would deprive a relatively under-developed and peripheral region of an important developmental resource. Abandonment would also demonstrate a negative attitude to rail at a time of renewed EU interest in multi-modal and rail transport. I understand the Government is preparing to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on reopening the Dublin to Navan rail link. A fraction of what that will cost would bene fit the west if it was spent on providing cross-radial rail transport from Sligo to Limerick and on to Waterford and Rosslare.
It is clear that the west needs a significantly improved transport system because of the existing levels of traffic and the developmental requirements of the region. The research carried out illustrated these demands and a feasibility study would be justified. It would also address the difficulties that exist at present. The central response is to prioritise the upgrading of the rail system of which the Claremorris-Collooney line is an integral section as part of a programme of improvement of the total transport system in Ireland and particularly the west. A feasibility study would explore this regional resource.
A similar service to the Arrow rail link in Kildare would open up huge possibilities for the region. Rail is a luxury way to travel and a reopened line would make a return on the investment by opening up the whole western seaboard. It would also offer potential for tourism development in Northern Ireland. I am not requesting funding now for reopening the line, but I ask the Minister to provide money for a feasibility study. A sum of between £45,000 and £50,000 would allow a thorough examination to be carried out. We are indebted to the committees which fought for the line and safeguarded it because it is a State asset. A feasibility study is now required to examine the viability of reopening the route. My view is that it would be viable and I hope the Minister will indicate that funding will be provided towards the cost of employing consultants to undertake the study.
