Put trains on disused railway lines, not just bicycles, Ó Cuív urges
A SENIOR Fianna Fáil TD has urged his Green Party Coalition colleagues to stop turning disused railways into greenways.
Instead, Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív has called for the country’s derelict tracks to be put back into use as railways for rural commuters.
The Government TD was speaking after Green leader and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan this week announced a massive €1.4bn investment to create 3,500km of dedicated cycle routes across the State between now and 2040.
The new National Cycle Network being developed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) will link over 200 settlements across all 26 counties and will be available to an estimated 2.8 million people.
Mr Ryan said the first 1,000km of the network, which will incorporate existing greenways and cycleways, will be completed by the end of the decade, with the remaining 2,500km taking another 10 years to complete.
Swathes of the State’s abandoned railways have been turned into cycleways over the past decade.
These include the Great Western Greenway in Mayo, the Great Eastern Greenway along Carlingford Lough, the Old Rail Trail Greenway from Mullingar to Athlone, the Waterford Greenway, and the Royal Canal Greenway through Kildare to Longford.
However, Mr Ó Cuív urged Mr Ryan to consider the needs of people living in rural communities above the development of further tourism amenities.
‘He needs to remember rural people commute too,’ he told the Irish Mail on Sunday. ‘It is important we note there are more alternatives to disused railways than cycleways, though they have their place too.’
The veteran Fianna
Fáil TD cited the example of several disused railways across the country he believes should be restored to provide modern commuter services. These include the abandoned line between Kingscourt, Co. Cavan, and Navan, Co. Meath, the western rail corridor from Claremorris, Co. Mayo, to Athenry, Co. Galway, the Rosslare to Waterford line, and the old Mullingar to Athlone route in the midlands.
He also called for the restoration of the Midleton to Youghal line in Cork and advised Mr Ryan to pay attention to ‘the ongoing campaign to restore the Athenry to Collooney route’.
The former Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs also referred to the old Limerick to Listowel railway but acknowledged: ‘This may be too far gone for restoration.’
Mr Ó Cuív told the MoS: ‘Restoring existing rail lines is a very cheap option compared to the cost of building from the beginning. It would be a short-sighted option to not reopen key routes.’
The Fianna Fáil TD added: ‘It is interesting that, when it comes to new railway lines such as Athenry to Galway, the main problem is overcrowding. If you build rail infrastructure, they [commuters] will come.’
In his response to parliamentary queries from Mr Ó Cuív, Mr Ryan said: ‘The Strategic Rail Review… being undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland will inform the development of the railway sector on the island over the coming decades. The review is considering the future of the rail network with regard to improving sustainable connectivity between the major cities, enhancing regional accessibility, supporting balanced regional development and rail connectivity to our international gateways.’
Mr Ryan said the review ‘will establish the framework for investment in disused lines in the coming decades’. But he added: ‘It would also be premature to commit to preserving all disused alignments as railway lines and reopening them on a phased basis before the review is finalised.’
‘Restoring existing rail lines is a cheap option’