Greenway the ‘ best option’ in short- term
Dear Editor, An article in ‘ Tubbercurry Talk’ last week might lead readers to believe that the Sligo Greenway planned for the closed railway line from Bellaghy to Collooney is in some way under threat from a train that is coming ‘ soon’.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The closed line in Sligo was never part of any government plan for a railway while the greenway proposal has the full support of Irish Rail, who see the project as the best means of protecting the route into the future; until some future government or some future generation can afford the hundreds of millions it will take to put a new railway on the route.
No doubt, that will be a great day for us all here in Co Sligo but it is not coming anytime ‘ soon’. The report refers to passenger numbers on the existing line between Ennis and Athenry; a line that was built during the heady days of overspending during the boom years – and we all know where that led us. The report has nothing to do with the planned Sligo Greenway, a community driven project that has the support of all Sligo TDS and the majority of Sligo County Councillors. The greenway remains the best option in the short term for the use of the closed line, bringing much- needed benefits to County Sligo right away. Pat McCarrick Chairperson Sligo Greenway Co- op Dear editor, An article in ‘ Tubbercurry Talk’ this week -- New report gives hope for reopening rail link -- is maybe slightly ( and no doubt unintentionally) misleading in that it seems to suggest that a report carried out by railway lobby group ‘ West on track’ can somehow change the facts about the so- called ‘ Western rail corridor’, a fanciful proposal that dates from an era where we spent our childrens’ taxes with gay abandon.
The reality, as is so often the case, is completely different from the wishful thinking of the west on track report. Far from reaching it’s target, the Ennis Athenry line has only reached 40% of the original 250,000 passenger figure promised by the lobby group, a figure used as the somewhat dubious business case for what economist Colm McCarthy described as one of the top ten wasteful financial decisions in the history of the state. This decision was described by one transport minister as a mistake that won’t be repeated, hardly the basis for optimism for the most ardent train spotter.
Since the first phase of the so- called ‘ Western rail corridor’ was built, two further events have unfolded that further weaken the business case ( if there ever was one) for a railway north of Athenry. The route no longer quaifies for European funding and any new railway and it’s ongoing heavy subsidy would have to come from an already stretched public purse, and the almost completed motorway from Gort to Tuam will put an end to any hope of the Ennis Athenry line ever reaching anything like it’s target of 250,000 passengers. It also means that a key anchor of the rail proposal, the use of the Tuam Athenry line as part of a Tuam Galway commuter link, is dead in the water.
However, the lack of any credible case for building a new railway through a lightly populated part of Ireland is no reason to abandon the asset that is the old railway alignment. The planned Sligo greenway is a pragmatic and achievable project that keeps the route in public ownership, just in case your headline ever reflects the reality and there really is hope for building a railway. At least, the greenway option will mean that future generations have somewhere to build that railway, should it ever come to pass. John Mulligan Kiltycreighton Boyle County Roscommon