Driver calls for Ballisodare rail station to open

A train driver in Sligo believes opening up Ballisodare rail station would be key to the local economy.

Train driver Patrick Sheerin also believes that daily services to Dublin should be increased to eight and called for an early morning/late evening service running between Sligo and Boyle to cater for workers in Sligo town.

An objective of the new County Development Plan 2017-2023, is to facilitate the provision of a new train station with parkand-ride facilities to serve Ballisodare and commuters from West Sligo.

“The station could become an important railway interchange as it is strategically located north of the point where the Sligo-Dublin line connects with the Western Rail Corridor,” says section 8.3 (A) of the plan.

“I live in Ballymote and the amount of cars that travel past my house each morning is astonishing,” says Patrick.

“If you could have one of those rail cars leaving here every in the morning, with Ballisodare Station open - it’s a very popular place - that brings a community closer together,” he says.

He also points to the ‘green’ aspect of rail travel.

“They’re talking about a Greenway. The Citizen’s Assembly want money to be spend on reducing emissions,” he says.

Pointing at the train, Patrick says “That for the last 150 years has been the greenest piece of infrastructure in the country but Fine Gael have this love for cars and roads because it makes money.

“I can drive a train with seven carriages. By the time it gets to Dublin I could have maybe 900 people on board. I’m taking 14 buses off the road and how many CO2 emissions along with that.

“If they want to meet the Kyoto Agreement, put the money into public transport. The track is already there,” he says.

All workers striking were critical of Transport Minister Shane Ross’s refusal to intervene in the ongoing dispute.

“Only one local politician, a Fianna Fáil man, Marc MacSharry, came near us.

He came up last week and chatted to us, very forthright, honest and open to us. No other politician came up near us,” says Patrick.

“We’re local people, paying local taxes to Sligo County Council too,” he adds.