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Despite the success of the city of Galway in recent decades, there is every reason to be concerned about economic prospects in the west and northwest of Ireland. The alarming implications of some possible Brexit outcomes for the beef industry have added to the feeling that the region, outside of Galway, is not sharing fully in economic recovery. Unfortunately, some local politicians tend to favour any and all projects which are proposed.
The development and subsequent closure of the airport at Galway should have offered a lesson. Building expensive infrastructure for which there is no plausible demand does not help economic development and diverts scarce funds away from better projects.
The airport was not the worst example of squandering capital money in the west. That honour must go to the single-track railway line northwards from Ennis to Athenry, opened in 2010 at a cost of €106m, 40% over the amount budgeted. The line loses €2.6m per annum on operations according to CIÉ, a figure which does not include any remuneration of capital.
There is a lobby group of railway enthusiasts campaigning for the extension of the line. There is a fly in the ointment though: there is insufficient potential traffic – passenger or freight.
At present, the service offers five departures per day between Limerick and Galway in each direction. The trip from Limerick does not require a change of train since the twin-carriage unit can reverse at Athenry station and continue along the Dublin line to Galway. But the journey takes two hours and four minutes on average. There is now a motorway link between the two cities and the bus companies (CIÉ’s Expressway and Citylink) offer 16 express services per day in each direction. Twelve of these do the trip in one hour and 20 minutes, the other four make a short detour to Shannon Airport and take one hour and 35 minutes. There are further bus services which serve the various intermediate towns.
At a capital cost of €106m, the Government has delivered a train service on the same route which has far fewer frequencies, takes far longer, has lower patronage and loses serious money.
The rail enthusiasts, who want the line extended north from Athenry to Claremorris and ultimately to join the Sligo line, appear to believe that there is potential for freight traffic. It can hardly have escaped their attention that rail freight in Ireland peaked about 40 years ago and has collapsed to negligible volumes. The decline of rail freight is due in part to the steady improvement in the road network – also the source of the rising popularity of intercity buses.
Not all politicians in the west support the expenditure of more capital money on building railways and have instead supported the construction – at a far lower cost – of a greenway for walkers and cyclists along the route from Athenry.
It is surprising that so little political energy is available for better road maintenance and for further investment in new roads. The M17/18 motorway north from Limerick now reaches Tuam and an upgrade of the N17 into Mayo would surely be welcomed by commuters, as would the long-overdue Galway bypass.
The Taoiseach recently turned the sod for the €150m improvement from Collooney to Castlebaldwin on the N4 (Sligo) radial, due for completion next year. This alignment will also benefit, as will the N5 into Mayo, from the M4 extension from Mullingar to Longford, which is on the priority list.
Minister for Transport Shane Ross has just announced that Ernst & Young has been engaged to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the proposed extension to the rail line from Athenry. It would be a useful addition to the terms of reference to ask the following question: if an extra €100m could be found for transport investment in the west, would this be best spent on road improvements or on another single-track rail line offering infrequent service and guaranteed to lose money?
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