The western rail corridor between Athenry and Claremorris should be reinstated, the all-island strategic rail review has recommended.

The reinstatement of the line is one of a raft of recommendations contained in the review for policymakers to consider.

Among its regional and rural recommendations are the provision of more direct services between Ireland’s west and south coasts and to reinstate the western rail corridor between Claremorris and Athenry.

This would be particularly beneficial for freight, allowing a direct route for freight from Ballina and Westport to ports on the south coast that avoid the most congested part of the rail network around Dublin, it found.

This would also reconnect Tuam to the railway network and enable direct services between Galway and Mayo.

While many of the larger settlements along the west coast of Ireland are served by the railway network, these are along three distinct lines linking Galway, Westport/Ballina and Sligo to Dublin without direct services between the main settlements in the region.

Aims

The aims of the review include trying to connect as many towns with populations of 10,000 or more to the rail network as possible, directly connect each of the regions of the island of Ireland and to improve intra-regional connectivity.

To achieve the aims, the review examined options for reinstating former railways and building new railways across the whole island of Ireland.

A potential future all-island railway map.

While many options for developing new railways in the region are unlikely to be viable within the horizon of this review, it identified several interventions that appear to have potential. These interventions include:

  • Improving services between Galway and Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Waterford - together with double tracking between Athenry and Galway.
  • Improving service frequencies between key Mayo towns and Athlone by building more passing loops on this corridor.
  • Developing a new rail link from Letterkenny to Derry-Londonderry. This would connect the major urban centres of the northwest to each other and greatly improve access to Belfast and Dublin.

    • Recommendations

    The other regional recommendations included:

  • Increase line speeds to at least 120km/h (75m/h).
  • Upgrade Limerick Junction and the Limerick Junction-Waterford line.

  • Reinstate the south Wexford railway.
  • Develop the railway to boost connectivity in the north midlands.

  • Integrate bus service and rail service timetables to connect communities where direct rail access proves to be unviable.
  • Ensure regional and rural lines have at least one train per two hours.