West=On=Track -News

Station house purchase boost for West rail link

Limerick Leader 22nd May 2008 

By Petula Martyn

The former Sixmilebridge railway station house has been bought by Clare County Council to facilitate the Western Rail Corridor, after a gap of over 30 years since the last scheduled services on the line.

There was a delay in acquiring the property because the railway house had been a private residence until now.

Local Councillor John Crowe has welcomed the acquisition of the house and lands saying "there's light at the end of the tunnel" for the project which is funded by the government as part of Transport 21.

A new platform will be built around the station house and an entrance to the new facility will be completed by April 2009.

Acting senior planner with Clare County Council, John Bradley, said the local authority had worked in close co-operation with Iarnrod Eireann with regard to the reopening of the former railway station.

"Iarnrod Eireann has advised that funding has been provided in the 2008/2009 budgetary cycles for the upgrading of infrastructural requirements and it is anticipated that the passenger rail service will be open some time during 2009

"No fixed dates are available for the scheduled opening of this facility," he added.

There are also plans to provide a park and ride facility at Shannon Airport to the station. "It will open up the country for everyone," Cllr Crowe said.

"It will be big for the Shannon area to have a connection from the airport to the station. I have been 12 years campaigning for this and I'm thrilled that work is now progressing quickly."

It is hoped that more credence will be given to calls for a rail link between the airport and Limerick city when Sixmilebridge railway station is fully operational.

"The Airport Authority will realise how many people are using it. They will have live figures and it will strengthen their hand when they go looking for a direct rail link from Shannon to Limerick," Cllr Crowe said.

Meanwhile, trackwork on the Western Rail Corridor is well underway and is on schedule according to Iarnrod Eireann. Sixmilebridge will be one of seven stations along the route between Limerick and Galway. The line will also serve Ennis, Gort, Ardrahan, Craughwell, Oranmore and Athenry.

It will provide a range of inter-regional services currently not available while promoting balanced regional development.