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West=On=Track -
News
Firm would invest euro16m
in airport rail link
The Irish Times (9th
October 2003)
by Gordon Deegan
Plans to provide a commuter railway railway to Shannon
airport yesterday secured a major breakthrough when a
private company Beaux Walk Properties, said it was prepared
to invest eurol6 million in the project. A report published
yesterday by the Shannon Railway Company on the project
concludes that the euro60 million commuter rail link between
Shannon, Limerick and Ennis "is a viable commercial entity"
through a public-private partnership.
The proposal envisages a regular seven-day service
between the three centres using the existing rail line
between Limerick and Ennis together with a new six-mile spur
to be constructed to Shannon Town Centre, Shannon Free Zone
and Shannon Airport. The proposed schedule anticipates a
train service to and from Shannon Airport every 20 minutes
to Limerick and Ennis. The Shannon Railway Company is a
consortium of investors led by Beaux Walk Properties, which
is currently constructing a 150 million redevelopment of
Shannon Town Centre,
Yesterday , its managing director, Mr Barry Boland, said
the proposed commuter rail link envisaged attracting 20 per
cent of the estimated 230,000 weekly commuter car trips to
use the new services. The report says there is a potential
demand for 2.3 million passengers a year for the service in
an area which has the highest single concentration of
industrial employment outside the Dublin area. "Our
assessment is that the service will generate sufficient
profits within five years to render the project a viable
commercial enterprise without any ongoing Government
subvention," he said.
Mr. Boland said Shannon Rail Company was prepared to
invest 37 million, provided the Government gives a tax break
equivalent to the balance of euro23.5million. The funding
proposal involves the euro23.5 million from the Government,
investors' equity of euro26.5 million and bank borrowings of
euro10 million. The Government is also being asked to
provide euro4 million per annum for the first five years of
the project.
The report says the costs of constructing the new
six-mile spur to Shannon off the existing Limerick-Ennis
line, along with upgrading parts of the current line, will
come to euro41.8 million. Clare County Council in its
recently adopted South-East Clare Economic Plan has
prohibited development taking place within the corridor of
the proposed rail link. Mr Boland said: "The proposed link
is consistent with Government regional policy and will have
a major impact on the development potential for the
Limerick-Shannon gateway." To move the project forward, Mr.
Boland said the promoters were prepared to undertake
detailed technical, financial and market research study at a
cost of euro500,000. The company had sent a copy of the
report to the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, and had
asked the Department of Transport for a euro200,000 grant
towards the cost of an agreed feasibility study.
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