West=On=Track - News

Time to Put West Back on Track
Taylor-Quinn

Fine Gael European Candidate pledges her support for the Western Rail Corridor and castigates Government's dreadful record on balanced regional development.

The commuters of Tuam and Galway City need trains, not excuses, Madeleine Taylor Quinn, Fine Gael European Parliament candidate, said this week.

Reopening the railway line between these two growing urban centres is absolutely essential, she said, in a statement to mark the launch in Tuam, of Cllr. Tom McHugh's local election campaign.

"The people of Tuam and Galway City deserve better than the appalling gridlock they face each day. On a human level, people are paying in stress and denied family time. From an economic perspective, it is a ridiculous situation.

"While the local and regional economies pay the cost of congestion on the N17, the Western Rail Corridor is lying in disuse," she said.

She was confident that any expert rail review would find clear benefits in terms of growth to local business, quality-of-life to users and - most importantly - safety for commuters.

But, the railway's reopening depends on a Government, which has so far dithered and fudged its way out of balanced and sustainable growth in the West and North Regions, she warned.

"Half way through the National Development Plan, public transport spending in the BMW region by this Government was 51 per cent of that promised under the Plan. At the same time, in the South and East regions, spending ran at a staggering 174 per cent.

"That is a shocking indictment of a Government out-of-touch with reality. The facts demonstrate this Government is about fiction and fudge, promises and deception.

"This region needs sustainable solutions like the railway. Real and unambiguous support for the railway's reopening is just one way, which I as a candidate for the European Parliament, and my party, Fine Gael are demonstrating our utmost support for balanced regional growth.

"Between now and polling day, June 11, I will be unveiling my key strategy to further promote sustainable growth in our region."