Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

westtip

West on Track are up to their old tricks trying to scaremonger by sending emails full of BS to sligo county councillors: The following email was sent to all Sligo Councillors last Friday

15-7-2016
A chara,
I write on behalf of West on Track to outline our position regarding the status of the Western Rail Corridor in Sligo.

Of the options listed in the Meehan Tully report, the dual solution (greenway alongside the railway) is the only one likely to attract Government funding, as it represents a sensible compromise, avoiding conflict between the railway & greenway positions.
It is not unreasonable to assume, that if Irish Rail sought revocation of any licence granted for a greenway, considerable opposition would be mounted against its removal.
On the other hand, the dual option would facilitate continuity of the greenway alongside a re-opened railway, underwritten by a Railway Works Order that could accommodate both.
With the exception of the Athlone-Mullingar greenway, the other proposed or established greenways are, or will be, constructed on or beside rail alignments, which are not potential trunk rail routes. The Western Rail Corridor is a potential trunk rail route, of which the portion in Co. Sligo is an integral part.
Lifting the track would send the negative signal that the alignment is no longer perceived as a railway line & that Sligo has abandoned its ambition to be connected by rail to Galway, or further south.
Mayo & Galway Co. Councils are opposed to using existing rail infrastructure for greenways and would be concerned at any threat to the integrity of the WRC in any other local authority area that might jeopardise their stated objective of a reopened WRC.
Common sense would indicate that if the existing track is lifted for any reason other than renewal, it will never be replaced.
The recent programme for Government includes the development of an Atlantic Economic Corridor aimed at providing infrastructure & economic development along the entire Western seaboard & Deputy Ml. Ring TD has been appointed Minister for Regional Economic Development. In this context it would be extremely unwise to remove any piece of existing infrastructure in the region, especially when an alternative exists that can command the support of all sides.
Given that the WRC is on the main North-South route in the region, it would seem prudent that the local authority would plan for a future with a reinstated rail connection between the only two cities in Connaught (Galway & Sligo), providing access for tourists to the region & facilitating commuters & families living here. EU funding should be sought to investigate the potential economic & social benefits of this transport corridor.

Peter Bowen-Walsh

.

marno21

Thankfully, Minister Rods is a big fan of greenways, and with a report on his table advising converting Athenry-Collooney to greenway, I can see him going ahead with it.

I have never seen such delusion that a 'city' of 20k people needs a railway to a 'city' of 75k along an old windy alignment that would take 2+ hours.

Carawaystick

eastwest wrote: »

The tragedy of this debacle is that the greenway will be built, slowly and piecemeal, with Sligo creeping slowly towards making s decision, but all the delays just mean a loss of revenue and jobs all along the route. The entire Athenry-Collooney route could take a decade to deliver, with Mayo the big blocker.
On the other hand, the Waterford project took very little time in county council terms, and already it is being heavily used and businesses are starting to plan their futures around it.
It's all about 'thick'; there's a higher proportion of it in the west than elsewhere, particularly in Mayo. It was ever thus.

Like the Mullingar Athlone greenway was built almost in secret in half a year...

eastwest

westtip wrote: »

West on Track are up to their old tricks trying to scaremonger by sending emails full of BS to sligo county councillors: The following email was sent to all Sligo Councillors last Friday

.

That piece from WOT is full of inaccuracies; you'd have to wonder what they're at.
The notion that the 'dual solution', i.e a greenway alongside the existing rotting track, would be the 'only [solution] likely to attract government funding' has no basis in fact. Given that the latest report has identified what everybody knows, that the cheapest solution by a mile is to use the existing track bed, the notion that a government would opt instead for a solution costing three times as much is so plain daft as to be laughable.
The real rationale behind this seeming deranged email is buried in the fifth paragraph, and in fact spells out the reason why WOT opposes the greenway in Sligo despite having effectively abandoned any hope of ever seeing a railway in that county with their new 'freight trains to Claremorris' agenda.
This is the relevant piece, and it tells me a lot about WOT and what they are at: 'Lifting the [Sligo] track would send a negative signal that the alignment is no longer perceived as a railway line & that Sligo has abandoned its ambition to be connected by rail to Galway, or further south'.
This is the core of their thinking, but it has SFA to do with Sligo. WOT has pulled back to an entrenched position on Athenry-Claremorris, using a thin freight argument to try to get this piece reopened. Sligo is just a proxy battle, they don't want any signal given that alternative interim uses are being planned for the line, and the retention of the rusty rails and rotten sleepers is purely symbolic.
These guys are quite prepared to use Sligo as a pawn, letting the railway rot away as long as the symbolism is intact for the good of the cause further south. They fear that once the Sligo Greenway is built, the clamour from citizens in Mayo and Galway will be unstoppable. They were able to ensure that 300 submission for a greenway in Mayo were binned by officials and kept away from councillors voting on the last county development plan, but once the Sligo facility is up and running this blocking of democratic choice might be impossible to repeat.
Sligo is just a proxy battleground for a fight elsewhere, and the Councillors receiving this email from WOT are just pawns in a different game.

jd

He's still pushing it

Census 2016: Sociologist says population fall in west ‘sad’
EU policy is to ‘gentrify’ rather than develop the west, says Dr Micheál Mac Gréil
..
“Front-loading infrastructure such as the Western Rail Corridor is crucial if we are to stop further depopulation,” he says.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/census-2016-sociologist-says-population-fall-in-west-sad-1.2722415

Muckyboots

eastwest wrote: »

That piece from WOT is full of inaccuracies; you'd have to wonder what they're at.

A good headline writer could make absolute hay with it.

"West on Track now say Sligo Greenway on WRC could form part of infrastructure & economic development along the entire Western seaboard as part of Atlantic Corridor Development"

serfboard

jd wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/census-2016-sociologist-says-population-fall-in-west-sad-1.2722415

The Maynooth University sociologist and Jesuit had forecast that uneven economic development would result in a drain from rural areas almost two decades ago.
His study ... for the Tuam archdiocese in 1998, warned [that] massive growth in urban areas would suck lifeblood from smaller towns and villages.

Since this trend was and is happening all over the world, Fr. Mc Gréil saying that the same thing was also happening/going to happen in Ireland, doesn't make him any sort of prescient genius ... :rolleyes:

The Maynooth University sociologist and Jesuit had forecast that uneven economic development would result in a drain from rural areas almost two decades ago.
His study ... for the Tuam archdiocese in 1998, warned [that] massive growth in urban areas would suck lifeblood from smaller towns and villages.

Since this trend was and is happening all over the world, Fr. Mc Gréil saying that the same thing was also happening/going to happen in Ireland, doesn't make him any sort of prescient genius

Mechanisation of agriculture has changed the habitation patterns of people all over the planet since the mid 20th century, these days many rural inhabitants are commuters working in the nearest town.
Park-n-ride schemes are probably the best solution for our current transport problems, due to the fact that the commuters are thinly scattered over a large area that is impossible to serve by any forms of public transport. There is even not much scope for car sharing due to the population spread.

Muckyboots

serfboard wrote: »

Since this trend was and is happening all over the world, Fr. Mc Gréil saying that the same thing was also happening/going to happen in Ireland, doesn't make him any sort of prescient genius ... :rolleyes:

He may be a learned cleric, but he spouts some guff too. Draw a 100km circle around Knock Airport and there isn't even the hint of inward investment or population increase. It's a literal lighthouse in a bog. Subsidised by Galway County Council and others. Nothing more than a handy rat run for getting in and out of Ireland (very handy) and at the expense of Galway and Sligo Airports, which did have some ancillary job creation and inward investment potential. Parish pump regional planning at its very best.

eastwest

Muckyboots wrote: »

He may be a learned cleric, but he spouts some guff too. Draw a 100km circle around Knock Airport and there isn't even the hint of inward investment or population increase. It's a literal lighthouse in a bog. Subsidised by Galway County Council and others. Nothing more than a handy rat run for getting in and out of Ireland (very handy) and at the expense of Galway and Sligo Airports, which did have some ancillary job creation and inward investment potential. Parish pump regional planning at its very best.

I saw a few marbles rolling around Castlebar yesterday, somebody must be missing them.

westtip

Muckyboots wrote: »

He may be a learned cleric, but he spouts some guff too. Draw a 100km circle around Knock Airport and there isn't even the hint of inward investment or population increase. It's a literal lighthouse in a bog. Subsidised by Galway County Council and others. Nothing more than a handy rat run for getting in and out of Ireland (very handy) and at the expense of Galway and Sligo Airports, which did have some ancillary job creation and inward investment potential. Parish pump regional planning at its very best.

hey Mucky boots. Hands off Knock Airport. Its only 35 minutes drive from my home:D

Muckyboots

westtip wrote: »

hey Mucky boots. Hands off Knock Airport. Its only 35 minutes drive from my home:D

And me - used it last weekend. Pioneering Regional Planner Horan would have been delighted at the tossel wearing, scantily dressed, Hen party and their blowup friends and the two groups of Stags who, one by one, dumped their virtual body weight of ingested alcohol, apro the Airport bar, in the Ryanair toilet. Very entertaining. The carry on brought out a few "Jesus, Mary and Joseph's" from some of the other passengers, so not all Mons Horan's religious motives were misplaced.
Stag and Hen trains from Claremorris to Athenry could be the next gambit from WOT?

eastwest

westtip wrote: »

hey Mucky boots. Hands off Knock Airport. Its only 35 minutes drive from my home:D

Or three hours on a train, whenever they deliver the special hill-climbing model.

westtip

eastwest wrote: »

Or three hours on a train, whenever they deliver the special hill-climbing model.

http://www.europeanbestdestinations.com/top/best-funiculars-in-europe/

All we need is imagination, for Charlestown to Knock Funicular connecting with the TGV from Athenry.

galwaycyclist

Letter in todays Irish Times


http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/rural-ireland-must-embrace-tourism-1.2736239

Bray Head

Sean O'Rourke had [font=Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif]Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael Senator, Dan O'Brien, Economist and Columnist, Dr. Diarmuid O'Grada, Planning Consultant on to talk about rural Ireland yesterday.[/font]

[font=Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif]Mulherin was basically talking about rural towns falling into dereliction and the fact that there is no motorway from Mayo to Dublin. Tax breaks and grants the solution of course.[/font]

[font=Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif]Dan in fairness said that tourism had the potential to make a difference. Sad that so many local interests don't see it that way.[/font]

eastwest

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Letter in todays Irish Times


http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/rural-ireland-must-embrace-tourism-1.2736239

'Champions of negativity' is about right. Opposition to tourism in some areas, fanned on by bodies like the IFA and by councillors with a populist agenda, often borders on the vitriolic. Are they really so thick that they can't see the benefits?

thomond2006

Are the discounted fares going to remain for the forseeable future?

eastwest

thomond2006 wrote: »

Are the discounted fares going to remain for the forseeable future?

They'll have to, if they want to compete with the motorway when it is completed!

Del.Monte

thomond2006 wrote: »

Are the discounted fares going to remain for the forseeable future?

I know Munster rugby is in the doldrums these days, but whence cometh your sudden interest in railways?

Del.Monte

Del.Monte wrote: »

I know Munster rugby is in the doldrums these days, but whence cometh your sudden interest in railways?

Maybe he's hoping for some training tips!

Carawaystick

thomond2006 wrote: »

Are the discounted fares going to remain for the forseeable future?

Thee will be no fares on any disused section of the wrc

thomond2006

Carawaystick wrote: »

Thee will be no fares on any disused section of the wrc

eastwest

Carawaystick wrote: »

Thee will be no fares on any disused section of the wrc

But there are a lot of votes there!
(As long as they make sure nothing happens. Another report, anyone?).

westtip

well done John Mulligan for getting this great piece up on NewsTalk Sunday Show today!

http://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/The_Sunday_Show/The_Sunday_Show/152030/Greenway_Ireland

Muckyboots

westtip wrote: »

well done John Mulligan for getting this great piece up on NewsTalk Sunday Show today!

http://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/The_Sunday_Show/The_Sunday_Show/152030/Greenway_Ireland

Good points made about the Canney Report. Does anyone know where this is at? These are supposed to go out for public tender, has it been advertised yet? The Prog for Gov promised it complete within six months.

eastwest

Muckyboots wrote: »

Good points made about the Canney Report. Does anyone know where this is at? These are supposed to go out for public tender, has it been advertised yet? The Prog for Gov promised it complete within six months.

It was all about 'within six months' during negotiations for prog for govt, but that seems to have been quietly dropped.
As suggested in that radio clip, it's logical that Canney is in no hurry to have a report commissioned that would bury the WRC.
A bit of can-kicking is probably the order of the day.

marno21

An awful lot of money being spent on a report to tell us all what we already know. Reopening the Western Rail Corridor is a ****ing nuts idea that should not (and would not be in most countries) entertained.

Similar to efforts to get a Sligo-Enniskillen rail link included in the TEN-T Core network. Absolute nonsense, as if the EU would entertain this type of parish pump tripe.

marno21

westtip wrote: »

well done John Mulligan for getting this great piece up on NewsTalk Sunday Show today!

http://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/The_Sunday_Show/The_Sunday_Show/152030/Greenway_Ireland

Well done to all involved in getting this on air. It's nice to see some publicity for these projects.

eastwest

marno21 wrote: »

An awful lot of money being spent on a report to tell us all what we already know. Reopening the Western Rail Corridor is a ****ing nuts idea that should not (and would not be in most countries) entertained.

Similar to efforts to get a Sligo-Enniskillen rail link included in the TEN-T Core network. Absolute nonsense, as if the EU would entertain this type of parish pump tripe.

The pro-rail lobby has definitely faded down to a small core group who are more anti-greenway than pro-rail. The attempt to include Sligo-enniskilken in ten-T is clearly nuts in rail terms; it was just targeted at the proposed greenway on that route, a greenway that is at an advanced stage of planning.