Western Rail Corridor (all disused sections)

Muckyboots

Doltanian wrote: »

Minimum wage jobs filled by migrant workers, who then shop in Lidl and remit most of the money out of the country. I see only one winner and that is the Tourist trade and one loser and that is the taxman. Tourism contributes very little in line of a real economic boost to the economy. Minimum wage jobs are of no use to anyone with aspirations in life.

That's actually funny. Really!
What's the rate of pay for opening and closing gates on the railway these day? Do you still get a free one roomed house? Or for walking around ghost train stations in a high viz jacket swinging a sweeping brush, waving the occasional green flag and grunting at the half dozen pensioners who turn up for the 11 am to Galway? Are these jobs.....sorry, is this job ring-fenced for non migrants?

westtip

end of the road wrote: »

IMO you should have tried for a different route, you'd likely have a greenway by now. as it is, you will likely get nothing IMO.


.

Please pray do tell me how you will find a strip of public land 120km long running through the town centres from athenry to Collooney, which is shovel ready for a greenway. The reason this piece of land is being targetted for a greenway is simple:

The railway is not going to be opened and the idea has worked the world over. Actually I disagree as it stands now the greenway is far more likely to happen than not. It is purely a matter of time. But anyway this debate has been had so many times.

Lord Glentoran

westtip wrote: »

But anyway this debate has been had so many times.

Ara, sure we'll keep it up. We're not far from 10,000 posts on this subject but no-one is beat yet.

Kfagan10

Lord Glentoran wrote: »

How does Sean Canney end up getting 12,000 unsolicited emails from change.org?

These emails have been put into a spam folder.

westtip

Kfagan10 wrote: »

These emails have been put into a spam folder.

It makes little difference where he has put them, the point is he has received 12000 emails, he can count, and he is aware of it. The fortunate thing is the admin on the change.org petition can now notifiy the petitioners that Mr Canney is putting all their emails into a spam folder and choosing to ignore them.

I wouldn't call that good publicity would you? I can feel a press release coming on TD ignores 12,000 petitioners type message, but then why give him the chance to claim he is being "bullied" hilarious stuff really.

Can you confirm once more that Mr Canney is putting all these emails in a spam folder? Thanks

Isambard

rather scandalous if he did really. 1200 potential votes lost, that is something he will not ignore

westtip

Isambard wrote: »

rather scandalous if he did really. 1200 potential votes lost, that is something he will not ignore

12,000 petitioners not 1200 but in truth it is probably about 3000 on line petitioners in the Galway East constituency and growing daily, they can all be identified and communicated with directly about the attitude of Mr. Canney. They can direct their vote in anyway they want, however as this issue is a pretty hot local topic in Galway East in particular in the communities along the route, I am pretty sure it will be an election issue - as all politics are local. Particularly in the case of independent candidates who are "sent up to Dublin" to do the best they can for their local patch.

I think the electorate in Galway East will be asking Mr. Canney "And what was it you did for Tuam, Athenry and the rest of East Galway" "Ah yes you got the promise of a report into the Western Rail Corridor, well that was useful"

As 3,000 people in Tuam alone signed a petition for a greenway in hard copy and many have signed the on line petition, I think Mr Canney really should be going through his spam folder with some care and attention. It's up to him, if I were his election agent I would be pulling him to one side and saying something. If he changed his mind today and rode in behind the greenway campaign I am sure he would be re-elected in a shot. It really is his call.

Kfagan10

Kfagan10 wrote: »

These emails have been put into a spam folder.

While that may be true, I'm not sure I trust the source without some evidence

Otherwise its just a guess

L1011

Most organisations who get targetted with the bounce emails on petitions have all the petition sites blocked. I'd be amazed if that isn't done for oireachtas.ie at large.

Either way, it can be printed and hand delivered or submitted to the oireachtas petition site

westtip

L1011 wrote: »

Most organisations who get targetted with the bounce emails on petitions have all the petition sites blocked. I'd be amazed if that isn't done for oireachtas.ie at large.

That wouldn't surprise me and it's not really the issue, the politicians involved in the Western Rail Corridor debate are made well aware of the volume of signatures from change.org by intermittent press releases they receive about how the volume is increasing and yes they will ultimately get the hard copy petition in due course. The fact the petition hit 10,000 recently was reasonably well covered in regional media, Mr Canney is well aware of it as are other politicians who all get our press releases and they do read the regional media.

They do know we are out here!

westtip

Anyone heard anything about the Canney report for the Western Rail Corridor? Who has been appointed to write it? Has the brief been issued? Will the report cover all eventualities? Are we going to be sopped off with another McCann Report?

Muckyboots

westtip wrote: »

Anyone heard anything about the Canney report for the Western Rail Corridor? Who has been appointed to write it? Has the brief been issued? Will the report cover all eventualities? Are we going to be sopped off with another McCann Report?

The report is specifically to independently appraise the potential for rail, and if Leo is to be believed it will give it a "return for investment" score out of 100. If it goes off on an AEC/ B.R.D. journey well see neither trains or tourists in our lifetime. Some geniuses will consider that a victory.

westtip

Muckyboots wrote: »

The report is specifically to independently appraise the potential for rail, and if Leo is to be believed it will give it a "return for investment" score out of 100. If it goes off on an AEC/ B.R.D. journey well see neither trains or tourists in our lifetime. Some geniuses will consider that a victory.

Sorry having a dim moment here, is AEC Atlantic Economic Corridor what is BRD?. Is there any news yet on which bright consultants they are going to spend money with, and is there any timetable for publication yet, not that it makes any difference, the department of transport under Ross doesn't seem to know what a deadline is witness the Rail Review, the Greenway strategic review......etc

marno21

westtip wrote: »

Sorry having a dim moment here, is AEC Atlantic Economic Corridor what is BRD?. Is there any news yet on which bright consultants they are going to spend money with, and is there any timetable for publication yet, not that it makes any difference, the department of transport under Ross doesn't seem to know what a deadline is witness the Rail Review, the Greenway strategic review......etc

Balanced regional development.

X has a train so we should have a train out of fairness

westtip

marno21 wrote: »

Balanced regional development.

X has a train so we should have a train out of fairness

thanks yes was having a senior moment, maybe I should get a ticket for Ennis to Athenry. BRD oh yes that one, and I guess Dublin might want Balanced Tax Payments being as the Dublin Area contributes the lions share of revenue to the Dept of Finance!

Isambard

marno21 wrote: »

Balanced regional development.

X has a train so we should have a train out of fairness

That sounds fair, I have an abandoned line behind my house so I want either a railway or a greenway out of fairness. I neither use the train nor cycle but still.....

westtip

Isambard wrote: »

That sounds fair, I have an abandoned line behind my house so I want either a railway or a greenway out of fairness. I neither use the train nor cycle but still.....

Yep that sounds like a good reason to spend another 250 million on a railway no one will use, along with the 6 to 8 million subvention per annum, before anyone starts barking, I have pulled those figures out of the air, but if Ennis/Athenry cost 105 million in 2009/10 building costs it is probably about there! Anyway who cares as long as the money is wasted properly because of BRD and to try and prove the AEC exists that is all that matters, that lot up in Dublin have far too many trains....

voz es

And this folks is why the western rail corridor is not on the EU Transport Ten submission. 'Leo Vararkar cut them out when he was minister for transport'
This folks is shocking, the western needs had been identified in this report and submitted to our now head if gorernment, the then minister for transport, he ripped us out in the days before submission!!!!!!!

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/varadkar-move-blocked-funding-for-western-rail-corridor-1.3450236

Lord Glentoran

westtip wrote: »

Yep that sounds like a good reason to spend another 250 million on a railway no one will use, along with the 6 to 8 million subvention per annum, before anyone starts barking, I have pulled those figures out of the air, but if Ennis/Athenry cost 105 million in 2009/10 building costs it is probably about there! Anyway who cares as long as the money is wasted properly because of BRD and to try and prove the AEC exists that is all that matters, that lot up in Dublin have far too many trains....

You should get in touch with this guy, he seems to be on the same 'track' (ahem) as your campaign

"A colossal waste of money"

westtip

voz es wrote: »

And this folks is why the western rail corridor is not on the EU Transport Ten submission. 'Leo Vararkar cut them out when he was minister for transport'
This folks is shocking, the western needs had been identified in this report and submitted to our now head if gorernment, the then minister for transport, he ripped us out in the days before submission!!!!!!!

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/varadkar-move-blocked-funding-for-western-rail-corridor-1.3450236

Tell us something we don't know! This is why many of us have been saying for years, TEN-T funding will not be given to the Western Rail Corridor, let's do something useful with it now.

westtip

Lord Glentoran wrote: »

You should get in touch with this guy, he seems to be on the same 'track' (ahem) as your campaign

"A colossal waste of money"

and your point is?

Lord Glentoran

westtip wrote: »

and your point is?

You did click on the link?

Muckyboots

Lord Glentoran wrote: »

You did click on the link?

The Greenway campaign, for a derelict and unusable WRC, does not compare with a functioning subsidised regional airport story. What is your point?

Quackster

voz es wrote: »

And this folks is why the western rail corridor is not on the EU Transport Ten submission. 'Leo Vararkar cut them out when he was minister for transport'
This folks is shocking, the western needs had been identified in this report and submitted to our now head if gorernment, the then minister for transport, he ripped us out in the days before submission!!!!!!!

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/varadkar-move-blocked-funding-for-western-rail-corridor-1.3450236

Sensible chap is Leo.

marno21

Leo simply reversed FF's move of including political pet projects from an era during which money couldn't be burned through quick enough.

The Irish Times article is also full of misreporting and errors. There are two networks in Ireland, Core and Comprehensive. The Western Rail Corridor was never ever up for inclusion in the Core corridor no matter how much people claim. Regional rail lines are included in the comprehensive network but I see no reason for including a defunct since 1976 twisty tramway built through fields in low density areas. It's not strategic infrastructure and never will be. The N17 is included and will be dualled going forward.

Lord Glentoran

marno21 wrote: »

Leo simply reversed FF's move of including political pet projects from an era during which money couldn't be burned through quick enough.

The Irish Times article is also full of misreporting and errors. There are two networks in Ireland, Core and Comprehensive. The Western Rail Corridor was never ever up for inclusion in the Core corridor no matter how much people claim. Regional rail lines are included in the comprehensive network but I see no reason for including a defunct since 1976 twisty tramway built through fields in low density areas. It's not strategic infrastructure and never will be. The N17 is included and will be dualled going forward.

The N17 being dualled further? Seeing as the M17 is empty while Galway is rammed means that all that will achieve is outdoor relief for landowners alongside the route, and more one-off housing. Chinatown, Irish style.

westtip

Lord Glentoran wrote: »

The N17 being dualled further? Seeing as the M17 is empty while Galway is rammed means that all that will achieve is outdoor relief for landowners alongside the route, and more one-off housing. Chinatown, Irish style.

ah yes and your point is (yes I did click the link) that you are going to get thousands using the park and train facility at Gort? or Ardrahan? or Milltown and Ballindine? No because they will get in their cars and drive to the out of town employers that are nowhere near the railway line.

The a DC along the Western Corridor may well be under utilised in terms of traffic volumes, in a way that has to be accepted, however why don't you factor in the thousands upon thousands of man hours it will save in terms of supply chain logistics, and what's more just how reliable our public transport could become with that jolly old thing they call a bus.

The Road traffic fatalities and injuries that will be removed from the N17. Road traffic accidents being prevented by having safer arterial routes will save the state millions. Healthcare costs, lost earnings and tax payments, destruction of lives etc.

Varadkar had plenty of vision when he pulled the plug on the WRC, it quite simply is not a core project.

westtip

Just in case the opposition have missed this one, latest press release herewith.

Press release From: The Western Rail Trail campaign
April 6th 2018 for immediate release: 486 words (main body text)

• TEN-T Funding was never on the agenda for so called Western Rail Corridor
• Varadkar in 2013 and Donohoe in 2014 made no secret of this fact
• Greenway is now the way to go with massive public support
• 13,000 petitioners want Sligo-Athenry route in new greenway strategy from Department of Transport

A spokesman for the Western Rail Trail Campaign – an alliance of community-based campaign groups in Galway Mayo and Sligo campaigning to preserve the alignment of the closed rail line from Athenry to Collooney by utilising the route for tourism and leisure as a greenway until such time as a railway may be possible, has commented on publication of information that the Western Rail Corridor was excluded from European TEN-T funding.

“The news revealed this week that the so called Western Rail Corridor was excluded from the application to be included in the European TEN-T Transport infrastructure plans, back in 2011, is really old news” said Brendan Quinn of the campaign.

Mr Varadkar in an email sent to our campaign in 2013 stated the following:

“the Government has no plans to extend the western rail corridor nor any other heavy rail line in the state”. As Minister of Transport he had had effectively drawn a line under the campaign to build a railway line from Limerick to Sligo, stating in that same email “We do not have the funds [and] our priority is to keep the existing lines open.”
Referring to alternative uses for the route, Mr Varadkar also said in the same email in 2013: “With regard to greenways, my Department and its agencies are very supportive of greenways.”
In December 2014 Paschal Donohoe his immediate successor in an email to Mr. Quinn of the Western Rail Trail “I would like to re-confirm my Department's position that there are currently no plans to extend the Western Railway Corridor.”

“It really is old news to refer to decisions made over 7 years ago about the so called Western Rail Corridor. The real pity is that neither Mr Varadkar nor Mr Donohoe didn’t act on their comments whilst in the Department of Transport; they could have put a greenway in place on the closed railway route until such time as a railway might become possible, five or six years ago. Instead we are still debating about a closed railway which has no hope of funding, it is ridiculous” said the spokesperson.

“An on-line petition asking for a greenway on the route has now hit over 13,000 signatures; the greenway has massive popular support in the west” said the spokesperson.

“We cannot understand why some politicians in the west feeling disgruntled about the so called Western Rail Corridor, when there appears to be a groundswell of support for a greenway along the route of the closed railway.”

The spokesperson continued, ‘Public opinion clearly favours a greenway and this cannot be ignored anymore. The reconfirmation that the closed railway is never going to be funded by European TEN-T funding is really immaterial reinforces the arguments in favour of a greenway on the route until such time as a railway might be possible. Politicians need to grasp the reality of the situation instead of moaning about decisions that cannot be changed”


ENDS: body text 465 words


Contacts: via our facebook page please
Find us on Facebook: sligomayogreenwaycampaign


Link to petition for editors:

https://www.change.org/p/western-rail-trail-campaign-create-a-walking-and-cycling-greenway-on-the-closed-railway-from-sligo-to-athenry

Free to use images here: https://www.sligogreenway.com/media--images.html (please acknowledge Sligo Greenway Co-op as owners)

serfboard

Lord Glentoran wrote: »

the M17 is empty

The M17 is empty but trains from Claremorris would be full? :rolleyes: