Strong case made by report to restore Mayo to Sligo rail link

A new report published today finds that there is a strong case for completing the final leg of the Western Rail Corridor project reconnecting Mayo to Sligo, once the planned Galway-Mayo section of the railway has been completed.

Edited by former ESRI Research Professor, Dr John Bradley, the report examines the current structure and performance of the economy of the N&W region, the reasons why it is ‘lagging’, and how it can be revitalised and re-integrated into the currently more buoyant national economic performance.

The 216 page report, entitled The Atlantic Railway Corridor – The Mayo-Sligo Rail Link: An Appraisal, includes a detailed survey and analysis of the dormant Claremorris-Collooney rail line and provides preliminary cost estimates for its restoration based on information provided by railway engineers and the previous restoration of the Ennis-Athenry line, suitably indexed for inflation and modern safety requirements.

The total cost of works required for the re–opening of the line is estimated as €411.72 million, which includes a contingency of 20%.

This amounts to €5.5m per kilometre of restored track.

A journey time from Claremorris to Sligo of c.70 minutes is estimated on the restored line (allowing for a 120 km/hr line speed and one minute stops at all intermediate stations).

This would give a journey time of approximately two hours 10 minutes from Sligo to Galway.

·The report envisages that the towns of Kiltimagh, Swinford, Charlestown (to serve Ireland West Airport), Tubbercurry and Collooney will be served by modern station infrastructure, car parking facilities etc.

It also envisages that a large number of the current railway crossings, many now defunct, will be closed or removed.

In a detailed study of the economy of the region Dr Bradley analyses the nature of underdevelopment in the mid N&W region and the causes of the slow growth of towns in the immediate catchment area of the Claremorris-Collooney line in north Mayo and south Sligo.

He highlights the necessity of ‘clustering’ such towns for development in order to maximize their potential as part of a growing regional economy and the critical need for infrastructure and proper connectivity between them, as well as with larger population centres such as Galway and Sligo.

Some conjectural population projections for the towns that would be served on the restored Claremorris-Collooney line are presented, based on the recent dynamic population growth of towns in mid and south Mayo.

“These projections emphasise that future Irish population growth out to 2060 is likely to be very different from growth in the more developed and already densely populated EU member states. Ireland needs to plan for that now,” says Dr Bradley.

In looking at the strengths of the regional economy the report profiles a number of successful businesses in Mayo and Sligo and identifies Ireland West Airport and the Atlantic Technological University as important drivers of future growth in the region.

It is also strongly critical of the omission of the Mayo-Sligo railway from the draft Arup All Island Strategic Rail Review and specifically its failure to examine the role that rail could play in rebalancing regional development.

Welcoming the report, a spokesman for West on Track said: "It highlights once again the huge value of the currently disused railway to Sligo and provides a cogent and professional economic argument for its restoration.

“The unsuitability of the ‘one size fits all’ kind of economic modelling used in official reports on potential projects for the west inevitably means that most of our region will continue to lag behind, as the EU has highlighted repeatedly over the past three years.

"In simple terms, nothing will ever be considered viable for the west unless balanced regional development becomes the primary yardstick for development.

"Ireland West Airport, for example, could not be built today as the standard models of cost-benefit analysis would completely rule it out.

"Yet, everyone knows what a success it has been and the vital role it plays in our region.

“The planned reopening of the line from Athenry to Claremorris is another example.

"It is only three years since it was rubbished in an official report but it is now clear that there is a major need for it not just for freight but also to allow for easier access to the regional capital of Galway.

"We welcome this development warmly but once that link is restored, the logic of linking Galway and Sligo, the two largest conurbations in Connacht, by rail is simply inescapable.

"There is massive cross-party political support across the entire western region for the restoration of this key piece of infrastructure which has lain idle for too long. We must all have ambition for our region.”

The report places its evaluation of the benefits of restoring the Claremorris-Collooney/Sligo rail link firmly in the context of Government commitments to re-balance regional performance.

These include benefits from passenger revenue, projected to grow exponentially over the coming decades, wider benefits associated with emissions, travel costs and benefits from freight revenue.

The west is currently the main source of rail freight in Ireland serving businesses such as Coillte, Baxter Healthcare and Coca Cola.

Dr. Bradley says that “over the time horizon of about 50 years used by Arup, both the regional economy and the urgency to decarbonise are likely to change dramatically.

A drastic reduction in the use of fossil fuels for road transport - currently the largest sectoral user of fossil fuel - will be necessary, and that can only be provided by an enhanced rail network.”

The report also examines how the evolving technology of hydrogen-powered trains could produce a massive reduction of CO2 and other emissions from the transport sector and bypass the expense of electrification of regional lines.