This article is from page 14 of the 2012-01-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
IARNRÓD Éireann and Clare County Council have expressed their confidence that building work on a train station at Crusheen will start this summer, despite fresh delays in the project.
Both funding and planning permission have been secured for the longawaited Crusheen stop on the Western Rail Corridor but construction work has been delayed as a result of protracted negotiations between Iarnród Éireann and a third-party developer.
The negotiation is centred around development contributions but a spokesperson from Iarnród Éireann has said that the station will go ahead.
“We are committed to the development of the station,” said Barry Kenny of Iarnród Éireann.
“The Crusheen proposal has elements of contribution from our capital programme, Clare County Council in relation to the construction and operation of a car park and a thirdparty developer.
“We are in discussions with the third party at present, so we must await the outcome of these to determine when the project will proceed, though it is our aspiration to commence works this summer.”
A spokesperson from Clare County Council yesterday said that the local authority was not aware of any reason why the station at Crusheen would not go ahead.
Senior Engineer with Clare County Council, Tom Tiernan, yesterday de- clined to make any comment on the delay in starting construction on the Crusheen station, saying that it was a matter between the developer and Iarnród Éireann.
Having originally been told that Crusheen would not be granted a station on the Western Rail Corridor, it was announced shortly after the reopening of the Ennis to Athenry section of the line in 2009 that Iarnród Éireann would be going ahead with a Crusheen stop.
This change of heart followed more than two years in intensive lobbying by local people and also a section of land being donated for the station itself and the carpark. When completed, it is predicted that the station will swell the number of people using the train to commute to work in Ennis, Limerick and Galway.