This article is from page 14 of the 2006-11-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
RESULTS of a survey released last week show a massive demand from commuters for the section of the Western Rail Corridor linking Ennis, Athenry and Galway City.
The MRBI poll reveals that one quarter of the people surveyed would use this section of the line on a regular basis, while eight per cent said they would use it more than 2 or 3 times per week.
These figures are the highest passenger projections to date and according to the West on Track group would put the total passenger numbers well over 1 million journeys per year.
“These figures more than bear out the passenger demand projections of West on Track and are in line with ongoing research being conducted both north and south of Athenry,” said a group spokesperson.
“We welcome the fact that our passenger demand projections have now been independently verified and expect our projections of demand north of Galway to be accepted as equally accurate.”
Should the results of this survey be borne out in reality, they would place the Ennis to Galway section of the corridor almost on a par with the Dublin to Belfast line in terms of passenger numbers and ahead of well established lines such Westport to Dublin and Sligo to Dublin.