This article is from page 4 of the 2006-09-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
CLARE General Election Candidate, Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) has described as “highly suspicious”, the Government’s delay in reopening the railway line linking Ennis to Galway. She wants the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, to immediately clarify whether work on the line will commence in November, in line with a commitment given to her by Irish Rail, earlier this year.
“Barry Kenny, Irish Rail spokesman, made a commitment to me and to the people of Clare during a live radio debate on Clare FM, that work to reopen the railway line would commence ‘no later than the end of November 2006’. We are now in the first week of September and still the Government remains silent. It has not even sanctioned basic preparatory work on the track. What is behind the Government’s suspicious silence?
“On the 13th of August last, Minister Martin Cullen made an announcement that €360 million was to be spent upgrading the Kildare line to improve commuter services. He had an obvious opportunity on that occasion to confirm the reopening of the Ennis to Athenry stage of the Western Rail Corridor, but he chose not to. The people of Clare deserve to know why he chose not to.”
Cllr Taylor-Quinn said that the minister’s ability to effectively manage the introduction of Clare’s new rail service was in doubt, because of the ‘mess’ he was making of the Kildare expansion. Minister Cullen had prevented it from being extended a few miles, to service some of the country’s largest commuter towns.
“How can we trust the commitment of this Minister to the Western Rail Corridor, or his ability to deliver it? The Minister, who is presiding over a transport catastrophe on what is potentially the busiest commuter line in the country, is the minister we must depend on.
“It may be that in November, which happens to be the first anniversary of its farcical Transport 21 initiative, the Government will try to put a respectable shine on matters by giving the go-ahead to our railway line. The proper way to mark that anniversary would be to have work on the line well underway. It would also be to commit to examining the case for other railway stations serving new population centres on the Limerick – Ennis – Athenry line, like Sixmilebridge, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Crusheen and Gort. I strongly believe that there is a case for these new stations, as there is an absolutely critical case for the “spur” providing a rail service to and from Shannon Airport.”