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Athenry, Co.Galway, Ireland

Athenry Local News Archive

Tuam-Athenry line could be opened in just four months

The Tuam-Athenry railway line should take just under four months to repair if it gets the go ahead from the Minister for Transport.

According to railway experts within Galway County Council even through the track would have to be rebuilt, the foundations of the railway line are good making it the most economically viable section of the Western Rail Corridor (WRC).

The 15.5-mile line from Athenry to Tuam could be built at a mile a week according to the experts.

Tuam Town Councillor Sally Ann Flanagan told The Tuam Herald that with ministerial approval she was confident the line would reopen at the end of the year.

The Minister is to make a decision on the project in early Spring after considering a report to be presented to him by a WRC working group.

Cllr Flanagan is now seeking assurances from the Minister that he will look positively on the project.

“The provision of such a service would bring major economic and social benefits to the town of Tuam, with spin-offs for Tuam and its hinter land,” she said.

According to figures published in the West on Track Report the 15.5-mile route from Tuam to Athenry would cost €16.32 million to restore, including work on its one level crossing and the railway stations.

Members of the West on Track campaign previously said they believe this section of the line will be opened by next summer, and lines from Tuam, Athenry and Claremorris will prove as popular as the newly reopened line from Ennis to Limerick.

The Ennis to Limerick line became Iarnród Éireann’s first track to be re-opened, having been closed for over a year.

Renovation works on the 23-mile line cost over €13 million, and 14 trains a day now use the route.