CALL FOR INVESTMENT IN WESTERN RAIL CORRIDOR

Date Published: 02-Dec-2012

Northwest MEP, Jim Higgins, has called for a renewed focus on developing the Western Rail Corridor.

It comes as Iarnród Éireann has announced it's to reduce its daily services on the Galway to Limerick line due to a lack of passenger demand.

The schedule will be reduced from six to five each way journeys daily which involves cutting the 11.55 Limerick to Galway service and the 12.10 Galway to Limerick service.

A spokeperson for Iarnród Éireann says the firm is responding to demand with other services such as the Galway to Dublin line seeing an extra train in each direction, to increase weekly frequency from eight to nine.

Another significant change will see journey time improvements on the Galway Dublin line of between five and 25 minutes.

Barry Kenny of Iarnród Éireann says the services cut on the Limerick line were not heavily loaded.

He says the original schedule for the line was made with regional development in mind which did not materialise.

However, according to MEP Higgins the completion of the rail corridor would cost less than the recently proposed luas project.

He says lobby group, West on Track, is to submit a complaint to the European Comissions Committee claiming that structural funds have largely been used in the East and South of the country.

MEP Higgins says he would support such a petition.