Council considers charging for train station carpark
Pay parking could be coming down the track for spaces at Oranmore train station – with County Council officials warning that the introduction of a charge may be the only way to fund additional spaces at the frequently over-subscribed car park.
A meeting of Athenry Oranmore Municipal District was told that bylaws for the introduction of pay and display at the council-owned facility were currently being drafted – and councillors would have to make a decision about its future operation in the not-too-distant future.
Cllr James Charity (Ind) said it would be very difficult for any councillor to support such a move, given that they were also trying to encourage people to leave their cars behind.
“It will be a significant difficulty for any member to vote for pay parking when we’re trying to encourage people to use public transport,” he said.
Cllr Liam Carroll (FG) said that the extension of the car park in Oranmore needed to be a priority as people’s safety was being put at risk due to disorganised nature of parking when the facility fills up.
“This morning, I left Oranmore at about 8.50am and the car park was chock-a-block – they were parked all the way out to the Coast Road.
“There are 140 spaces there and at the moment, I would estimate that there does be 250 cars there, parked all the way in on a cycle lane and on a bus lane. Oranmore Station is a victim of its own success,” he said.
These cars were mostly commuters going in and out of Galway City and this was achieving a significant reduction in the volume of cars on the road, he continued.
“If you’re talking 250 cars a day, that’s around 55,000 per annum being taken out of the city. Most of those cars aren’t there until after 8am so it’s not people going to Limerick or Dublin – it’s people using Oranmore as a commuter station.
“Imagine the impact that’s having on the reduction of the carbon footprint in the city; and the impact on health and wellbeing, when people are not getting stuck in traffic when they hit the roundabout at Galway Clinic every day,” said Cllr Carroll.
Cllr Shelly Herterich Quinn (FF) said that the fact that a charge existed for parking at the train station in Athenry was further exacerbating the problem – as people were driving from the town to Oranmore Station to get the train there and avoid having to pay to park.
“That’s adding to the load at the station in Oranmore. In Athenry, there are hundreds of spaces, but people just don’t want to pay,” she said, adding that Iarnród Éireann should consider offering its parking spaces for free in Athenry.
Cllr Gabe Cronnelly (Ind) said that Oranmore and Attymon should be better utilised by Iarnród Éireann as commuter stations and put down a motion to seek that the number of times the train stopped there was increased – seconded by Cllr Carroll, the motion was adopted by area councillors.
Senior Executive Engineer Damien Mitchell said that a framework document currently under development for the Garraun area where Oranmore Station is situated included provision for a loop that would enable frequent commuter trains to run in and out of Galway City.
“The reality for parking is, how do we pay to add additional spaces,” said Mr Mitchell.
“What we’ve done in the past is borrowed it and put in pay parking to pay it back.
“I know the problem is there, but the reality is I have four or five towns in the county looking for additional parking spaces and the only way to facilitate that is to pay for it,” he stressed.