The condition of the rail track running from Athlone to Westport was a direct result of a political decision by Government to omit the line from a funding application to Brussels, the chairman of the West Region of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (CCI), Mr Peter Shanley, has said.
The line through Roscommon and Mayo was one of only two in the State not to receive any money in the last tranche of EU funding from 1994 to 1999. The official reason given was that it did not qualify under a cost-benefit analysis.
However, Mr Shanley said no such cost-benefit analysis was carried out. He told The Irish Times yesterday that he had a letter from CIE confirming this. "The letter states in black and white that they never carried out a cost-benefit analysis. It is a lie that needs to be nailed. It was a purely political decision."
It is generally accepted that the track, which passes through Roscommon, Castlerea, Claremorris and Castlebar, is in urgent need of upgrading. At certain sections the train has to slow to 30 m.p.h. The track is deteriorating all the time, as it is supported by wooden sleepers prone to rot.
Mr Shanley said the train was on average 30 minutes late, making the journey time from Dublin to Westport more than four hours.
The West Region of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland has produced a report highlighting the importance of the line to the economic development of the west. Mr Shanley, an author of the report, said if the Government did not invest in the track, it would have to be abandoned.
He said the CCI report had found that an investment of u £5 million per year over seven years would be sufficient to upgrade the track. He believed parts of the line were dangerous. "They may not be dangerous at 30 m.p.h., but they would be if the train was travelling at 45 m.p.h. or 60 m.p.h."
He said it was also "a lie" for the Government to maintain that the line did not qualify for funding on the basis of the numbers using it. "We have more numbers than on the Waterford line and just marginally less than on the Sligo line."
There had also been a "massaging of the figures" by the Department of Public Enterprise, because commuters between Athlone and Dublin were assigned to the Galway line when many of them also used the Mayo train.
Mr Shanley said rail passengers in Roscommon and Mayo had "suffered twice". Because the line did not "qualify" for EU funding, it also lost out when Luas money was being distributed around the State before Christmas.
The chairman of Mayo County Council, Fianna Fail councillor Mr Al McDonnell, said while he did not believe the line was dangerous, he accepted that it was in "urgent need of upgrading". He believed it was wrong that the line had not qualified for EU funding.
"We are in an area where we have seen massive depopulation and it was wrong to use only the criteria of numbers using the train to decide if it should be upgraded."