The board of CIE has approved the retention of more than 50 miles of the former North Kerry Railway as a public walkway, giving the first glimmer of hope in 10 years to a group campaigning to save the historic route.
CIE has postponed indefinitely any move to sell off the Rathkeale-to-Tralee route which was closed in 1978, and the Great Southern Trail Action Group is continuing its campaign to have it surfaced, first as a walkway but ultimately as a cycle route also. The group is now seeking support from local authorities and is looking to Shannon Development to come up with proposals for the line, which runs through west Limerick and north Kerry, both regions in need of a tourism boost.
The original North Kerry Railway ran from Limerick to Tralee, but is now open as a railway for only 27 miles, from Limerick to the port of Foynes. From the village of Ballingrane, an embankment meanders for a scenic 53 miles, taking in the towns and villages of Rathkeale, Ardagh, Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale in Co Limerick and going on to Listowel, Ardfert and Tralee in Co Kerry.
Mr Liam O'Mahony, PRO for the group, says it is pressing the local authorities to take up the cause because they will have first option to buy the route should CIE decide to sell. In the meantime, one option would be for the State company to lease the land as a commercial proposition. He points out that the route has already been used for the laying of cable by Esat Telecom and it could also be used to pipe gas.
Mr O'Mahony says a lot could be achieved spending £10,000 a mile, a total of £530,000, with 10 communities along the route taking responsibility for five-mile sections.
The groundwork in developing the amenity trail has already been laid. In the late 1980s Sustrans, a British civil engineering charity, specialising in building walking and cycling routes, surveyed the Ballingrane-Tralee line and recommended its construction as a public amenity.
But there has been little movement since. "Unfortunately things began to go wrong from the beginning. Landowners adjoining the railway had fears about its redevelopment," Mr O'Mahony says.
The group has developed a three-mile section, between Newcastle West and Ardagh, resurfacing it with gravel as part of a Student Employment Scheme, following permission from CIE. "We put about seven or eight thousand pounds of our money and 17 or 18 thousand of State money - in total about £25,000 - plus an unlimited amount of voluntary work from our group," Mr O'Mahony says. The Great Southern Trail Action Group has also kept up interest by organising walks along the route during the year. "The remains of railways are specifically mentioned in the Heritage Act as part of the industrial heritage to be protected, preserved and enhanced," he says.
He believes it will be an attraction for railway enthusiasts, walkers, cyclists, people with disabilities and people pushing buggies, all of whom would appreciate the former railway's gentle gradient.
With national primary routes a no-go area now for walkers and cyclists, the trail would also be a vital infrastructural link between the towns and villages it connects. About half of the route runs parallel to the N21. "The railway, in most cases, brings you into the centres of towns," Mr O'Mahony adds.
The group's secretary, Mr Mike MacDomhnaill, says many of the former railways in Britain and continental Europe have been redeveloped and the Great Southern trail would be a valuable tourism resource. "Walking holidays are way up in the top for attractions and have passed out golfing."
A website promoting the development of the Limerick-Galway railway line as a passenger service via Ennis, with a spur to Shannon, has been launched. Currently there is a limited passenger service from Limerick to Ennis.
"The railway lines in the west of the country have been ignored. The only lines that have received any attention in the last decade are the rail lines that run to Dublin," according to the site, www.clarenet.ie/railcampaign