Madam, - The recent reports and analysis of the Western Rail Corridor make it fairly clear that the section from Claremorris to Collooney is very unlikely to re-open, mainly because the rebuilding costs, about €200 million in total or €4.3 million per mile, would be too large.
However, re-opening the line from Claremorris south to Ennis would have many benefits. First, the rebuilding costs are more reasonable, about €168 million. Second, the line would serve the flows of Tuam, Athenry, Craughwell, Gort and Oranmore-based commuters to Galway city. These flows are huge, with 46,000 cars entering Galway daily.
If even 10 per cent of these motorist commuters switched to rail, the WRC would be a success. A third benefit is that this line would allow rail services to operate from Ballina, Westport and Castlebar to Galway, and beyond to Cork, Limerick and Waterford.
Contrary to what Felim O'Rourke (June 22nd) says, a change of train would not be needed in Athenry on the Mayo-Galway or the Limerick-Galway routes. Trains would simply join the main line in Athenry and terminate in Galway.As for journey times, with modern DMU trains capable of top speeds of 160kph, timings should be competitive with car and bus journeys.
Also, the WRC would support balanced development, linking three gateway cities (Galway, Limerick, Cork), four hub towns (Ballina, Castlebar, Tuam and Ennis), three universities, four IT campuses, and three international airports. - Yours, etc,
STEPHEN McNENA, Economics lecturer, St Angela's College, Sligo.