Re-opening of western line a ‘leap of faith’
Mr Brennan has set up a working group to examine the re-opening of the Sligo-Limerick route and promised it would not be a talking shop.
"I didn't do the populist thing today and announce a couple of hundred million but we kept the dream alive. I'm prepared to work on this and give it every opportunity to see if we can make something happen," he said.
Yesterday, he toured five railway stations along the 114-mile route Tubercurry, Charlestown, Kiltimagh, Claremorris and Tuam and viewed a petition signed by 100,000 people. The last section of the track was closed by Iarnród Éireann in 1974, although the Limerick-Ennis route has since re-opened.
The state rail company's attempt to sell off the disused track in the 1980s was thwarted by a group led by Fr Michael McGreill.
Fr McGreill, a former sociologist at NUI Maynooth, is now the patron of the West on Track campaign, which will be represented on the Department of Transport's working group.
Fr McGreill welcomed Mr Brennan's comments and said he believed the WRC would succeed.
"We have the people behind us. If we get the railway re-opened, we'll make it viable," he said.
The WRC was dealt a serious blow in April last year when the Strategic Rail Review estimated the cost of re-opening it at €572 million. Mr Brennan has said he rejects this negative assessment.
According to a feasibility study launched yesterday by West on Track, the WRC can be built for €249m, the equivalent of 2.5 miles of the proposed Dublin Metro and five miles of the Luas.
The study authors recommend the line be opened on a phased basis, with theTuam-Athenry-Galway line to open first.
This was supported by Minister for Gaeltacht, Community and Rural Affairs Eamon O'Cuiv, who spoke at the report's launch in Kiltimagh, Co Mayo. "If we can get one section open and prove that there are passengers for it, that will create momentum and open the other sections in time."
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