‘Creditable year’ for rail line
According to figures released yesterday by Irish Rail for the route’s first 12 months, a total of 53,187 passengers travelled on the €106 million Ennis to Athenry service.
The numbers fell far short of the anticipated 100,000 in the Irish Rail business case for re-opening the line.
Irish Rail also confirmed 252,607 passengers travelled on all the routes between Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Galway last year.
Irish Rail’s corporate communications manager, Barry Kenny, said yesterday: “Athenry-Galway, in particular, saw an increase in passenger demand arising from the opening of the line, as well as the additional business from the Ennis-Athenry line.”
A spokesman for West on Track said the success of the railway over its first year was “a tribute to the hard work of many people in Iarnród Éireann who had achieved excellent results despite having to operate during the most serious economic downturn in our history.”
However, Brendan Quinn of Sligo-Mayo Greenway campaign, said alternative uses of the remainder of the western rail corridor should be examined. He said that a greenway (a paved walking and cycling track) from Athenry to Claremorris and onto Collooney would cost about €13m with no subvention on running costs and would add hugely to western tourism economics.
