Rail ideas include Luas-type link with Derry and budget airline-style fares

A ‘Luas’ linking Northern Ireland with Donegal and Sligo; budget airline-style fares on trains, and a special gardaí railway unit are among proposals put forward by ministers.

Ministers believe reducing the rail transport network would severely impact the attractiveness of the country’s larger city regions for foreign investors and would impact on tourism.

A Western Rail Corridor connecting the ports and cities of the west and south is also proposed in a lengthy submission on the future of the rail network written by OPW Minister Sean Canney.