Station sold for €200k cost €2m to buy back for Ryder Cup rail service

Work on the final transport plan is ongoing, but it will involve special nationwide Ryder Cup rail services. Picture: Getty

An old railway station sold off 13 years ago for over €200,000, cost €2m to buy back last year for reinstatement for a Ryder Cup rail service, it has emerged.

The station, located 2km from the Adare Manor Hotel resort, will form a major element of the huge transport plan being put in place.

It has been confirmed that the laying of a new rail line connecting Limerick with Adare has been completed.

However, golf fans from Limerick will not be able to travel by train from the city's Colbert Station to Adare, as the rail transport hub will be Limerick Junction station, from where trains will bypass the city and connect with the new rail line to Adare.

Work on the final transport plan is ongoing, but it will involve special nationwide Ryder Cup rail services. Mainline trains originating in Dubln, Belfast, Cork, Waterford, and Galway will converge on Limerick Junction.

A special shuttle service will then convey golf fans on the 30-mile journey to Adare.

A spokesman for Irish Rail said: "The track to Adare is now in place. All that needs to be done is to install signalling at level crossings and other infrastructure. We will erect a temporary station at Adare, which is about 2km from the golf course."

The project was expedited ahead of schedule as Irish Rail retained the old Limerick/Adare line, which went out of use in the 1960s.

However, the station was sold in 2013 for €216,121.

The Irish Rail spokesman said: "The Adare station house and surrounding lands were purchased towards the end of last year for €2m and this money came from the project funds. 

"These funds finance the project tasked with building a temporary station for the rail service for the Ryder Cup. At this time, there are no plans for a permanent passenger service at Adare after the Ryder Cup."

Services outside regular timetable hours

Irish Rail plans to run Ryder Cup services outside regular timetable hours, and this will facilitate the use of the existing fleet of trains.

Minister of State Niall Collins said the decision of the European Commission some years ago to designate the port of Foynes as a major maritime centre has been an immense help to the formation of Ryder Cup transport.

Mr Collins said: "When the EU made this decision about greater use of the Shannon Foynes Port some years ago, it provided funding to develop transport by road and freight rail at Foynes which has 24-hour deep water for shipping. The EU asked the Government to press ahead with a motorway and dual carriageway linking Foynes with the main M20 near Patrickswell.

"The road bypass of Adare, now at an advanced stage, has piggy-backed on this government project, which the EU had the foresight to set out as part of an overall European transport initiative. 

"The restoration of the railway line, closed down over 60 years ago, was also part of this strategic plan. So when the Ryder Cup was announced, work on these two major transport plans had already been commenced by the Government.

"Although the reinstated railway line is designated for freight, there is no reason why, when the Ryder Cup is over, we cannot look at a commuter service from Adare to the city, which would not hinder its primary purpose for freight."