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About LinkBacksI want to know, do the people of Westmeath want this railway line to be reopened? Will they use it? If so, why are the people of Westmeath keeping so quiet, they are not coming out of their houses shouting for it to be reopened.
I want to know, do the people of Westmeath want this railway line to be reopened? Will they use it? If so, why are the people of Westmeath keeping so quiet, they are not coming out of their houses shouting for it to be reopened.
Does anybody want this railway line reopened?
I would like the Galway to Athlone railway line re-opened but I am afraid nobody shares my feelings on this matter. Do the Students of AIT want it or are they happy with the Bus Service that they already have?
Nobody wants it opened at 2 in the morning anyhow! I'd say open it, with the right effort it can become a commuter link, as well as allowing Galway people to get a train to places like Maynooth.
Ehh...the Galway to Athlone line has 8 trains each way a day, how much more open do you want it?Originally Posted by nollaig1
I am a floating voter. Without us, it's a dictatorship!
Yes it makes sense to re-open it - it would intergrate the two mainline western railway lines allowing people to travel from Sligo to Cork changing at Mullingar etc, thereby making it viable for such journeys - at the mo, people have to travel via Dublin for such a journey - pointless! It also opens up an enormous amount of new routes that would appear silly if taken at the mo given that you HAVE to go via Dublin if you want to take these:
Mullingar - Galway
Ballinasloe- Mullingar
Sligo - Cork
Killarney - Mullingar
Waterford - Sligo
Waterford Mullingar
Tralee - Sligo
Longford - Galway
Sligo-Athlone and so on...
Also it would remove capacity problems on the Athlone - Portarlington Stretch, and they want to build a new line on this route whereas there is one already in place that could do the same job for Dublin-Galway Trains! Before 1985, the Galway line used to go via Mullinagr prior to the Athlone-Mullingar line closure.
In fact, the Mullingar-Athlone line is a NATIONAL issue as it would change the whole emphasis of the rail system from being orientated towrds Dublin for all cross-country travel towards one where people could do, as mentioned, Tralee to Sligo without smelling the liffey
Makes perfect sense alright.
Also the western corridor (Limerick to Sligo).
If there is a future, it will be Green.
I think it should be opened. Apart from the local benefit for Athlone-Moate-Mullingar area, it would also provide a shorter Galway Dublin route as I imagine via Mullingar would be quicker than going south to Portarlington.
A while back local politicians such as Cowen and O Rourke were indicating a likelihood that it would reopen. But then Dick Roche was used to talk down the prospects. After all Roche has no votes to lose in the area.
Re open this one and the western rail corridor. Its time to catch up with the 19th century again.
lol its true - Ireland had a huge rail network up until the 1920s, not to mention trams in all cities!
Athlone - Mulligar would have a massive impact on the viability of rail for cross-country travel, though Irish Rail would probably be against this as they want the service to be redundant, as the experience of the Waterford- Limerick train service and freight traffic shows...
Furthermore the WHOLE of Irish Rail is PATHETIC - string words needed here! Few intercity trains leave Dublin after 7pm - I mean, if I want to go to Athlone/Galway, the last train leaves at 7!! C'mon - It should be 10 at the latest, like Bus Eireann. I hope the next government, whoever it is, dismantles the joke of CIE and make it focus on what it should do - move people and goods, not be obsessed with viability (which they are no good at given they have never broken a profit - only 'surplus' after huge subvention!) If they intend to change transport policy from dependency on roads, then the Athlone Mullingar line is a test case, even though it stands on its own merit.
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