I welcome the cross-party support exhibited at the meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications which held a hearing on the All-Ireland Rail Review.
Last week Oireachtas members including Stephen Matthews (Green Party) Dara Calleary (Fianna Fail), Alan Dillon (Fine Gael), Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Féin) and Senator Sean Kyne (Fine Gael) all spoke in favour of extending the Western Rail Corridor further north to connect Tuam to the National Rail Network.
There was support for the ambition to connect Galway and Mayo by linking Claremorris to Athenry.
“I have continuously advocated for such investment and I called for unity of purpose in ensuring that the infrastructure require in the regions is delivered”.
“I have also called for unity in our campaign to ensure that Tuam and North Galway are connected to the National Greenway Network by providing a loop off the proposed greenway from Dublin to Galway”.
“It should be our ambition to deliver both as a right for people to have parity in the infrastructure being delivered. We should never sacrifice one piece of infrastructure for another. The regions need investment, and these two projects are well within our reach”.
“The Joint Oireachtas Committee will be lodging a submission to ARUP, the Consultants employed to carry out the review and I expect that the submission will be positive towards the Western Rail Corridor expansion northwards”.
