Submission to Galway County Council in respect of the draft County Development Plan
The June 2020 Report into the viability or otherwise of the Western Rail Corridor (WRC) was released by Minister Eamon Ryan, as was an additional report by JASPERS, the consultancy arm of the European Investment Bank (EIB). Neither report found a case for investing in a railway line along the closed rail route, but both have cleared up issues that had been the subject of often heated debate over the last decade or more.
JASPERS has been particularly scathing of the WRC proposal, saying that ‘the proposed project is unlikely to lead to any significant changes in strategic connectivity.’ It gives the proposal a Benefit to Cost Ratio (BCR) of 0.21, which implies that for every €1 invested, society would only gain €0.21. It goes on to say that ‘we consider that that gaining support for project financing of the proposal in its current form would be a challenge,’ and that ‘the weak forecast demand and the limited role for freight would limit the ability of the project to attract grant funding.’ Given that the EIB would be the likely funding partner if government wished to build a railway on the route, this effectively tells us that funding would not be available.
The EY Consulting Report reflects the JASPERS summary. It says ‘the report finds that there is not a value for money argument for reactivating the Western rail corridor.’ It goes on to say that ‘The line will not generate a financial return and will have an overall negative impact on the exchequer finances throughout its lifetime.’
With regards to the possibility of building a line to carry freight, it says that ‘demand for rail freight along the line would be between 1 and 2 trains per day, with a single train being taken as the central scenario.’ It adds that much of this demand would simply be displaced from existing lines. It also points out that any railway project would require the replacement of the rail line, sleepers and ballast for the entire length of the line, due to its current poor state.
A more recent ‘report’ by the rail lobby group west on track suggests that the railway could be built for half the price suggested by the experts. They may as well have said it could be built for nothing, but the reality is that a ‘report’ commissioned and paid for by a lobby group carries no weight with the department of transport or with the funding bodies. The three most recent reports that need to be considered in this debate are the two above mentioned and the WDC report on rail freight. None of these three professional reports found anything approaching a case for rail on the route.
That is not to suggest that rail lobbyists who believe that an underused and heavily loss-making rail service is somehow a panacea for all the ills of the region should be denied their point of view. However such a point of view should not be used as part of a groupthink mentality to deflect significant investment and potential regeneration away from some of the most neglected towns in east Galway and indeed in counties north of there. Logic would dictate that the available funds would be drawn down and used to regenerate not just towns along the line but the derelict and overgrown line itself, in the process creating a tourism and leisure product such as has helped breathe new life into similar places around Ireland. Anyone who has seen the spin-off from the Deise Greenway for instance could not fail to be impressed by the change it has created in the fortunes of the entire county.
Nothing has happened with the closed railway from Athenry to Milltown and onwards to Collooney in many of our lifetimes, and nothing is going to happen to it for several decades hence, unless we stop fooling ourselves and take the money that is on offer to build a greenway on the line. Doing this, despite misinformation to the contrary, won’t stop a railway being built on the route. In fact, the greenway will protect the route and keep it in public ownership. A recent parliamentary question made by Deputy Dara Calleary to the CEO of Irish Rail cleared up any fears that such a course of action might preclude the future use of the asset for rail. The CEO reiterated what many people already understand, that rail will always have priority on CIE-owned alignments, regardless of what they are used for under licence.
Rail is a transit system for the mass movement of people, it simply doesn’t add up where population numbers are small or scattered. The solution in this instance at this point in time is a bus – cheaper, more flexible and gets people to where they want to go, and needing little subvention. Proposed improvements to the N17 will give us better bus services, among other things.
I agree with the observations by the rail lobby group West on track that the EY Consultancy report has flaws, but they are mostly minor typographical errors and do not in general affect the outcome, except to further negate the case for rail. The only serious figurative error is the inclusion by the authors of population numbers for Athenry, already served by the Dublin-Galway and Limerick Galway lines, as justification for running trains from Claremorris to Galway via Athenry. However, even with the inclusion of those excess numbers, the figures still don’t in any way add up for rail. In addition, the JASPERS Report, carried out by the European Investment Bank, finds that the route shows no justification for either freight or passenger traffic. Given that the EIB would be the most likely funding partner for such a venture, what chance a railway on the western rail corridor?
I understand that there is a strong West on Track influence within Galway Council at every level, and I also understand that many public representatives in the county feel the need to be seen to publicly support a ‘railway or no way’ position, even though some of the same people privately scoff at the railway plan. I know the groupthink mentality with regards to railway as a panacea for all ills is strongly enshrined in the Council, and will not easily change. This has resulted in a substantial loss of investment over the past decade, when greenway funding was available for this route but when the Council would not even discuss such an option, despite strong local lobbying for it. The same lack of vision has also held back development in Mayo and Sligo, but these counties are now beginning to wake up to the reality and are moving towards an interim use of the old line as a greenway. Sligo, in particular, is well advanced on plans to develop the greenway from Collooney to Bellaghy/Charlestown.
This investment is still available, and applying for it won’t have any impact on a decision about building a railway, so it makes no sense to throw it back in the face of the Department of Transport. Unfortunately for East Galway the entrenched position of a small number of people has resulted in a stalemate, which means the investment simply goes to counties with a more enlightened attitude. The wishes of the population of East Galway and the wider region however should be considered when finalising the County Development Plan.
The parallels with other places in Ireland and elsewhere are striking. The Deise greenway was an example of a project that was opposed by a significant number of councillors in Waterford; they put every possible obstacle in its way and were voicing opposition right up to the day it opened. They have little to say about it now, and indeed some of them can often be found to hint that they deserve some of the credit for it. In Bakewell, in the UK Peak District, the old railway station is (like Ballyglunin Station) situated a few miles outside the town and now employs over thirty people in bike hire, food and gifts and outdoor clothing retail since the old railway line became the Monsal Trail. With the added draw of the iconic Quiet Man movie link, Ballyglunin has the potential to be much more and to employ at least as many people.
Sligo County Council has wisely decided to take the available funding and proceed with plans for a greenway from Bellaghy to Collooney, to connect to Sligo and also onwards to Enniskillen in future years, connecting the Region to the Northern Ireland Greenway Network. Extending this infrastructure south through Mayo would be simple and will cost Mayo County Council nothing – the funding is available and would be willingly given – and public representatives and officials are slowly beginning to come around to this point of view in that county, leaving just Galway sitting on the fence while waiting for a train that isn’t coming. Ignoring this opportunity in the absence of any other future for this asset is foolish, short-sighted and based on nothing but opposition to tourism and opposition to the provision of local amenity for towns in East Galway. Building a greenway on this route will cost the County nothing, will create jobs and amenities now, will connect Galway to a wider tourism product and will not be a consideration when deciding on any future use of this asset for rail or any other transport solution that may emerge in future years. It is unfathomable that there could be any opposition to this suggestion within the Council, at executive or elected level. It is what is commonly termed a ‘no-brainer.’
It takes brains to recognise such an opportunity, and many of us believe there are no shortage of these in local government. Now is the time to prove that. Put the greenway between Athenry and Milltown into the County Plan, in line with the RSES.