Lobbying for "loose" Luas funds is gathering steam in the west, with a strong bid being made to enlist Government support for a £65 million rail modernisation plan.
The Western Development Commission has proposed investment of £32 million and £33 million respectively to upgrade the Mullingar-Sligo and Athlone-Ballina main lines and associated rolling stock. The western region's combined chambers of commerce have also called on the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mrs O'Rourke, to support a £40 million investment in the Athlone to Westport rail link, including Ballina.
The Chambers of Commerce Ireland-West Region told the Minister recently - as if she didn't know already - that there would be considerable economic benefits attached to upgrading the link. It also presented the Minister with a report it has commissioned, entitled Rail Investment - Strengthening the Backbone of Mayo and Roscommon. This report says that the rail network in the west is at a critical stage of development. The Roscommon and Mayo railway extending from Athlone carries about half a million passengers a year, and yet the track is mainly on aged sleepers. Only 18 of the 105 miles have continuously welded rail, and the current signalling system is "life-expired, costly to operate and prone to failure". The investment required for the network is modest, it says -the price of a town by-pass such as that in Arklow in Co Wicklow, for instance.
Mr Liam Scollan of the Western Development Commission says the current debate on rail should be addressed at a national level, and should not just be based on the local implications of Luas for Dublin and the surrounding area. "The £114 million of EU funds available over the next two years would have an immediate and significant impact on the economic prospects at national level if spent on the rail lines still awaiting upgrade," he says.
Mr Scollan says he isn't knocking Luas. His commission supports the general thrust of the £400 millionplus light rail plan for Dublin, but it argues that balanced consideration must be given to existing infrastructure. The abandonment of the Collooney-Claremorris line more than 20 years ago cut a rail link between Donegal/Sligo and Limerick and the southern counties. This 140 miles of western corridor could revitalise economic and social prospects in the entire western region, he believes.
Wilhelm Bodewigs, the Green Party's Sligo-Leitrim spokesman on urban development, says that a demand for upgrading line track isn't enough. An integrated approach, involving strong upgrading of national/regional rail connections and local/regional bus services, is the only solution, he believes. Mr Bodewigs, who is a vehement opponent of the proposed Mid-Block highway through Sligo, has proposed a sustainable alternative which, he says, would solve that town's traffic problems. "Why should Luas only be considered as a Dubliner's solution?" he asks. His integrated area plan for Sligo includes a tram system, running from Carraroe to the existing railway station, and then on to the main Bundoran road via Wine Street and the Mall. The tram would not only attract EU funding but also provide a valuable lifeline for the threatened Sligo-Dublin railway line, he says.
The Minister, Mrs O'Rourke, has said that her Department is currently carrying out preliminary preparations on public transport for the next tranche of structural and cohesion funding. CIE has also, at her request, prepared an investment review for the mainline rail network.
"In the meantime, every effort is being made to ensure that a reasonable proportion of the £114 million of EU aid decommitted from Luas is used to address public transport requirements," Mrs O'Rourke says.