Reestablish the North West rail link
BY SORCHA NIC GIB
West Tyrone Assembly member Pat Doherty has outlined Sinn Féin's
vision for the future development of the rail transport in the
North West Region of Ireland. The Sinn Féin Vice President has
put together a document proposing the re-establishment of the
North West rail link.
In 1914, the railway system was huge, transporting people from
the likes of Ballymena to Derry, Letterkenny, Glenties and nearly
every other town in the North and South of Ireland. Today, there
is not one railway leading to Donegal or any part of the North
West Region.
``We continually hear politicians talk about investment in the
rail `network' or the rail `system' here as if it were an
alternative transport system accessible by the majority of the
population,'' says Doherty. ``We need to accept that we have
neither a `network' nor a `system'. What we have here in the
North is a rail line connecting Belfast to Dublin, another link
to Larne and what passes for a link between Belfast and Derry but
which is in reality so substandard that the majority of commuters
do not use it.''
After the Second World War there was great increase in car
ownership in ireland, which led in turn to an underestimation of
the importance of the railways. The rail system was and remains
one of the main forms of passenger and freight transport in
Ireland.
Sinn Féin is calling for the widening of the debate about the
future of railway transport to include the Executive in the North
and the Dublin Government.
``A strategic plan needs to be drawn up and coordinated by the
Minister for Regional Development in the Executive and the
Transport Minister in Dublin to upgrade the present railway lines
and to extend them to the North West Region,'' says Pat Doherty.
``We should be looking at the extension of the existing system in
the South connecting up with the existing lines in the North to
establish a proper all-Ireland rail network.''
Sinn Féin realises the massive financial investment that will be
needed for a regeneration of this nature but this investment will
be well spent to solve a major problem in the Irish economy,
Doherty believes. He advocates that the Executive and Dublin
government should submit a joint application to the EU for
funding this essential project.
The regeneration of the rail system would result in huge economic
benefits says Doherty. Transport costs would be reduced compared
to road transport and the industry would benefit considerably.
The construction of new railways would improve the unemployment
situation in the North West and would also lead to long term work
maintaining and operating the new network. It would also provide
a welcome boost for tourism, offering visitors the opportunity to
travel from dirty Dublin to the hills of Donegal.
added benefit of an extended railway system would be a cleaner
environment, as the provision of trains would reduce the number
of vehicles on the road and help cut pollution. According to the
Six-County Department of Environment, between 1960 and 1995, car
ownership increased immensely. There ar now about 600,000
vehicles on the North's roads alone.
All of these benefits can be attained if the political will
exists to reinstate the North West rail system.
Pat Doherty says that Sinn Féin will continue to pursue the issue
of the North West Regional Rail Link to ensure that it becomes a
top priority on the political agenda.
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