The Director of the BMW Regional Assembly, Mr. Gerry Finn has welcomed the Government’s continued commitment to the completion of the Western Rail Corridor as reiterated by the Minister of Transport, Noel Dempsey T.D. in his keynote address at a conference on the Western Rail Corridor (WRC) in Claremorris on May 1st.
Mr. Finn stated, “Minister Dempsey’s statement that the Government remains committed to the completion of the WRC project is a very positive development in the context of constrained economic times. The announcement that funding will be made available for the completion of further studies to determine the costings of work required for phase 2 and 3 of the WRC, represents the next step for the completion of the WRC as set out in the Government’s 2006 timetable for completing this project”.
The Western Rail Corridor will bring advantages to the BMW Region in terms of stimulating economic activity, developing tourism, relieving traffic problems on the congested N17 and N18 routes, providing an alternative mode of transport to commuters while also possessing the potential to remove freight from our roads to rail. The rollout of the WRC will also have substantial positive environmental impacts for Ireland.
The WRC’s first scheduled service from Galway to Limerick is expected to commence in September 2009, this represents the completion of Phase 1 from Athenry to Ennis. The Director added, “the WRC also represents a strategic infrastructural investment for regional development in Ireland and complements the objectives of the National Spatial Strategy by providing a very valuable links between Gateways and Hubs along the route, as well as connecting airports to public transport”.
