AUGUST 2007

Rail Link for Donegal?

Fine Gael Donegal North East deputy Joe McHugh said a recent report by leading transport consultant Brain Guckian examined the tourism potential of running a railway from Sligo to Donegal Town, Letterkenny and then on to Derry and found it would bring a €20 million annual tourism dividend to the region.

Deputy McHugh said "Plans must be drawn up to link Letterkenny with a high-speed rail link to Derry airport. Council officials expect Letterkenny to experience significant population growth over the next few years, reaching 50,000 by 2020. The Deputy said: "work on a rail link should be done in tandem with major road projects such as plans for a motorway to Letterkenny. He said "The opportunity for greater cross-border co-operation on infrastructure brought about by the new executive in the North should be seized upon."

Deputy McHugh said "Derry City Council and Donegal County Council should appoint directors of services or senior officials to work with county managers to co-ordinate major cross-border infrastructure plans in the border counties which must include a Derry-to-Sligo rail route linking in with the Western Rail Corridor. He said: "Linking Donegal to the airports at Derry and Sligo would open the county up to tourists who are increasingly using flights to regional airports and would give Donegal great access to the deep-water port at Lisahally, to the advantage of industry and trade. With rail costing a tenth of the cost per mile of a motorway, the need to take freight off increasingly congested roads, and the environmental benefits of reducing traffic, prioritising the rail link is essential. It would help Letterkenny to grow in to a city and would help Donegal improve performance in tourism and general economic terms."

Joe McHugh said: "If you had a significant piece of infrastructure like a railway link to Letterkenny from Derry and on to the west it would facilitate an all-Ireland agenda. With most of our third level students going to colleges and universities in Northern Ireland a direct rail line would link Donegal to centres of education in Derry, Coleraine and Belfast. A new railway from Derry to Sligo would be evidence of what cross-border co-operation can bring in the new political environment. It would be a tangible example of building an all-island agenda".

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