Killucan rail campaign is moving at last

The new CEO of Irish Rail is to meet with officials of Westmeath County Council shortly to discuss the viability of reopening of the train station in Killucan, a local campaigner has revealed.

Three members of Killucan Kinnegad Transport Lobby Group (Denis Leonard, Cllr John Shaw and Becky Dore), as well as Deputy Robert Troy met the Irish Rail chief Jim Meade in the Dáil on March 21 to discuss the viability of re-opening the station – which closed in 1963 after 115 years in operation.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Mr Leonard said that he has been part of the campaign to get the station re-opened since 2003. He says that, including Mr Meade, he has met four CEOs and the most recent meeting was by far the most positive.

“Irish Rail’s new CEO has opened stations down the country – if something is viable and will make money for Irish Rail, he is interested,” said Mr Leonard.

While Irish Rail does not have the capital needed to re-open the station, Mr Leonard believes that the funding could be available through the government’s rural regeneration scheme and from the EU through the Border Midlands and Western Regional Assembly.

Irish Rail is to meet officials from Westmeath County Council to examine the demographics of the Killucan and Kinnegad area and to discuss a business plan to secure funding.

The Killucan Kinnegad Transport Lobby Group say that there are 12,000 people living with a 10-kilometre radius of the station, a significant number of who commute to Dublin for work and college each day. Mr Leonard says the quality of life of local commuters would be enhanced if they did not have to drive to Dublin each day. There would also be environmental benefits to taking hundreds of cars off the road, he says.

Although there is currently a lack of capacity on the Dublin Sligo line due to a lack of carriages, a new fleet of carriages has been ordered and will be operational from 2021.

Mr Leonard says that as a feasibility study has to be conducted, funding secured for work on the station and planning permission sought, it is unlikely that all of these steps would be completed before the arrival of the new carriages.

The Westmeath Examiner contacted Irish Rail for a comment but at the time of writing had not received a response.