Killucan Railway Station could be reopened, Irish Rail has said.

Positive signal for Killucan station

Published: Wed 10 Apr 2019, 12:00 PM

Last updated: Wed 10 Apr 2019, 1:10 PM

Irish Rail has given its most positive signal yet about the potential re-opening of Killucan train station.

In a statement issued to the Westmeath Examiner this week, a spokesperson for Irish Rail said that it is “open” to Westmeath County Council applying for funding for the project.

“A new station at Killucan is not funded under the National Development Plan, which is the 10-year investment programme 2018-2027 funded by the Exchequer.

“However, the NDP does contain a provision for a Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, and it would be open to Westmeath County Council to submit an application for this fund, which supports a range of initiatives including improving public transport.

“Iarnród Éireann would lend its support to an application for funding subject to a positive business plan. However any proposed infrastructure including the issue of platforms would have to comply with Iarnród Éireann engineering, safety and operating standards. It will also be a matter for Westmeath County Council to source the matching funds,” the statement concluded.

Deputy Robert Troy recently facilitated a meeting in Leinster House between the CEO of Irish Rail, Jim Meade, and a three-person delegation (Denis Leonard, Cllr John Shaw and Becky Dore) from the Killucan Kinnegad Transport Group.

Mr Leonard, who has been part of the campaign to re-open the station since 2003, said that of the four Irish CEOs he has met, the response from Mr Meade regarding the re-opening of the station was the most positive.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner last week, Mr Leonard also revealed that senior officials from Irish Rail are set to meet Westmeath County Council to look at the demographics of the Killucan Kinnegad area and to discuss the financial viability of reopening the station that closed in 1963.

He says that he is confident that rail officials will see that the re-opening station is financially sound and that funding can be secured through a combination of the government’s rural regeneration scheme and the EU via the Border Midlands and Western Regional Assembly.