Leonard welcomes progress on feasibility study on Killucan Station
The news that Irish Rail has agreed to apply for funding for a feasibility study for Killucan station has been welcomed by Cllr Denis Leonard.
In a statement to the Westmeath Examiner, the Labour man, who has spent the past 20 years campaigning for the reopening of the station, said:
"The meeting between Irish Rail and Westmeath County Council senior officials finally took place yesterday at my request and Irish Rail has agreed at last to apply to the National Transport Authority for a 2022 feasibility study for the station, which we all know locally is bound to be positive with the rapid increase in commuters in east Westmeath in recent years.
"This is something Irish Rail has resisted for years so it is a step forward and it means our council will have to work with them cooperatively on the business case once the feasibility study proves positive.
"A 2007 study was carried out by Athlone IT showed over 230 people would use the station on a daily basis. At the time, the station would have cost €2 million to open with half the funding coming from BMW EU funding. Figures I obtained from Westmeath CC in recent years showed a massive jump in population over the recent census with over 7,700 people living within 5km of the station, over 16,000 within 10 km and over 55,000 within 15 km. At the moment people in Westmeath from Kinnegad, Killucan, Rochfortbridge, Delvin, Castlepollard and other towns in local counties travel far more than those three distances to existing stations in Mullingar and Enfield when Killucan is the obvious option.
"The Killucan Kinnegad Transport Lobby Group is twenty years old this year and through four county managers, five Irish Rail CEOs and six Ministers for Transport, we have had numerous plans and costings drawn up and had countless meetings with all stakeholders.
"Now that climate action is an issue and the new government plan, the National Sustainable Mobility Policy and Action Plan 2022, that was just launched talks of decarbonisation and rural transport options, Killucan Station is an obvious investment that is more necessary than ever.
"I welcome this feasibility study and I am asking the Minister, Irish Rail, the NTA and the council to act on the findings of this new feasibility study immediately and put together a final business case to get this vital infrastructure in place.
"If the government policy of two to one investment in public transport over roads is to mean anything in Westmeath, it must start in Killucan. A station that has most of the vital infrastructure in place (and where the train already stops 8 times a day to let the other train by in the only double track in a twenty-mile area) must in 2022 be letting hard-pressed commuters on to the service.
"New carriages are coming for the Dublin Sligo line next year and we need to be able to get on them. The recent 20 per cent cut in public transport fares made a great difference to many in this country, but how many of us in Westmeath could avail of it," Cllr Leonard said.