All aboard with mission to reopen Athlone rail link

Calls to reinstate the rail link between Mullingar and Athlone dominated discussion at the September meeting of the Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District, and councillors unanimously supported a motion to write to the minister for transport on the issue.

Cllr Bill Collentine, who brought forward the motion, said the closure of the line had been a backward step for the region. “It was our main way of transport to Athlone and we closed it. I don’t know what the thinking was. Athlone is now a university town and more students will need transport there. We’ve sat too long on this. It’s very important,” he said. He added that the 42km section should never have been shut and urged the council to “fight harder” for its reopening.

The proposal was strongly backed across the chamber. Cllr Ken Glynn described the line as vital, connecting Westmeath’s two main towns and providing access for students and commuters. He said reopening the line would reduce reliance on cars and complete the “jigsaw” of transport options for the town. “If you have a train from Mullingar to Athlone, it opens up Galway and the rest of the country,” he said, adding that the remaining railway lands should be preserved for future use.

Cllr Aoife Davitt also supported the motion, stressing that rail would provide a more reliable and affordable option for students and commuters than current bus services. “It could open up the midlands to so many other places,” she said.

Cllr Niall Gaffney noted that the project was included in the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly’s plans, and that because the railway company still owns the land, one of the biggest obstacles to…

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… reopening the line had already been avoided.

Cllr Emily Wallace pointed to the All-Ireland Strategic Rail Review, which recommended reopening the line by 2040 or 2050 at a projected cost of €1.4 billion. She criticised the original closure as “one of the stupidest things that ever happened” and said it had left Mullingar isolated from the west.

“For us as a strategic town, that link is vital – not just for economic and tourism reasons, but also for cutting carbon emissions,” she said.

The mayor, Cllr Mick Dollard, recalled being present when the line was closed, saying Labour was the only party at the time to warn against replacing it with a greenway. He argued that national plans for Athlone had consistently outpaced those for Mullingar, and urged Irish Rail to prioritise the link. “There’s no argument for putting this off for 20 or 30 years when it is needed now,” he said.

Councillors agreed to write to both the minister for transport and Irish Rail to underline their support for reopening the line.