Disused railways as cycling trails

Navan Junction · 16-10-2006 8:26am #1

Madam, - I don't believe Mary Rogan (October 11th) fully grasped the arguments I put forward in my letter of October 6th. I did not suggest that the west should become an "immense rural theme park". I merely argued that a cycle/walking trail from Collooney to Claremorris might be of greater economic benefit to the area than restoring a railway line which last carried a passenger in 1963.

I used the example of one such trail in Britain which has been of great benefit to tourism in the Derbyshire peak district. The opening of such trails throughout Europe has boosted tourism revenue in the areas they run through. My idea was hardly original. An article in this paper on March 13th, 1995 outlined a plan to create a 420-mile network of such trails throughout the west and northwest using the old railway lines, which to this day remain unused.

If the article were reprinted, the arguments and benefits would remain the same. There is no monopoly on vision, and the 1995 idea, which originated from the west, not Dublin, was truly visionary. Alas it did not happen, but it would probably have resulted in many more tourists coming to the area - something Mgr Horan would have welcomed.

The good news is that Waterford County Council is planning to convert 30km of the Dungarvan/Waterford railway into such a trail. I wish it well. Perhaps the success of this project will finally show others the practical and economic benefits of such trails.

I hope the vision of Waterford County Council will be reflected in the new National Development Plan to be published next month, by identifying more such projects across the country.

- Yours, etc,

BRENDAN QUINN, Enniscrone, Co Sligo.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/letters/2006/1016/index.html#1160606656051

Navan Junction · 16-10-2006 8:39am

I can see this happening for Navan - Kingscourt and Navan - Drogheda at some point

PhilipFromBosco · 16-10-2006 2:01pm

Navan Junction wrote:

I can see this happening for Navan - Kingscourt and Navan - Drogheda at some point

Now I know why your called 'Navan Junction'

Navan Junction · 16-10-2006 2:33pm

And you would have had Navan Clonsilla, and Navan to Kells & Oldcastle too...

gobdaw · 16-10-2006 2:39pm

Navan Junction wrote:

I can see this happening for Navan - Kingscourt and Navan - Drogheda at some point

1:Only if the people of Navan and surrounding hinterland of Meath let it happen, and not put the Gov'ment under pre election pressure to get both routes opened for commuter traffic
2:It the allignments are not reopened, some use is made of the allignment, for the benefit of the greater public- but only if the routes are not reopened.
3:Cycle routes, being in public ownership, could easily be, in the future, reasigned for use as a rail allignment. It would prevent, as with the Harcourt allignment, the building of houses on it.

Anyway, surely the good folk of Navan are not going to lose this battle? Think Blanchardstown Byepass!!

lostexpectation · 16-10-2006 3:00pm

gobdaw wrote:

1:

Anyway, surely the good folk of Navan are not going to lose this battle? Think Blanchardstown Byepass!!

stupid letter the one he responded too, its not like a cycle trail would prohibit a track later on, it would be very simple to clear brush amd mark the trail and in future if it needs rail it can be.

wwhyte · 16-10-2006 3:53pm

lostexpectation wrote:

stupid letter the one he responded too, its not like a cycle trail would prohibit a track later on, it would be very simple to clear brush amd mark the trail and in future if it needs rail it can be.

I used to live near Boston. There are a lot of great rail trails there, and several cases where a railway ROW has been converted into both railway and bike use. In general rail trails are great resources and I'd love to see more of them here.

westtip · 17-10-2006 11:10am

lostexpectation wrote:

stupid letter the one he responded too, its not like a cycle trail would prohibit a track later on, it would be very simple to clear brush amd mark the trail and in future if it needs rail it can be.

I agree the letter he responded to on October 11th from a writer in Rathmines was pretty stupid, but If you are referring to the letter in the OP, I think you also need to consider the original letter the writer wrote to the IT on October 6th explaining the rationale for using this particular railway alignment (Collooney/Claremorris) as a cycle/walking track - it argued that West on Track, the pressure group hoping to open the line from Collooney - Claremorris - Tuam - Athenry - Ennis - Limerick have got it wrong re the Collooney-Claremorris section - this section of line would be very very expensive and hardly practical to restore - 290 level crossings in 47 miles track and a 2005 estimate of 200 million euro to restore. Demand for this section of the Western Rail Corridor is very unproven (in fact the section of the WRC from Athenry to Claremorris is on thin ice in terms of need to have, and I will wager that T21 will not deliver on this section of the WRC either) - if the track is re-opened (a big if) as far as Claremorris (from the Galway direction) there will in fact be a WRC running from Ballina - Limerick as the Ballina Claremorris line is still open. West on Track (WOT)will have won their battle for a de-facto WRC, but being the kind of campaigners they are they will not be happy with this compromise (as they see it). The problem is most of the WOT lead campaigners live on or near the northern section of the WRC - and want that section open. The Government keep fudging the issue for WOT; if you read between the lines in any official documentation on this it is clear Claremorris-Collooney won't ever be opened. T21 website only refers to the southern section of line south of Claremorris, ie the Claremorris - Tuam - Athenry - Ennis - as being planned to open (or considered) under T21 by 2014 - the Claremorris-Collooney section is to be a preserved alignment - ie clear away the weeds. It is about time the truth came out about this, and the Government said - we are not going to open Claremorris - Collooney because:

It will be to bloody expensive at 200 million in 2005 estimated prices
There is no proven need for it
It will cost 20 million a year to subvent
There are too many practical issues to consider - like the 290 level crossings
and there are to put it simply greater priorities on the national railway system.

There is a proven success for such trails outlined in the letters to the IT by the correspondent. If you want to see how massively successful they have been in Britain - go to the sustrans website to see what can be done: www.sustrans.org.uk

Railways are great when they run efficiently with lots of people on - this line would not have lots of people on - Navan-Dublin would, The Luas does, Athlone-Mullingar - probably would.

Millions are being spent on a highly efficient road called the Atlantic Corridor, which when completed will make travelling up and down the West coast a wheeze (yes by car - but also of course by bus) and will connect, Letterkenny - donegal - sligo, all towns to Galway, Limerick and Cork.

WOT are living in some nostaligic belief that if the Claremorris-Collooney section is opened again as a railway we will return to a golden age of train travel a bit like the world of the "Railway Children", it ain't going to happen - so why not use this piece of linear land as something of use to the public now - and then if Al Gores inconvenient truth comes quicker than expected and the car is redundant we can open up the railway then - in the meantime lets get some tourists to the west who will use the dam facility.

lostexpectation · 17-10-2006 11:14am

westtip wrote:

If you are referring to the letter in the OP, I think also you need to see the original letter the writer wrote to the IT on October 8th explaining the rationale for using this particular railway alignment (Collooney/Claremorris) as a cycle/walking track - it argued that West on Track, the pressure group hoping to open the line from Collooney - Claremorris - Tuam - Athenry - Ennis - Limerick have got it wrong re the Collooney-Claremorris section - this section of line would be very very expensive and hardly practical to restore - 290 level crossings in 47 miles track and a 2005 estimate of 200 million euro to restore. Demand for this section of the Western Rail Corridor is very unproven (in fact the section of the WRC from Athenry to Claremorris is on thin ice in terms of need to have, and I will wager T21 will not deliver on this section of the WRC either) - if the track is re-opened as far as Claremorris (from the Galway direction) there will in fact be a WRC running from Ballina - Limerick as the Ballina Claremorris line is still open. West on Track (WOT)will have won their battle for a de-facto WRC, but being the kind of campaigners they are they will not be happy with this compromise (as they see it). The problem is most of the WOT lead campaigners live on or near the northern section of the WRC - and want that section open. The Government keep fudging the issue for WOT; if you read between the lines in any official documentation on this it is clear Claremorris-Collooney won't ever be opened. T21 website only refers to the southern section of line south of Claremorris, ie the Claremorris - Tuam - Athenry - Ennis - as being planned to open (or considered) under T21 by 2014 - the Claremorris-Collooney section is to be a preserved alignment - ie clear away the weeds. It is about time the truth came out about this, and the Government said - we are not going to open Claremorris - Collooney because:

It will be to bloody expensive at 200 million in 2005 estimated prices
There is no proven need for it
It will cost 20 million a year to subvent
There are too many practical issues to consider - like the 290 level crossings
and there are to put it simply greater priorities on the national railway system.

There is a proven success for such trails outlined in the letters to the IT by the correspondent. If you want to see how massively successful they have been in Britain - go the sustrans website www.sustrans.org.uk

Railways are great when they run efficiently with lots of people on - this line would not have lots of people on - Navan-Dublin would, The Luas does, Athlone-Mullingar - probably would.

Millions are being spent on a highly efficient road called the Atlantic Corridor, which when completed will make travelling up and down the West coast a wheeze (yes by car - but also of course by bus) and will connect, Letterkenny - donegal - sligo, all towns to Galway, Limerick and Cork.

WOT are living in some nostaligic belief that if the Claremorris-Collooney section is opened again as a railway we will return to a golden age of train travel a bit like the world of the "Railway Children", it ain't going to happen - so why not use this piece of linear land as something of use to the public now - and then if Al Gores inconvenient truth comes quicker than expected and the car is redundant we can open up the railway then - in the meantime lets get some tourists to the west who will use the dam facility.

yes i know the rough story I was just commenting on the all or nothingingness

westtip · 17-10-2006 11:23am

lostexpectation wrote:

yes i know the rough story I was just commenting on the all or nothingingness

I see your point - it is just West on Track cannot see the reality of the situation, they have a religous zealous about this campaign and see it as the saving of the west. They ought to get real. The west is no longer the deprived place it was of the early 1960s when this track was closed to passengers, OK some things need to get sorted and it does not have the level of spend on the area which was envisaged under the NDP, but opening this rail line will make Jack Sh1t difference to the economy of the place, yet opening a trail as suggested has proven to bring millions into areas as a tourist attraction where similar things have happened - and by the way would be a great facility for the locals as well.

westtip · 17-10-2006 12:06pm

wwhyte wrote:

I used to live near Boston. There are a lot of great rail trails there, and several cases where a railway ROW has been converted into both railway and bike use. In general rail trails are great resources and I'd love to see more of them here.

Great stuff - if you think they are a good idea write to Irish Times in support of the letter written in the OP - a letter as short as the post you have made may well get printed. Also write to the minister of tourism and Failte Ireland -there is no point posting views on message boards like yours (which is great to see by the way) unless you take it further, sow the seed and the idea may grow. So go on cut copy paste and off you go to lettersed@irish-times.ie and add a sentence at the beginning like: With reference to the letter of October 15th regarding the Claremorris-Collooney railway alignment...

If it gets published it will be read by a lot more people than these boards thats for sure.

westtip · 19-10-2006 10:36am

Madam, - Brendan Quinn (October 16th) highlights a practice which exists in many other countries: preserving disused railway lines while allowing the public to use the alignment for recreation.

Our organisation fully supports this idea, which ensures that former railway lines are kept in public ownership and available for use again by future generations, if needed.

Given the absence of Government action on reinstating the line for passenger trains, cycling from Navan to Dublin via the Clonsilla alignment could soon be the quickest mode of transport for Meath's commuters.

Then, should the Government really decide to reinstate Navan's railway at a later date, rather than simply re-announcing it before every election, the alignment would still be there ready for re-laying of track and the return of passenger trains. - Is mise,

PROINSIAS MAC FHEARGHUSA, PRO, Meath on Track, Navan, Co Meath

Nice one Navan! good letter. There you go Wwhyte - get your letter in about trails in Boston and advance the cause for these ideas (see previous post)

Disused railways as cycling trails

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