Into The West urges ministers to advance Donegal rail and bus plans

Into The West travelled to Leinster House recently to meet Minister Canney and his officials in his role as the Transport Minister with responsibility for road and rail.

Donegal TD and government Minister Charlie McConalogue also attended.

Into The West is the rail campaign for counties Donegal, Derry, Tyrone & Fermanagh, and was established in 2004. Since then it has campaigned to see rail improved and expanded across the north-west of the island, as well as for better public transport more generally within the region.

Over the summer, the group had a productive meeting in Derry with officials from the Department for Transport (ROI) and the Department for Infrastructure (NI), as a result of which they were recommended to meet with Minister Sean Canney TD.

At the meeting, Into The West outlined the case for rail to return to Donegal – highlighting how Letterkenny is the largest town in the State without any plan for rail. They also raised the recent road traffic issues occurring in Letterkenny, and pressed for the introduction of the Town Bus service to help address that.

The campaign group also proposed a new express bus service on the corridor between Letterkenny and Derry to reduce road congestion even more.

Chair of Into The West, Steve Bradley, explained, “We’re very grateful to Minister Canney for his time and that of his officials, and to Minister McConalogue for joining the meeting too. We used it as an opportunity to outline the unique public transport challenges facing Donegal.

“Letterkenny is the largest town without a plan for rail, and when Swords and Navan get rail in the next decade, Letterkenny will become the largest town without rail full-stop. In addition, it is also the largest population centre without a Town Bus service. It’s therefore no surprise that Letterkenny’s roads are jammed in peak hours, because people have no alternative ways to get around.

“Both Letterkenny and Donegal have been denied even the basic level of public transport that other places take for granted. We showed the Ministers evidence of the high incidence of ‘Forced Car Ownership’ in Donegal, where a lack of alternative travel options makes it the worst county on the island for people feeling they must have a car even if they can’t afford or don’t want one.

“This results in ‘Car-Related Economic Stress’, where a car they can’t really afford becomes the number one financial drain on many families. And despite how difficult it is to live in Donegal without a car, the last census showed that 1 in 7 households here have no access to a vehicle at all. That’s almost 9,000 homes and tens of thousands of people without access to a vehicle. Yet they’re completely forgotten about in this car-dominated county where rail doesn’t exist, and bus provision is limited”.

Mr Bradley continued, “Restoring rail to Letterkenny is a key priority in the All-Island Rail Strategy, and combined with the reopened Derry-Portadown corridor will provide direct train services from Donegal to Dublin and Belfast. There is currently no plan for where that rail route will physically run, however, so Donegal County Council could unwittingly give planning permission for developments that hinder or physically prevent the return of trains to Letterkenny.

“It is therefore essential that a detailed study and route plan be conducted as soon as possible, and we pressed the Ministers to fund that task immediately.

“Finally - with heightened concerns around road congestion in Letterkenny, we also used the opportunity to push for the long-proposed Town Bus service to finally be introduced there. And we also proposed a new express bus on the corridor between Letterkenny and Derry.

“It is clear that Letterkenny’s road traffic problems will only increase as the town continues to grow. Viable bus and rail alternatives must be provided to ensure that driving doesn’t feel like the only option Donegal people have for the journeys they take”.