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Welcome to West=On=Track

Re-opening The Western Rail Corridor

As stated in the Transport 21 policy document of November 1st 2005, it is now Government Policy to re-open the Western Rail Corridor as part of a comprehensive rail development programme for the whole country. This is to be done in 2 phases, commencing with the Ennis-Claremorris section and followed by the Claremorris-Collooney section.

Rebuilding Works on Ennis-Athenry Section

Work is now well under way on the construction of the new railway by Iarnród Éireann between Ennis and Athenry, as the following pictures show.

west on track

west on track

west on track

The current construction work involves the upgrading of 36 miles of track and associated infrastructure, the elimination of 125 farm/accommodation crossings and the provision of five stations at Gort, Ardrahan and Craughwell (on the Ennis/Athenry section), Sixmilebridge (on the Limerick/Ennis section) and Oranmore (on the Athenry/Galway section). The track and signalling will be capable of accommodating both freight and passenger trains. Seven services a day in each direction are planned between Limerick and Galway cities.

Completion of works on Claremorris-Collooney Section

Following preliminary works in Winter and Spring of 2005-2006, official clearance work on the northern section of the line (Claremorris to Collooney) began on the 18th September 2006. This work was be carried out by Iarnród Éireann over the past year. The purpose of the works was to re-establish the boundaries, prevent further deterioration of the line section and prevent any development that may otherwise impinge on the proposed detailed works required for the reopening of the line. Specifically, the works included fencing, hedge cutting, renewal of level crossing gates as well as the provision of some essential drainage, removal of ivy and overgrowth from bridges and the provision of mileposts. This phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by December 2007.

Latest News

For earlier news items see the news section.

Reports

Sections of the WRC Report available for download as Microsoft Word files:

Track Clearing

tuam to athenry
Tuam to Athenry

Tubbercurry Station
Tubbercurry Station

liskeevey
Liskeevey

Milltown
Milltown

Ballindine
Ballindine

Varley's Bridge
View from Varley's Bridge

 

   

 

Cloonascragh
Cloonascragh

tubbercurry
Tubbercurry

 

working at claremorris station
Working at Claremorris Station

tubbercurry
Tubbercurry

 

 

 

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