A lobby group is calling for people to contribute to the All-Ireland Rail Consultation to stress the need for better rail transport links in the North West.
The All-Ireland Rail Review Strategy is a north-south initiative that was launched earlier this year by Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon and the Republic's Transport Minister Eamon Ryan.
The review is designed to consider how and where rail should be improved on the island to boost sustainable connectivity and address regional imbalance, with a specific focus on the north-west of the island, where rail links are largely absent.
The Review process has now reached the consultation stage, with members of the public being asked to submit their thoughts on how to improve rail.
Local lobby group Into The West campaigns for better rail in counties Derry, Donegal, Tyrone and Fermanagh, and sees the All-Ireland Review as a big opportunity for the North-West.
Into The West is urging people in Derry to take part in the consultation, and has created a list of seven key improvements it’s calling on people to request when doing so.
Key improvements that Into The West are suggesting people ask for when responding to the consultation include faster and more frequent trains between Derry and Belfast, including departures every half hour, and a 90min express service.
Into The West are encouraging the reopening of the Derry-Portadown rail line via Newbuildings, Strabane, Sion Mills, Newtownstewart, Omagh, and Dungannon, as well the Derry-Letterkenny rail route and reconnecting Limavady to the rail network.
Public contributors are encouraged to mention the completion of the Limerick to Sligo ‘Western Rail Corridor’ and continue it on north through Donegal to Derry, reconnect Enniskillen to the rail network and connect NI’s 3 airports to the rail network, includes City of Derry Airport.
Chair of Into The West, Steve Bradley, commented “The All-Ireland Rail Review is an important project, taking for the first time a view of rail and required improvements across the island as a whole.
"We have all seen the map of the rail network in Ireland with that massive gap in the North-west corner, and public opinion is increasingly viewing the situation as no longer acceptable.
"The strategy that comes out of this All-Ireland Review will hopefully identify ways in which that gap should be addressed. It is essential that as many people as possible from the North-West have their say.
"We want this to be the largest public consultation ever held in Ireland, leaving Stormont and Dublin in no doubt that the public demands better rail.
"We want the North-West to comprise the largest number of responses, as otherwise there is a danger other places which shout louder could become the main focus of the new strategy”.
Information on the All-Ireland Rail Review and details on how to submit a response to the public consultation can be found here.
The deadline for responses is Friday, January 21, 2022.
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