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S. E. A. Statements

Rail group seek EU funding for NW rail network

Wednesday 10th May 2006

The rail lobby group, Into The West (ITW), has asked MEPs on both sides of the border to press for European funds for expansion of the rail network in the north west.

As a first step, the group wants the Belfast-Derry line extended to Letterkenny.

In a letter to the MEPs, ITW says that the extension to Letterkenny would guarantee the future of Derry's last remaining rail link. "The Belfast-Dublin line attracted £87 million in European structural funding in 1997," they say. "We ask why similar funding has never been sought for Derry-Belfast by either Northern Ireland Rail or the Department of Regional Development."

The group says a planned extension of the Southern network from Galway to Claremorris and Sligo would open up the prospect of "a natural connection onwards to Donegal Town and Letterkenny. A Derry-Letterkenny link would complete the circuit, transforming travel options across the island."

The letter, signed by ITW activists Colm Joyce and Sarah Quilty, declares: "This is an imaginative prospect which would help focus debate in both the UK and Ireland on the need for transport developments to reflect broad environmental and social concerns as well as economic justice and efficiency. It would also be of particular assistance to the long-neglected north west.

The letter has been sent to the three Northern Ireland MEPs---Jim Allister, Bairbre de Brun and Jim Nicolson---and the three representatives of Connacht-Ulster---Sean O Neachtain, Jim Higgins and Marian Harkin.

The text of the letter reads: "We are writing to ask you to use your influence as a Member of the European Parliament to help bring about a rail network which would serve both the Republic and Northern Ireland and which would make a particular difference to the north west region. We believe that such an all-island rail network makes solid sense on social, economic and environmental grounds, while having no political implications likely to alienate anyone (with the possible exception of the roads lobby).

"Into The West is a non-political, cross-community, voluntary group. We were formed in 2004 to campaign against what then seemed the imminent closure of the line between Derry and Ballymena. We were concerned about the 120 jobs directly threatened, and about the implications of closure for the economy of the northwest. The repercussions would have been serious if Derry had been deprived of a direct rail link to Belfast.

"As a rail lobby group, we also have a broader remit, arguing for rail as the long-term transport option which is socially the most progressive and least harmful to the environment in terms of CO2 emissions---in contrast to roads, which may have a short-term attraction for governments in that they generate tax revenue from fuel and vehicles, but which nobody now doubts have a long-term destructive impact on our planet.

"The European Parliament is naturally interested in long-term, sustainable solutions to transport problems across the continent. Rail should be at the heart of these solutions. Our local concerns fit into the pattern of this broader concern.

"Partly as a result of our campaign in 2004, £23.6 million was allocated by the NI Department of Regional Development to the "non-core" rail network. This will allow for a modest upgrade of the Derry-Ballymena stretch of the line to Belfast by 2009. "The investment will deliver a line speed of 70mph---not nearly good enough when you consider that the new CAF trains which will run on the line have a 90mph potential which could drastically cut down journey times and thus boost the attractiveness of rail vis-a-vis other forms of travel.

"In other words, the inadequacy of the new money means that we won't get full value for it. Thus, our partial success in helping save the line cannot be the end of the matter. We have recently met with Gregory Campbell MP and Mark Durkan MP, who jointly submitted an Early Day Motion at Westminster calling for greater funding of the north west's rail infrastructure.

"On the European front, we note the difference in treatment between Derry-Belfast and Belfast-Dublin. The Belfast-Dublin line attracted £87 million in European structural funding in 1997. We ask why similar funding has never been sought for Derry-Belfast by either NIR or the DRD.

"Our group has recently linked up with the Donegal Transport Forum to push for the extension of the rail line to Letterkenny. We are told that EU development funding is more easily accessed for cross-border projects. The "Transport 21" initiative in the South holds out the prospect of the extension of the Southern network from Galway to Claremorris and Sligo. This suggests a natural connection onwards to Donegal Town and Letterkenny. A Derry-Letterkenny link would complete the circuit, transforming travel options across the island.

"We are asking you to use your presence and influence in the European Parliament to help bring this vision towards realisation, under the current "First Rail" package/consultation. We believe that this is an imaginative prospect which would help focus debate in both the UK and Ireland on the need for transport developments to reflect broad environmental and social concerns as well as economic justice and efficiency. It would also be of particular assistance to the long-neglected north west."





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