GREEN Party TD and Directly Elected Mayor candidate Brian Leddin is pushing for the delivery of a rail link from Limerick to Adare in time for the Ryder Cup in 2027.
Speaking at a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Deputy Leddin emphasised the value of delivering vital transport infrastructure in time for the landmark golfing event.
The Green TD says the Ryder Cup poses “a fantastic opportunity to develop passenger train services, because more than 100,000 people are going to be coming in and out of Adare every day”.
“It would be remiss if heaven and earth is not moved to make that happen in time for the event.”
Deputy Leddin described the delivery of passenger services from Limerick to Adare as having “huge potential long into the future”.
In response to Deputy Leggin, Jim Meade, CEO of Irish Rail, who appeared before the committee to discuss capital projects and operations at Irish rail, indicated that the Foynes line, which passes through Adare, was progressing well, with a timeline for all of the track laid by the end of 2024, and signalling and level crossing works finalised by late 2025 or early 2026.
Giving a positive signal to the delivery of passenger services for the Ryder Cup, the CEO indicated that, although the current work was to install a freight line in order to move freight trains, “a train line is a train line, so once we have it, it would mean we could do something about passengers or putting in stations”.
He pointed out that, once the track is in situ, passenger trains could be operated on it with temporary platforms installed in time for the Ryder Cup.
Speaking to the Limerick Post after the meeting, Deputy Leddin emphasised the need to take a regional approach to the rail network.
He takes the view that if the passenger rail network was expanded in time for the historic Ryder Cup event, it would further the case for connecting Shannon Airport to the rail network, thereby expanding its catchment area significantly.
At the Joint Oireachtas Committee, Deputy Leddin pointed out that the rail corridor to Shannon Airport is already preserved and that it is costed at between €100 and €200million (in 2021 prices) in the All-Island Strategic Rail review.
Mr Meade indicated that the connecting Shannon to the rail network could be delivered within a “five to six-year timeline”.
