Killucan could be prototype for other rural rail stations

The reopening of Killucan railway station – if ever approved – could provide a prototype for the revamping of other old stations in expanding rural areas, the Killucan Kinnegad Transport Lobby Group has said this week.

The proposal to reopen the station was shot down in a pre-feasibility study released last year: it favoured enhancement of the 115C bus service over the reopening of Killucan station, or stations at Annascannon or Hill of Down, although it acknowledged that Killucan performed well in the Multi-Criteria Assessment (MCA).

However, the Transport Lobby Group is pleading for the authorities to have a rethink on the findings of the study after discussions on the subject at a meeting last week with Westmeath County Council, Irish Rail, the NTA and Bus Éireann.

At last week’s meeting, a suggestion was made by the transport authorities that the Transport Lobby Group and Westmeath County Council draw up a response to the pre-feasibility study.

This week, that response has been published by the chairperson of the Killucan Kinnegad Transport Lobby Group, Cllr Denis Leonard.

In a detailed six-page statement sent to stakeholders, Cllr Leonard outlined what the group views as both promising elements and significant omissions in the study.

At the heart of the matter is the belief that Killucan Station – closed to passengers since the 1960s but still regularly used by passing trains – could offer a practical, climate-friendly, and socially transformative transport alternative for thousands of commuters in east Westmeath.

The Cllr Leonard document contends that commuters travelling to Dublin from Killucan would cut round-trip travel times compared to the current bus service by up to three hours a day. While the 115C bus from the area to Dublin takes around two hours and 30 minutes each way, a train journey from Killucan would be just about one hour. “People will choose the faster, more sustainable option if it’s available,” Cllr Leonard said.

He argues that the usage figures projected in the pre-feasibility study, which predicted 156-169 boardings a day from Killucan, were based on a “very narrow north-south area”, and so vastly under-represented true demand: “It did not include areas anywhere near Rochfortbridge, Milltownpass, Delvin, Collinstown/Crookedwood and north Westmeath in general, where there has always been a demand for the station,” he says, adding that Killucan station would be irrelevant to more than half of those in the area on which the pre-feasibility study focused, but that thousands who would be prime customers for the service were not factored in.

Population

“Socially and economically, we in east Westmeath simply want access to a perfectly functioning stop on the line (in a county of 100,000 people that has only two rail stations),” he said, drawing comparisons with Dromod in Leitrim, on the same line, which has a population of just 753 and yet has 113 boardings a day; Edgeworthstown with a population of less than 2000, which has 165 boardings a day.

“In that context Killucan with 2000 population, and Kinnegad with more than 3000 and with 18,000 people living within 10 kilometres of the station (even leaving out east Mullingar) the station would have a great chance of doing far better,” he says, adding that a 2007 study by Athlone Institute of Technology (now TUS), predicted 232 boardings a day, but there has been huge population growth in the area since then.

The Cllr Leonard submission goes on to plead for a new feasibility study, factoring in the possibility of some Transport for Ireland (TFI) shuttle buses taking commuters from Rochfortbridge, Kinnegad, Coralstown, Delvin, Collinstown, and north Westmeath to the station.

“We are confident the existing infrastructure and the parking for more than 100 cars would be a huge selling point for this location,” he adds.

On the subject of funding, Cllr Leonard says that it can be accessed through myriad national development and rural regeneration budgets, assisted by BMW EU funding.

“Our county council and all midlands development plans are fully supportive of its reopening,” the submission adds.

It continues: “With global warming, and 51% carbon reduction required by 2030, our climate targets are being threatened by transport (over 30% of total) because of the lack of options like Killucan station. It seems obvious that the fines Ireland will pay for missing carbon targets would open numerous stations.”

The submission concludes by stating that if rural Ireland is to survive, it needs meaningful transport alternatives: “Under your watch, Killucan station could become a prototype for revamping old stations in expanding rural areas to have a lifeline to the national rail network.”