Transport 21 must be completely overhauled
Issued : Monday 22 February, 2010
As Chair of the Transport SPC I am calling on Westmeath County Council and Irish Rail to ask the Dept of Transport to make a review of transport links in County Westmeath form an intrinsic part of the overall review that is taking place in 2010. Transport 21 was always a Dublin centred and motorway reliant document which after two decades of massive investment would leave Westmeath with just two rail stations and very poor rural bus links.
This surely cannot tally with Minister Noel Dempsey’s Smarter Travel document which was meant to supersede Transport 21 and put the emphasis back on public transport. There are six very clear reasons why this review is essential:
a) Killucan Station and the Mullingar to Athlone line are two of the very few costed plans, backed by and independent commuter study that sit in Irish Rail at the moment. If for example a large project line the Metro North or the Heuston underground were to be scrapped these smaller project would take a very high proportionate population per euro spent off the road and reduce our carbon spend.
b) any assessment of the very effective rural transport scheme and local town bus services that have operated in this county in the past show how much can be achieved on even a minimal investment,
c) the businesses of Mullingar and other Midland hubs/spatial towns deserve a transport infrastructure that will support them as the Dublin chamber enjoy;
d) an ESRI study this week revealed that the carbon tax will hit the commuter belt 10 times harder than Dublin because of lack of transport options ( an average of €25 per person in Dublin compared to €275 in places like Westmeath)
e) the emphasis on spending on property and tolled motorways in the boom must be addressed as the cost of public transport projects is now a fraction of what they were three years ago. Every person on the dole is costing €20,000 instead of having meaningful employment on essential infrastructure projects like rail stations, schools, hospital and communications upgrading. We invested in housing while many other EU countries invested in transport, now they are wealthy in a way we were until the 1950’s and may never be again.
f) if the Spatial strategy is to be a real framework then Athlone should have access to Mullingar Hospital, Mullingar to Athlone IT, and Tullamore should be connected by local rail to both so that we have real options and not notional documents. When we had a fraction of the people and the GDP this was possible, why not now? Different priorities?
The EU is still supporting transport infrastructure projects up until 2012, Are we going to let the last chance that some of these essential projects have in the foreseeable future slip away while we bail out the banks of the property speculators. This must change in the review of Transport 21 or our two rail station will still be all we have to show for the next boom. Let us work to make sure that the Transport 21 review begins in Westmeath.
Cllr 
