The Michael Taggart Column
We need to be get rail for better North West
IT IS 25 years ago this year since the brilliant comedian and some-time travel show host Michael Palin came to Derry with a camera crew.
The sole mission of the Monty Python man was to catch the train to Coleraine. And film the view.
He would later describe the route as “one of the most beautiful rail journeys in the world’ and he hasn’t stopped telling everyone who wants to know about it since. (His great-grandmother was from Donegal).
Palin even spoke out years later demanding a line upgrade and thankfully that has now happened so that this most spectacular of trips to Belfast can be completed in two hours.
There is some controversy this week over £26M worth of works for the old Waterside station with commentary for and against what should happen there next.
But for me, that is not the conversation we should be having. The conversation should be about new railway lines into and out of Derry.
First of all the current track could be utilised far more. New stations – or re-opening of old stations – in Eglinton and Ballykelly and better use and promotion of Bellarena could revolutionise transport within the North West.
Park-and-ride schemes and fast trains into and out of the Waterside, and connections into the city by bike or bus or on foot would be the way to go.
And that could be just the start of it.
There are two other routes which should be championed by political leaders north and south.
With the development of the Derry-Letterkenny-Strabane city region, you’d think someone would have seriously considered new rail lines connecting these points and beyond.
Later this year the new A5 will finally get underway from Newbuildings to Aughnacloy, with the southern government picking up the baton in Co Monaghan and finishing a dual carriageway all the way to Dublin.
I wonder was any consideration given to a rail line running alongside – or up the middle of (who cares?) – this new roadway. Surely this is a missed opportunity? In fact this was the opportunity to do it.
And I can guarantee you a rail link from Derry to Dublin would pick up a fair few commuters along the way in Tyrone and Monaghan, never mind those just wanting to use the shortest route from Derry to Strabane.
Then there’s another route which could be – and should be revived. The Derry to Letterkenny route.
(Long long before my time) the last train on that route – from Letterkenny to Derry – was the 2.15pm departure on August 8, 1953. Times have certainly changed since the 1950s but I wonder sometimes if society’s leaders can see into our future, see the benefits of a modern fast rail service connecting our urban centres. Sometimes we do have to go back to the future. Our railway heritage, for me, could hold the key to a better more sustainable future.
The idea of a link to Letterkenny was revived in 2013 but that report (which also suggested a link through to Sligo) has been gathering dust since. With the right will and some help from the EU, I believe it is time the dust was cleared away.
From Russia with Gloves
We’ve all been feeling the chill this week from freezing air blasting its way in from Russia.
Of course such weather happens infrequently so it’s not something the people who run this place invest heavily in preparing for. It wouldn’t make sense to do so. We are not Canada.
That doesn’t stop the critics taking to social media. The fact is no amount of road gritters can cope with the sort of weather we have seen. It is a weather event which doesn’t happen that often.
Last Sunday, just before the big chill, the clear blue sunny skies had us all out and about and enjoying the weather. It was a glorious day. And it was barely touching 9C….
I’d love to see a repeat of the meterological patterns which created this week’s weather – but not until May, June, July and August. For that would bring the same weather we had last Sunday, but about 20C warmer!
Now that would be nice…..
And finally….
Brexit continues to divide opinion and it seems the Labour Party in Britain has come up with a plan for dealing with it – by keeping the whole UK in the Customs Union, while the EU’s contingency plan is to keep just Northern Ireland it it! These new positions could collapse the Government if and when it comes to a vote at Westminster.
Not long now to another General Election.
- Michael Taggart is Strategic Adviser to Taggart Homes Ltd at www.taggarthomes.com
**************
Last week’s Michael Taggart column is here:
Tags:
