Tullamore MD Councillors request meeting with Irish Rail to discuss concerns
Tullamore Municipal District Cathaoirleach Declan Harvey asked for his fellow councillor’s support in bringing the national railway network operator into the chamber for a meeting
Tullamore Municipal District Councillors have requested a meeting with Irish Rail to discuss several issues around the town at the May meeting of the elected members.
The potential meeting with the national railway network operator was proposed following a number of queries concerning Spollanstown Bridge as well as matters pertaining to Tullamore Train Station.
Councillor Aoife Masterson asked for an update concerning works on Spollanstown Bridge at the latest meeting.
She expressed: “I know there’s a back and forth with the department and Irish Rail, I was just wondering if we could get an update on where that stands at the moment,”
Cllr Masterson added: “When I was last talking to Irish Rail, they told me that they were waiting for a resubmission from our side so I wanted to ask about the status of that submission and if that has been sent.”
Offaly County Council Director of Services, Paul McLoughlin addressed uncertainty over the communication with Irish Rail.
He stated: “There has been a back and forth in relation to the Spollanstown Bridge but we haven’t got to the bottom of it yet on where we stand with it, we are seeking to engage with Irish Rail on a number of levels.”
The Director of Services elaborated: “We are trying to communicate with them in relation to the train station here in town and in relation to various active travel works that are going on at the moment.”
“We will persist with it but there has been works that has gone to them and it’s come back to us so we just need to get clarity on certain situations until we get a resolution.”
Following this exchange, Tullamore Municipal District Cathaoirleach Declan Harvey asked for his fellow councillor’s support in bringing Irish Rail into the chamber to have a meeting with them in person to address the issues.
He outlined: “There’s a few things that need to be discussed with them, one is the bridge and the other is the development of the station.”
“Theres a number of car park spaces up there, I'm not sure how many exactly is in it, but people are concerned about how far it's going down the back and there’s no bus parking to it or anything so I would like your support in bringing them in here to go through this.”
Cllr Masterson also emphasised the car parking situation at Tullamore Train Station. She said: “In relation to the car park spaces, I actually get the train up and down to Dublin regularly and you’d be surprised just how far down people are having to park on a weekday, particularly if you're getting the train around 10am, you’ll find yourself right down at the very back.”
Several of the councillors immediately offered their support in seconding Cllr Harvey’s motion for the matters to be discussed with the state-owned operator of the national railway network at an upcoming meeting of the Tullamore Municipal District.