This article is from page 26 of the 2011-01-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 26 JPG
IT promises to be a big year on the railways – the West Clare Railway that is as entrepreneur and enthusiast Jackie Whelan moves further down the track towards his dream of having a commuter and tourist service linking Kilursh and Kilkee for the first time since the famous narrow gauge railway was closed in 1961.
“I want to have the track between Moyasta and Kilkee laid this year,” Whelan told The Clare People as he acknowledged that “2011 is a year when we really want to move our plans forward”.
Yes, the West Clare Railway project that has been Whelan’s dream for well over a decade is set to get on track in a big way over the next 12 months, with the first major step only a matter of weeks away with the publication of the new County Development Plan.
“The Development Plan will give the West Clare Railway the same designated status as the Cliffs of Moher or the Burren,” said Whelan of a move that will put the railway project on track for major development works in 2011.
“It’s been a long journey,” he admitted. “The NRA stopped us from crossing the road at Moyasta Junction and that put us back. I don’t think the NRA have even seen the place and were just working off maps. When you’re dealing with them you’re dealing with faceless people. An Taisce had no problem with it, while the NRA blamed the county council over the speed limit on the road. Now finally we’ll have the speed limit issue sorted out by May.
“And I’ll have the museum finished by the end of the year. I have a batch of railway engines and carriages that you wouldn’t see anywhere in Ireland, while the big thing is laying the track to Kilkee and Kilrush. With the train going in both directions we could bring old age pensioners to Kilkee and Kilrush for free. That’s what I want to do.”
Whelan has spent well over € 500,000 on the project so far, restoring the old Slieve Callan engine, laying tracks and sleepers on nearly three miles of track towards Doonbeg and towards Kilkee.
“We can do this from our own resources,” he revealed. “The only grant we got was from Leader for the engine restoration, while the biggest cost of all has been time. Shannon Development has said that if we could get numbers up to 25,000 a year we’d get grant aid.
“The potential is huge. There is capacity for West Clare to carry 30,000 to 40,000 passengers a year at its ease. There is huge interest in west Clare, because it’s the only railway that has retained its name in the minds of people because of the Percy French song. This year I want to get the track laid to Kilkee and a couple of more years have it going to Kilrush. With grant aid it would be a lot quicker.”
Not that Whelan is afraid to press ahead if the knock on the door bearing grant aid doesn’t come. “A task force has been set up in Clare to create jobs and they’ve never come near me,” he revealed. “This will create jobs,” he added as he looks to 2011 with confidence.