Thanks to the RailFuture Campaigner Facebook group for bringing this one to my attention.
In the south of County Donegal, a branch line reached Bundoran on the west coast or Ireland.
The County Donegal Railway ran from (London)Derry to Strabane and Stanorlar to Donegal through the Barnes Gape to Donegal on the coast, where branches headed down the coast to Ballyshannon and up the coat to Killybegs. Inland branches to Glenties, and to the larger town of Letterkenny, completed this narrow gauge line.
The Londonderry and Loch Swilly Railway also ran from Derry, through Letterkenny where it shared a station with the County Donegal, but no regular through trains, on through wild and remote lands to Burtonpointon the west coast. From Tooban junction, a branch ran north alongside Loch Swilly via Buncrana to Cardonagh on the north coast - close by the most northerly point on the island of Ireland at Malin Head, even though it's in the south politically, emotionally and legally.
The Swilly became a bus rather than a train operation in 1954. The Bundoran branch closed in 1957 when the Government of Northern Ireland closed the section of the line in their country, leaving it as an isolated stub. Trains staggered on until 1959 on the County Donegal.
The countryside to this day remains remote and of great beauty – a land of wild coastline and mountains, attached to Eire / Southern Ireland by a land bridge as narrow as 5 miles.
"We need a Derry to Cork rail line. THE PEOPLE OF DONEGAL AND THE NORTH-WEST HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS, AND WE DEMAND THEM" writes David W T Crooks, (Rev), Chairman, West Ulster Rail Initiative, in
a letter to the Donegal Democrat.
In 1976, the old Limerick to Sligo line was closed. In 2010, the line from Limerick to Ennis was reopened, and soon afterwards, the line was extended to Athenry, making a line from Cork to Limerick Junction, to Limerick and to Athenry and Galway.
West on Track is campaigning for this line to be extended to Tuam and Claremorris. If they succeed, which seems likely, this would link up the western end of the Dublin to Limerick, Dublin to Galway and Dublin to Westport lines.
The West Ulster Rail Initiative and West on Track are campaigning to get this line extended on from Claremorris to Sligo, and on to Bundoran, Ballyshannon, Donegal, through the Gap to Ballybofey/Stranorlar, Letterkenny and Newtowncunningham to Derry, and southwards from Limerick to Chareleville and Mallow to Cork. This would create a Derry to Cork Western Rail Corridor.
Irish rail has become very much a spoked wheel with the hub in Dublin. The link from the Cork line at Limerick Junction to Athenry on the Galway line has a chequered history as described by Rev Crook but is still not really doing as great as it should - staggering along again. Carrying on around from Limerick Junction to Rosslare on the south eastern tip, only the section to Waterford remains open with two trains a day (yeah, I know, such services can be dragged back to useful) but is the mothballed to Rosslare. And that mothballed section includes the longest rail bridge - over an estuary - in Ireland. North from AtHenry, sections to be restored and even built anew if the line is to reach the southern end of County Donegal at Bundoran.
Much of Rev Crook's long letter highlights benefits south of Bundoran, and I can't help feeling that's because north of there he's looking at a line that would be far from cheap to build through country that's beautiful for the visitor, but sparsely populated to provide his railway with its bread and butter traffic. Letterkenny has a population of under 20,000 and Buncrana just under 6,000. Stanorlar is just under 5,000 then nowhere reaches even 3,000. For local comparison - Bude, 10,000.
I wish the Rev Crook well – there is (I believe) an excellent case for rail all the way from Rosslare to Sligo and perhaps even Buncrana / Ballyshannon. There may be a case too for local rail transit from (London)Derry to Stranorlar and to Letterkenny, serving intermediate growth; those last suggestions mixed hideously in the politics of the area and the border. But I do feel that a
demand as the Rev put it, and a statement that it's the democratic right of the area may just lead to the answer "yes, it's your right – please feel free to go ahead and fund, build and operate it yourself"
