Quentin Gargan

Quentin Gargan, Green Party candidate for Cork SW has dismissed claims by other candidates that a West Cork railway would not be viable. Gargan points to a report published in May 2005 by Rail and Integrated Transport Researcher Brian Guckian, which shows that replacing the West Cork railway with a modern rail system would cost €450M, with a payback time of ten years.

“Since this preliminary report was produced two years ago, there has been substantial development of ultra-light rail systems in Europe which could bring this cost down to as little as €140M, though to carry freight, a hybrid version of this system would need to be investigated and would cost slightly more” says Gargan. “Ireland has focussed almost entirely on motorway construction and has developed no expertise in this area and this vacuum in our knowledge must be addressed” he added.

Gargan believes that in the future, industries will not move to areas that have no rail connections. “We are now living in an era where we face soaring energy costs. Our future economy will depend on how we prepare for this, and rail is by far the most efficient way of moving both freight and people. Construction of new rail systems takes time and planning and it is imperative that a comprehensive feasibility study commence as early as possible” said Gargan “In West Cork I believe a rail system would take traffic off the roads, enhance our value as a tourism destination and make life easier for commuters.”

“The third report of the International Panel on Climate Change, last week, set out the actions needed to prevent climate change, and these are likely to result in binding targets of a 60% reduction in emissions by 2050. In that context, spending over €30Bn on motorways is a terrible mistake” he added.