Plans for a €60 million rail link to Shannon Airport received a boost yesterday with the sanctioning by the Department of Transport of a feasibility study for the proposal.
This follows months of lobbying from the Shannon Rail Partnership for the Department to give the study the go-ahead.
The rail partnership has already spent over €100,000 on the proposal. The partnership chairman, Shannon-based councillor Mr Sean Hillery, yesterday said he was confident that Shannon Airport would be the first airport in Ireland to have a rail link. "The link will not only improve access to Shannon, but will act as a linkage between the south Clare corridor rail link and greater Dublin."
Prospects for the plan appeared grim last year after the Strategic Rail View showed the proposal did not perform very well in terms of net economic benefit.
However, the Department noted that the review was conducted at a strategic level rather than as a feasibility exercise, and that many interests in the Shannon region see the rail link as bringing strong economic gains.
