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Galway Suburban Rail is a suburban rail service operating on the railway line east of Galway

Galway railway station

Galway railway station serves the city of Galway in County Galway. The Station itself is located in the centre of the city in Eyre Square. The station is to be redeveloped in the near future, as part of the Ceannt Station Quarter project.The station opened on 1 August 1851...

. At present the principal commuter town

Commuter town

A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...

 in the catchment is Athenry and this will be joined by Oranmore station in 2012 - planning permission for this development was granted in February 2011 and is being regarded as part of the re-opening of the Western Rail Corridor, under Transport 21

Transport 21

Transport 21 is an Irish infrastructure plan, announced in November 2005. It aims to greatly expand Ireland's transport network. A cost estimate of €34 billion was attached to the plan at the time....

.

Services

Commuter services in the Athenry-Galway corridor consist of the following:

• Early morning and late evening services between Athlone
  Athlone railway station
  Athlone railway station serves the town of Athlone in County Roscommon and County Westmeath. The station is at the junction between the railway lines between Dublin-Galway and Dublin-Westport. There was a railway line to Mullingar but it is now disused...
  
   and Galway serving the County Galway
  County Galway
  County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
  
   towns of Ballinasloe
  Ballinasloe railway station
  Ballinasloe railway station serves the town of Ballinasloe in County Galway.The station opened on 1 August 1851....
  
  , Woodlawn
  Woodlawn railway station
  Woodlawn railway station is situated beside a level crossing on the R359 regional road in the village of Woodlawn in County Galway.The station opened on 1 August 1858 and was closed for goods traffic on 2 June 1978....
  
   and Attymon
• Morning and evening Intercity service originating from Limerick
  Limerick railway station
  Limerick railway station serves the city of Limerick in County Limerick. It is on Parnell St, and is the main station on the Limerick Suburban Rail network....
  
   serving the County Galway towns of Gort
  Gort railway station
  Gort railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Gort in County Galway, Ireland. The station originally opened on 15 September 1869 and closed on 5 April 1976. As part of Iarnród Éireann's Western Rail Corridor project, under the Transport 21 plan, Iarnród Éireann rebuilt the station...
  
  , Ardrahan
  Ardrahan railway station
  Ardrahan railway station serves the village of Ardrahan in County Galway, Republic of Ireland.-History:Opened by the Athenry and Ennis Junction Railway, at the beginning of the 20th century the station was run by the Great Southern and Western Railway and then Great Southern Railways.The station...
  
   and Craughwell
  Craughwell railway station
  Craughwell railway station is a railway station serving the village of Craughwell in County Galway. A station existed in the town until the closure to passengers of the line from Ennis-Athenry in 1976. As part of Iarnród Éireann's Western Rail Corridor project, under the Transport 21 plan, Iarnród...
  
  
• Evening services which continue to Athlone and Heuston Station, Dublin
  Dublin Heuston railway station
  Dublin Heuston , commonly called Heuston Station , is one of Ireland's main railway stations, serving the south, southwest and west. It is operated by Iarnród Éireann , the national railway operator...
  
  

Between these routes there are 14 services in each direction each weekday in this section, with 11 services from Galway and 10 services from Athenry on Sundays.

Future developments

Under the Transport 21

Transport 21

Transport 21 is an Irish infrastructure plan, announced in November 2005. It aims to greatly expand Ireland's transport network. A cost estimate of €34 billion was attached to the plan at the time....

 plan, service is planned between Tuam

Tuam railway station

Tuam railway station is a planned railway station intended to serve the town of Tuam in County Galway.-History:The station was originally opened in 1860 as part of the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway route between Limerick and Sligo, and was the major stop on the section between Athenry and...

 and Galway via the closed line to Claremorris

Claremorris railway station

Claremorris railway station serves the town of Claremorris in County Mayo, Ireland.The station opened on 19 May 1862.The station will be one of the key junctions on the Western Railway Corridor when it reopens.-External links:* *...

, however funding for this has not been identified and no Railway Order has yet been sought.

Light Rail

In addition to providing the city with suburban rail, there are also proposals to bring a light rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

 system to the city and its immediate environs, the Corrib Light Rail

Corrib Light Rail

Corrib Light Rail is the title of a proposal for a light-rail system for Galway City and County. The proposed light rail system takes into account existing urban and suburban structures and projected population densities. It requires of track and is expected to cost in the region of €25m per...

 system. The government announced feasibility studies for light rail in Cork

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

, Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

, Limerick

Limerick

Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

 and Waterford

Waterford

Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...

. However, Galway City Council adopted the results of the Galway Public Transport Feasibility Study in March 2010, which concluded that Bus Rapid Transit

Bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

 was the most appropriate mode for Galway, accounting for cost, catchment and risk profile.

See also

• Rail transport in Ireland
  Rail transport in Ireland
  Rail services in Ireland are provided by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland.Most routes in the Republic radiate from Dublin...
  
  
• Western Rail Corridor
• Belfast Suburban Rail
  Belfast Suburban Rail
  The Belfast Suburban Rail commuter network serves the metropolitan area of Greater Belfast and some of its commuter towns with three lines. The network is owned by Translink and operated by Northern Ireland Railways ....
  
  
• Cork Suburban Rail
  Cork Suburban Rail
  The Cork Suburban Rail network serves the Metropolitan Cork area in County Cork, Munster, Ireland.There has been a suburban rail system in Cork since the middle of the 19th century however it suffered serious neglect and line closures in the 20th century...
  
  
• Dublin Suburban Rail
  Dublin Suburban Rail
  The Dublin Suburban Rail network, , is a railway network that serves the city of Dublin, Ireland, most of the Greater Dublin Area and outlying towns...
  
  
• Limerick Suburban Rail
  Limerick Suburban Rail
  Limerick Suburban Rail is are a group of Iarnród Éireann commuter train services from Limerick Colbert to various other destinations on three different lines.* Limerick - Ennis calling at Sixmilebridge* Limerick - Nenagh calling at Castleconnell and Birdhill...
  
  

External links

• Galway Advertiser: Planning Approval Planning approval granted for Oranmore train station, retrieved 13 March 2011
• Galway Public Transport Feasibility Study, retrieved 13 March 2011
• Limerick-Galway Rail Timetable 2010, retrieved 13 March 2011
• Dublin-Galway Rail Timetable 2010, retrieved 13 March 2011
• Oireachtas Written answers Wednesday, 24 March 2010 Department of Transport Light Rail Project, retrieved 13 March 2011
• Transport 21 Western Railway Corridor
• West On Track
• Map of the Western Rail Corridor
• Rail Users Ireland Forum