‘Derry Road’ rail link to Portadown with Letterkenny connection in Arup draft

The draft review is due to be presented to the Irish cabinet today.

As heavily trailed by transport minister Eamon Ryan it will include a recommendation for the restoration of the Derry to Portadown rail line with an onward link to Letterkenny, it’s been reported.

According to the BBC the report says the resurrection of the line along the route once followed by the Great Northern Railway – known as the ‘Derry Road’ in the past – will ‘link the large towns of Strabane, Omagh and Dungannon to the rail network’.

The proposal is one of 30 recommendations that will cost between €35bn and €36.8bn and take a quarter of a century to deliver completely.

The draft recommends the costs should be met by both jurisdictions on the island on a 75 per cent (Dublin)/ 25 per cent (Belfast) basis.

RTÉ has reported on a further recommendation to reopen a line between Antrim and Lisburn with a station at Belfast International Airport.

And according to the BBC the report recommends redeveloping a line from Portadown to Armagh which will link with Cavan and Mullingar.

The draft report also proposed building a new direct line between Lisburn and Newry.

A few weeks ago the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, told TDs she expected the draft report to be published for a Strategic Environmental Assessment and public consultation this month.

She said it was expected that once the SEA takes place a final report will be completed and submitted for ministerial approval in the autumn.

In January Mr. Ryan told the Dáil he had discussed a new rail connection along the old ‘Derry Road’ with Arup as well as with a UK transport expert appointed to examine large scale infrastructure projects.

Portadown-Derry-Letterkenny railway a ‘critical investment priority’ says Eamon Ryan

He said: “In those discussions, what started to come into view was the possibility of a spur from Portadown through Dungannon, Omagh and Strabane.

“An historical connection involving Monaghan took that route. The line would have to have a spur to Letterkenny in order to ensure a connection to Donegal.

"It would be transformative for the relationship between Letterkenny and Derry, as well as Strabane, Omagh and Dungannon. It would be of huge benefit to the island and would improve island connectivity.”

Eamon Ryan holds talks on revived ‘Derry Road’, says it would be 'very expensive' but transformative for country

The proposed rail link between Derry and Portadown has been a key plank in Derry rail lobby Into the West’s campaign for improved rail infrastructure in the north west.

The Arup rail review was supposed to be published in the Autumn of 2022, however, it has been delayed by almost a year partly because of the absence of an Executive in Belfast.

DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: ​Rail desert has to be addressed

Earlier this month Ms. Carroll MacNeill indicated it may be possible to publish the final review this autumn even if a power-sharing government has not been formed in the North.

"Should there continue to be an absence of Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive, approval will be considered, taking into account the decision-making framework set out in the UK's Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act 2022, or relevant legislation in place at the time,” she said.

‘He viewed the Derry railway lines with the dead eye of an undertaker’