New train station on Clare-Limerick border 'must be used in order for extra services to be added'

Limerick Mayor John Moran says people will need to use the planned new station in Moyross to get more trains onto the line.

Irish Rail is planning the new stop near the Clare/Limerick border to the rear of Corpus Christi Primary School and Moyross Community Enterprise Centre.

Located on the Limerick to Ennis and Galway line, it's anticipated to be open by 2026, and could link Moyross to the city in just nine minutes.

As it stands, nine return trains travel between Limerick and Ennis each day.

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The last service between Clare’s county town and Colbert leaves at 9.10pm.

“It’s not so much providing it from Moyross. It's that Moyross is on a train line which is operational,” Mayor Moran said.

He cited the Adamstown development in Dublin which was built along the capital’s southside rail commuter belt.

“Think of places like these on the way to Dublin. These are new towns which have been built as Dublin needs additional growth. They have been built around a train station put in first,” he said.

The first citizen says putting in a station on an operational rail line is “relatively low-cost”.

“The more people who get on or off at Moyross, the more it justifies the frequency from Limerick to Galway,” he said.

Mayor Moran also suggested a park-and-ride station at Cratloe, which is located close to the N18.

He suggested this could capture drivers coming in from Clare, and Galway and provide more passengers.

“Again it would justify more frequency on that line,” Mayor Moran added.

“Ultimately there is where you connect Shannon Airport. Now you get to a world where people living in Moyross working in Shannon Airport or the industrial estate are hopping on the train and going in the other direction. That’s where you plan all this together.”

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