Early morning Athenry to Galway train service extended

Galway East TD Louis O'Hara welcomes announcement

THE Minister for Transport has confirmed that the 6.50am train service from Athenry to Galway will continue to operate past the summer months.

The announcement follows the presentation of a petition, began by Galway East TD Louis O'Hara, that was signed by almost 1,700 people in Athenry calling for the continuation of the early morning train service beyond August and the implementation of the long-promised bus service in the area.

The train service was introduced in October last year to facilitate the ongoing works on the Galway-Athenry rail line. It was planned to operate on a temporary basis until August 2026, as the NTA monitored passenger demand and operational performance, with the aim of making a decision on its continuation beyond that point.

Earlier this year, both the NTA and Irish Rail had denied there were any plans to continue the service further due to a lack of funds. Irish Rail had stated that there was no Public Service Obligation (PSO) funding available to extend the service further.

Sinn Féin TD Louis O’Hara campaigned to retain the service and started the petition, which also called for funding for the continuation of the train service. The petition received a large response from members of the public and was presented to the Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien in the Dáil last month.

Minister Darragh O’Brien announced in the Dáil on Thursday that the early morning train service will be retained.

“The 6.50am service is not going and I know you have been running a campaign on that locally,” he said in reply to a question from Deputy O'Hara.

Deputy O’Hara has welcomed the continuation of the service and noted that its retention will comes as a relief to the many people who rely on it as the only early morning train service into Galway. He also added that there are significant problems on rail services with overcrowding at peak times.

“There is still significant pressure on existing services and a pressing need for the long promised new bus service between Athenry and Galway. The Minister indicated that there still is no funding in place to establish that service," offered the Galway East TD.