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A proposal to re-establish the ‘Derry Road’ as the Derry to Portadown rail connection was known when it was operated by the Great Northern Railway until the 1960s was included in Arup’s draft All-Island Strategic Rail Review published last summer.

However, the review stipulated that the new £1.8-£2.8billion (€2.2bn-€3.4bn) rail connection would be limited to speeds of 160km/h (100mph) on a completely new electrified double-tracked line between Derry and Portadown.

This attracted criticism from rail campaigners Into the West, who pointed out that this would leave Derry as the only core city on the island without 200 km per hour rail services.

The All-Island Rail Review has proposed an investment of between £2.1bn and £3.3bn in rail projects to Derry and Donegal.

During a debate on the all-island rail network at Stormont this week, SDLP MLA Mark H. Durkan raised the matter with the Infrastructure Minister.

“Bizarrely, the draft report that came forward excluded the Derry to Portadown line from the 200 km per hour rail speeds, condemning the route to the lowest rail speed on the island.

“That needs to be addressed in the final strategy. High-speed rail is the key to durability and success, making it a more attractive mode of transport for everyone.

“Why should we settle for less than everywhere else? It is simply not good enough. The days of us in the west being second-class passengers are over,” said the Foyle MLA.

Rail minister John O’Dowd has said the Derry to Portadown rail link will have speeds of 200 km/p/h.

Mr. O’Dowd said: “Some of the key recommendations and interventions in respect of the North include: decarbonisation of the rail network, including electrification of the Belfast to Dublin line; frequency, speed and capacity improvements on the Belfast to Dublin and Belfast to Derry lines; and new lines from Belfast to Newry and Portadown to Derry. On Mr. Durkan’s comment about the speed of the Portadown to Derry connection, to clarify, it is planned for that rail network to have a 200 km per hour speed, so it is a high-speed connection. There will also be cross-border routes from Derry to Letterkenny and Portadown to Mullingar.”

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The price tag for the connection is currently £1.8-£2.8bn (€2.2bn-€3.4bn) based on 2021 prices. It has been suggested work could start by the end of the next decade with completion before 2050.

Other major developments proposed for the North West are a cross-border spur between Derry and Letterkenny (estimated capital costs £200m-£300m) and the creation of new stations between Derry and Coleraine including a spur to Limavady (estimated capital costs £100m-£200m).

John O’Dowd.

These taken together with the ‘Derry Road’ will cost between £2.1bn and £3.3bn, according to Arup.

Several other rail projects in the east of the province bring the total proposed expenditure in the North up to over £7bn.

Speaking in the Stormont Assembly this week Mr. O’Dowd said: “If the review’s recommendations are implemented in full in the coming decades, the capital cost is estimated to be over £30 billion in 2023 prices.

“For the North, the total cost estimate is £7.7bn, which is approximately £0.31bn per annum over a 25-year period.”

References

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