Potential reopening of Knockcroghery station part of new rail review

The potential reopening of Knockcroghery Railway Station will be decided later this year as part of the All Island Strategy Rail Review - 60 years after it was closed .

The All Island Strategic Rail Review was jointly commissioned by governments north and south in 2021.

It has been examining the future of the rail system, how to improve connectivity for major cities and regions, while boosting connections between the island’s ports. British engineering firm Arup has undertaken the review, which is expected to be published later this year.

A recent Athlone Municipal District of Roscommon meeting in Monksland heard that Roscommon County Council recently received correspondence from the National Transport Authority, saying that Knockcroghery station will be considered as part of the All Island Strategy Rail Review.

Area Engineer for Roscommon County Council, Seamus Lough, said that the station in South Roscommon will be considered as part of the rail study and that the council expects the final review to be published before the autumn.

Independent Cllr Donal Kilduff, who first called for the reopening of the station back in March, said that he thought that the plan to reopen the railway station had merit. “I'm delighted to see that it's been assessed and that the response came back and didn't rule it out completely. If the infrastructure is there and if the service is there, people will use it and the evidence is there for that. I have no doubt that if it is reopened people will use it."

He added that he was looking forward to the outcome of the assessment later this year.

A commemoration event to mark the 60th anniversary of station closing, was held last weekend at Philip and Marina Dolan's Station House, Knockcroghery.

Back in March, councillors agreed to send a letter to Minister Eamonn Ryan requesting that a feasibility study be carried out on the possibility of reopening the rail line in the historic village.

Knockcroghery Railway Station first opened in 1860 and closed in 1963.