More political sparks over future of railway station
POLITICAL sparks flew at yesterday's Castlebar Municipal District meeting when the issue of the perceived downgrading of Castlebar Railway Station came up for discussion.
Fine Gael's Henry Kenny and Cyril Burke clashed head on with Fianna Fail's Lisa Chambers and Independent Michael Kilcoyne on the controversy which made front page headlines in this week's issue of The Connaught Telegraph.
At one stage the debate amongst members of Castlebar Municipal District descended into shouting and roaring between Councillor Kilcoyne and Councillor Burke.
Councillor Chambers had highlighted the issue following a flood of complaints by service-users who were left without access to toilets and the ticket office over the October bank holiday weekend as the facility was left unmanned.
The situation, which is now a regular occurrence, was condemned by her as ‘totally unacceptable’, adding there was there is a clear move ‘towards automating everything and replacing people with machines’.
She hit out: 'We are all unhappy with the direction the service is moving and genuine concerns have been raised.
'This is something Irish Rail and the Department of Transport need to take a serious look at and evaluate whether they are providing Mayo and Castlebar with an adequate service.
'Given Castlebar is the home of the Taoiseach I hope to see him taking this issue seriously and taking steps to ensure Castlebar train station is maintained and full and proper services provided.'
A statement issued by An Taoiseach’s office confirmed a number of enquiries were made to Irish Rail relating to staffing levels at the station following representations to his constituency office.
The statement outlined: 'Irish rail has said that the situation is unchanged at Castlebar Railway Station. There have been no changes to staffing levels or standard staffing hours at the station at all, nor are any planned.
'If a staff member is absent, cover is sought from Westport, but this is not always possible.
'There is a possibility that there can be short periods of time when the station is unmanned and Irish Rail is currently looking into issues over the October weekend.
'However, Castlebar is not being treated any differently from similar stations in this regard. The station remains open for the majority of services travelling through it.
'Maintaining the excellent rail service to Mayo remains a priority with increased services and passenger numbers in recent years.'