THE campaign by lobby group West on Track and public representatives who are calling for the mothballed Athenry to Claremorris line to be reopened, received a significant boost on June 1 when multi-national pharmaceutical company, Baxter Healthcare, stated that it supported the campaign.
The company, which has manufacturing plants at Castlebar and Swinford and exports most of its products, said that reinstatement of the 33-mile single track line, which is part of the Western Rail Corridor, would provide an alternative route to Waterford to the existing congested one via Kildare. Baxters also reaffirmed its backing for the construction of a new IE freight terminal near its plant at Castlebar (RE325).
The commitment by the company to rail is because it has significantly less impact on the environment than road haulage and this policy has been underlined by its decision to use the XPO Logistics container service between Ballina and Belview Port at Waterford. A media event at Ballina yard on June 1, to mark the start of Baxter’s use of the service was held before the departure of the
