New drive for light rail as emissions ‘choke’ Galway City

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Another concerted effort is to be made to carry out a feasibility study that would progress the provision of a ‘very light rail’ system for Galway City.

A public meeting in the city earlier this week heard that campaigners, who have been making the case for light rail for the past 15 years, are to meet with the National Transport Authority in a matter of weeks.

More than 100 members of the public, along with local businesses and public representatives attended the public meeting to hear campaigners once again outline the benefits of providing a light rail system from Barna on the west of the city, to Parkmore on the east and taking in the city centre.

The meeting was told that it would have the effect of taking around 25% of cars away from the city centre on a park-and-ride basis.

Those in attendance were informed that Galway is the fourth most traffic-choked city in Europe ahead of Moscow, London and Paris. This was based on information provided by a private company that specialises in analysing traffic congestion in all the major cities across the world.

City native and chartered engineer Murt Coleman who described the worsening traffic congestion in Galway as “a growing burden” that was not being addressed by the authorities.

Grace Fox, who has a Masters in Environmental Leadership from NUI Galway, said that Galway was “choking on its emissions and car dependency”.

(Photo by Joe O’Shaughnessy: Professor Kevin Leyden, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUIG, speaking at the Gluas for Galway public meeting in the Hardiman Hotel. Also in the photograph are, from left: Grace Fox, Environmental Leader; Murt Coleman, Chartered Engineer; and Keith Finnegan of Galway Bay FM who chaired the event).

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see the May 6 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.