Rail campaigners Into The West have expressed their dismay and frustration at news that the long-delayed work to upgrade Derry’s railway line has been pushed back yet again – this time by a further two years.
In 2004 civil servants took advantage of a five year suspension of the Assembly to propose that the Derry to Belfast railway line should be shut west of Ballymena. That was because the rail track was approaching the end of its life – and rather than pay to upgrade it, the civil servants preferred scrapping it altogether.
Campaign group ‘Into The West’ was formed to fight that decision, and when the Stormont Executive returned in 2007 it agreed to save the rail line. This meant that the track had to be replaced, with the work to do that scheduled for 2013.
When Derry won the title of City of Culture for 2013, however, it was decided to minimise disruption across that year by splitting the work into three parts instead.
Phase 1 was completed in March 2013. Phase 2 happened in 2017, and enabled an hourly rail service to be introduced from Derry for the first time (resulting in a huge increase in passengers).
The third and final phase of the work was scheduled to take place in 2021, but has been delayed repeatedly ever since – with multiple speed restrictions and increased journey times on the line as a result.
When current Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd took office in February of this year, the Phase 3 work to modernise Derry’s rail line was scheduled to start after the British Open Golf tournament in Portush (July 2025) and to be completed in 2027.
That start date has since been pushed back twice however – with work now not scheduled to even begin until 2027.
Into The West have reacted with anger to these continuing delays, and to the fact that they have not even been told about the changes directly. They have also slammed the news that the Minister has so far only allocated funding that amounts to 5% of the total cost of the Phase 3 work, which they believe calls into question his sincerity to see the project actually happen.
Chair of Into The West, Steve Bradley, explained: “Rail passenger numbers in Derry continue to grow rapidly each and every year – showing the degree of support that exists locally for our railway services. Yet we are still hampered with blatant timetable discrimination compared to every station on the line East of the Bann. And we are still stuck with slow trains and poor quality track because work that was supposed to be completed a decade ago keeps getting kicked into the long grass.
“It is deeply disappointing that a new Minister has chosen to continue this same old story of delay over delivery for yet another two years – and doubtless even further beyond that again. This simply would not happen anywhere else in Northern Ireland except Derry, which continues to be treated shabbily by Ministers of all political persuasions.
“For example – in the time it has taken to not upgrade Derry’s rail track, the plan for a massive new third-of-a-billion pounds station in Belfast has been conceived, approved, funded and built. Yet here we can’t even secure a simple upgrade to make our rail track fit for purpose at a fraction of that cost.
“When it comes to major projects in Belfast, the cheque books come out. When it comes to even basic projects in Derry, the delays and excuses come out”.
Mr Bradley continued: “What’s worse is that we don’t even get to hear about these delays directly from the Minister or his department. The information gets sprung on us as a surprise in meetings or emails with Translink, or we get to hear about it via questions and debates in the Stormont Assembly.
“The Minister and the Department for Infrastructure know how important the Phase 3 work is to people in Derry, and they know that Into The West has been campaigning on this issue for over a decade now. Yet they don’t even have the courtesy to tell us about such delays directly.
“It’s no way to treat the public in Derry or Northern Ireland’s largest rail campaign. Finally, the decision by the Minister to provide only a tiny portion of the funding needed for the Phase 3 project – amounting to just 5% of the total sum required – also calls into question his sincerity to see the work ever actually happen. If he genuinely wants it done, why isn’t he providing the funding to make it happen?”.
Mr Bradley concluded: “By pushing back the third and final phase of work to the Derry-Coleraine line yet again, by not telling people in Derry about such changes, and by refusing to provide anything except a token amount of funding towards its cost, the Minister is unfortunately failing the north-west.
“We have now lost all confidence that this work will begin at all before the Minister’s term in office ends in May 2027.
“Unfortunately when it comes to rail in the north-west John O’Dowd appears to prefer delay and discrimination over actual delivery.”