THERE have been calls on Irish Rail to speed up the process of opening up a railway station that was built on the Southside in 2009 at a cost of over
?¬6 million.
The semi-State public transport company has spent
?¬6.3 million on the construction of Kishogue train station, which has yet to be used by passengers and remains closed.
The station is located between Adamstown and Clondalkin and was due to be part of the Kildare Route Project that was completed in late 2009.
The Kildare rail line terminates at Heuston station and Irish Rail originally planned to link passengers with the proposed DART Underground project that has since been shelved.
Irish Rail originally built the station in the belief that significant residential development would take place in the area but his has not materialised due to the collapse in the property market.
The company intends to operate the station if it can build and open a car park on a plot of land beside the facility. However, it is understood that Irish Rail is still trying to secure the land from a property developer.
Mark Gleeson, spokesman for Rail Users Ireland, said that although the station was not located within walking distance of any large residential areas, he believed the station should be opened if commuters could park there.
“I think that the station should be opened as soon as possible to facilitate commuters,
? he said.
“But the station needs to have a car park and needs to have proper accessibility for pedestrians and for public transport. I would urge Irish Rail to pursue whatever solution will get the station open as quickly as possible.
?
Deputy Robert Dowds (Lab) called on Irish Rail to speed up the process of opening the station and urged them to subject the land in question to a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).
He noted that the station is very close to several multi-national companies, including Pfizer and Microsoft. He also pointed out that Google would be locating one of its offices there in the near future.
“Regardless of the circumstances, it is totally unacceptable and a complete waste of taxpayers’ money to have a newly constructed railway station lying idle for over two years,
? he said.
“With so many large multinationals in the vicinity of the station, one would think that this problem would have been solved long ago. The sooner the station can start taking passengers, the better for commuters, for Irish Rail and for the economy.
?
A spokesperson for Irish Rail said the company was currently in negotiations with the landowner with regard to the transfer of the land and the construction of the car park.
“We would be hopeful this can be resolved in the relatively short term, so that the station can be opened before the end of the year,
? he said.