Louth councillor calls for Dundalk train station to be moved to Killally

Dundalk South representative, Cllr Shane McGuinness, is calling for Clarke Train Station in Dundalk be moved out from the centre of the town, to Killally, as its current location does not have the capacity for sufficient car parking and it lacks the potential for further development

Cllr McGuinness was speaking to the Dundalk Democrat following the Dundalk Municipal District October meeting, where he had mentioned the idea of having the train station moved.

His comments at the October meeting came after Cllr Antóin Watters asked if Louth County Council could engage with Irish Rail in relation to Irish Rail restricting parking at an service road at the station, due to access issues for emergency services and buses.

After the meeting Cllr McGuinness told the Dundalk Democrat that there had been a plan previously to move the train station out to Killally, saying that there plans for locations on a previous Development Plan “that could have went back 20 years.”

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Cllr McGuinness explained that “it's on the northern side of the Inner Relief Road. It's called Killally, it's on the old Ardee Road”, adding that, “there's a massive land [bank] to the left that runs right down to the train line. That again is something that I believe should be put back on the agenda.”

He continued: “We just don't have the parking. We're not forward thinking. We should call on the Council to seriously consider before they go starting to try and develop a train station that just hasn't got the potential to be developed.

“I think just move it. Move it out to Killally, the land is there, the parking is there, the access to the motorway is there. It would be much easier to get to it. Much easier, ease of parking.

“Have free parking, it's also beside a park and ride out there at Junction 16 and that area is going to be highly built up with industry because a lot of it is IDA owned land. It has happened in cities all over the UK, where they have moved their main train stations”

He added: “I think before we start spending money on building new car parks, the value of that land in around the town is massive. The Dundalk Train Station could be kept open as a museum.”