A campaign group has presented their vision for the future of rail in the north west to Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd.

Lobby group Into The West – that lobbies on matters regarding the restoration of rail to counties in the north west of the island of Ireland including Fermanagh and Donegal – recently met with Minister O’Dowd to discuss the role rail could play for the north west and indeed Fermanagh in coming years.

Speaking about the meeting to The Impartial Reporter, Steve Bradley – who chairs Into The West – said: “It was a high-level meeting at Stormont with the Minister and DFI colleagues.

"We did a whistle-stop [explanation] tour about the existing rail in the west, and then looked to where it should be extended.”

On where Fermanagh fits into the plans proposed by the group thus far, Steve said: “We are pushing heavily to open the former Londonderry to Portadown line, which would reach from the north west to there, and onward to Dublin and Belfast.”

He added: “If there is going to be rail in Fermanagh, it will come from the Omagh direction. It could come from the Sligo end, but that is less likely, and Sligo is actually smaller than Omagh.

"Once you get railway to Omagh, it is a relatively short distance to drop it down to Enniskillen.”

He emphasised: “The only way realistically to get rail back to Fermanagh is to get it to Omagh. We think it [the Londonderry to Portadown line] is the most feasible railway opening across Northern Ireland. It would see quite a few of the largest towns being added to the rail network."

Speaking of recent findings from various reviews regarding rail in Fermanagh and Omagh, Steve said: “The Union Connectivity Review looked at ways to bind the UK together through infrastructure, and it came out and said very clearly [that] Enniskillen is badly served by rail, especially given its tourist credentials.”

He added: “There has been big investments in rail everywhere else. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK and Ireland that hasn’t reopened rail lines this century."

One thing noted by Steve and others from the Into The West group is the public interest in rail being installed in Fermanagh and Omagh and beyond.

He said: “There is the all-island rail review strategy which has been going on for more than a year [and is due to report in the autumn].

"Interestingly, they did a consultation at the start of the year and had about 6,000 responses, and the highest number of responses was from the Fermanagh and Omagh area, and the second-highest was Londonderry and Strabane.

“It shows that the people of Fermanagh and Omagh want rail back – the district is way smaller than Dublin City Council, Belfast City Council or Cork City Council [catchment areas] yet the Fermanagh and Omagh district beat them all in terms of the numbers who filled out the consultation."

Hopeful about the public interest in availability of railways in the north west of Ireland, Steve said: “We find that now the public are demanding rail.

"Before, they would have shrugged their shoulders at there being no rail in Fermanagh and Tyrone, but now they are banging the table and saying, 'No, this isn’t good enough’.

“There has been a real change in the mood, and slowly that has also filtered through to the politicians.”

Noting how slow infrastructure projects often are to achieve, Steve said: “It won’t happen quickly. You’re talking decades here; even if they said today 'We will reopen this railway line', it would probably take ten years to reopen it. We are talking 15-20 years out from now [for major developments].”

Speaking after the meeting, Minister O’Dowd said: “I am committed to improving transport connectivity for the benefit of our economy and communities, and to help with the climate crisis.

"I therefore welcomed the opportunity to meet with Into the West to hear their views, and to discuss my Department’s ongoing work to improve rail services in the north west and across Ireland."

Referencing the All Island Strategic Rail Review, Minister O’Dowd said: “My Department is taking forward the All Island Strategic Rail Review in conjunction with colleagues in the Department for Transport.

"This work, which Into The West has input to via the consultation process, is focusing on how our rail network can better connect people throughout the island of Ireland.”