Campaign to bring rail back to Limavady launching next week

A campaign calling for the restoration of rail to Limavady is holding a launch event in the Roe Valley Arts Centre on Thursday 8th June. 

‘Into The West’ campaigns for the improvement and expansion of rail across counties Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Donegal.

The organisation was founded in 2004 when they successfully defeated a proposal to shut the railway line between Derry and Coleraine. Since then the group has helped secure major investment in the railway line, as well as a new transport hub in Derry city.

In recent years the group has broadened its focus onto making the case for the restoration of key rail routes across the west of the province of Ulster. And now they are launching a campaign to see rail restored to the town of Limavady. 

Limavady has a population of 13,000 people, and over the last few decades has been one of Northern Ireland’s fastest growing towns.

Despite sitting only 3 miles from the railway line that runs between Derry, Coleraine and Belfast, Limavady has been left without a railway station of its own since 1950. Even the nearby halt at Limavady Junction was removed almost half a century ago in 1976.

Since these closures two whole generations have been raised in Limavady without access to a transport mode that most of the rest of the island takes for granted. And that has had a negative impact upon the economy, population and tourism appeal of the town and the Roe Valley - with Limavady left feeling disconnected and on the periphery.  

The public’s desire to see rail return to areas across the North-West that lost it has remained strong ever since. This was shown last year when the public consultation for the cross-border ‘All-Island Rail Review Strategy’ saw 40% of all contributions coming from this region.

Into The West are therefore launching a campaign that calls for Limavady to be restored to its rightful place on the Northern Irish rail network.

Chair of Into The West, Steve Bradley, commented: “Limavady has a population size that justifies a rail service, and it sits tantalisingly close to a major inter-city train line. Yet for too long the railway network has ignored Limavady, leaving the town feeling isolated and neglected in infrastructure terms.

"Into The West made a detailed submission to the All-Island Strategic Rail Review last year – and one of our proposals was for rail to be restored to Limavady. We feel it is now time to start building public support across the North West for rail to be brought back to the Roe Valley.

"And as the first step in that we’re holding a public meeting on 8th June to engage local residents and elected representatives on the case for bringing rail back to Limavady”.

Into The West have identified three short, medium and long-term proposals for how Limavady can be linked to the rail network, which they will outline at their public meeting on June 8th.

The free event is being held at 7pm in the Roe Valley Arts Centre, 24 Main Street, BT49 0FJ, and is open to everyone. Into The West have also specifically invited all Causeway Coast and Glens Borough councillors to attend, as well as the MP and MLAs for East Derry.

Mr Bradley concluded: “In an era of climate change, poor air quality, increasing road congestion and unbalanced regional development, it is no longer acceptable for key towns like Limavady to be left without rail.

"There is a very strong case for the restoration of rail here - but it won’t happen without a strong display of public support and pressure. We held similar events last year in Omagh, Dungannon, Strabane and Letterkenny which all attracted bumper crowds, and we expect interest levels will also be high in Limavady.

"It is therefore essential that people across the Roe Valley and beyond get behind our campaign to show politicians and civil servants that the public demands the reintroduction of rail to this town.

"It’s finally time to end Limavady’s 73 years of being cut off from the Northern Irish rail network”. 

Anyone interested in attending is being asked to register in advance via the following Eventbrite link: Bringing Rail Back to Limavady Tickets, Thu 8 Jun 2023 at 19:00 | Eventbrite.

Registration isn’t essential (people can still turn up on the night), but it will help Into The West manage numbers with the venue.