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PUBLIC meetings about an ambitious new proposal for bringing railways back to Omagh and Strabane are being held this week.
‘Into The West’ is the rail campaign for counties Tyrone, Derry, Donegal and Fermanagh.
The group recently launched a proposal for better rail connectivity across the north west of the island – called ‘Metro NorthWest’.
Tyrone lost its last rail line in 1965 with the closure of Omagh station.
The idea takes the existing rail network between Derry, Coleraine and Portush, expands it in ways that have already been agreed in the All-Island Rail Strategy – including bringing trains back to Omagh and Strabane – and then enhances it further by adding further new halts stops.
The idea takes its inspiration from Wales and Cornwall, where four similar ‘Metro’ networks have been introduced in the last couple of years.
Into The West are promoting the Metro North-West concept as an essential solution to the challenges that Omagh, Strabane and other towns across the region are facing – such as poor connectivity, growing road congestion and economic underdevelopment.
The group is holding a series of public meetings about ‘Metro NorthWest’ and the case for restoring rail to Tyrone in keys towns across the region.
The first of their two meetings this week is in Strabane at 7pm today (Monday), in the Civic Room of Strabane Library.
They were originally scheduled to hold an Omagh event the following night at Strule Arts Centre, but it’s been rescheduled to Thursday at 7pm to avoid a clash with the ‘Omagh’s Future’ council event which is taking place at the same time in the same building.
