Moate railway station

Moate railway station is a former railway station serving the town of Moate in County Westmeath. The station was located on the Midland Great Western Railway's branch line to Galway, and opened in 1851. The station formed part of the main route between Dublin, County Galway and County Mayo until 1973, when Córas Iompair Éireann decided to transfer the majority of these services to the Great Southern and Western Railway route from Portarlington. At this point, services were cut back until finally the station was closed in 1987, severing the rail link between Athlone and Mullingar.^[1]

Since 1987, Moate has been cut off from the railway network. The development of the Irish economy in the 1990s and 2000s has led to a re-evaluation of the need for an extended railway network. The Irish government's Transport 21 plan has seen several major rail expansion projects implemented, which will restore several areas to the network after many years. However, the line from Mullingar to Athlone via Moate is not included in these proposals, in spite of the Strategic Rail Review which led to the Transport 21 proposals recommending that it be reopened.^[2] This has led to criticism from the local community, and calls for Iarnród Éireann to rethink this, as part of attempts to improve the rail infrastructure in the Midlands.^[3] In particular, the Midland Railway Action Group sees the reopening of the rail link as vital to the expansion of the economy of the "Midland Gateway", as it would provide a faster service from Galway into central Dublin than at present.^[4]

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