Irish Rail ‘needs to get the finger out’, local rep tells Kildare County Council

Kildare County Council (KCC) was told that Irish Rail / Iarnród Éireann (IE) "needs to get the finger out" when it comes to two bridges near Newbridge Train Station.

The comments were made by Social Democrats councillor Chris Pender, who appeared via virtual means at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting on Wednesday, November 19 last.

The discussion came about when Fine Gael Cllr Peggy O'Dwyer motioned for KCC to write to IE about two bridges which both go over Newbridge Train Station.

According to Cllr O'Dwyer, the purpose of the letter is to request a meeting with IE and request that the organisation "provides details on what measures are being considered for the upgrade of Sex’s Bridge and Morristown Bridge in order to enhance traffic flow within Newbridge as identified on the recent Area Based Transport Assessment".

Her motion was seconded her party colleague, Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer.

In response to the motion, KCC said that this would be a matter for the councillors to agree upon.

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'PINCHPOINTS'

Elaborating on her motion, Cllr Peggy O'Dwyer said that the upgrades were necessary as the two bridges are traffic flow "pinchpoints" within Newbridge.

She also said that the upgrades were needed as, in her view, "the second bridge which has been proposed for Newbridge will not make a difference for to those living in the north side of the town".

Cllr Pender then told KCC that he supported the motion, and added: "I think the fact is that, for lack of a better way of saying, IE need to get the finger out [when it comes to upgrading the two bridges]."

He also said that he had concerns of traffic at the two regions potentially becoming worse in the near future.

"Maybe that point could be issued in the correspondence to IE," the Mayor of the MD, Fianna Fáil Cllr Noel Heavey, subsequently suggested.

In addition, Fianna Fáil Cllr Brian O'Loughlin proceeded to tell KCC that he was of the view that "the majority" of bridges within the MD are "causing issues".

Eileen Hanlon, a KCC official who was present at the meeting, suggested writing to IE in relation to all bridges within the MD, but Cllr Peggy O'Dwyer declined this.

She told Ms Hanlon that she would prefer to focus on the two bridges she mentioned in her motion.

After the matter was put to a brief vote, it was agreed that KCC would write to IE in relation to Cllr Peggy O'Dwyer’s request.

(LEFT) Cllr Peggy O'Dwyer, who submitted the original motion, and (RIGHT) Cllr Chris Pender, who criticised Irish Rail / Iarnród Éireann while expressing support for her motion.

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Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.