Into The West targets 2027 elections as "crucial opportunity" for rail expansion
Into The West launches new website which allows residents to easily email TDs, MLAs, and MPs to demand better rail for Derry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh
Local rail campaigners Into The West are ramping up activity ahead of what they say will be “a crucial year for rail” in the north-west over the next 12 months.
Into The West is the rail campaign for counties Derry, Donegal, Tyrone and Fermanagh, and has been the north’s leading rail group since their formation in 2004. With voters set to go to the polls In May 2027 to elect a new Northern Ireland Assembly plus all 11 NI councils, the group considers the next 12 months to be a crucial opportunity to push for more and better rail across the north-west. And they are calling on people throughout the region to join their campaign and use their voices to help secure the infrastructure this area needs and deserves.
Into The West has identified 3 key campaigning priorities for the next 12 months, which they will put before their members for discussion and ratification at their AGM later this month. Those priorities are :
1) Secure further progress on opening the Letterkenny-Derry-Portadown rail corridor – with an emphasis on funding for a feasibility study into restoring the Letterkenny-Derry route.
2) Resolve the long-standing timetable and frequency discrimination against Derry and the West of the Bann on the Derry-Belfast rail line.
3) Utilise the 2027 NI elections to elevate rail up the political agenda across Derry, Tyrone & Fermanagh.
As part of ramping up activity for the 12 months ahead, Into The West (ITW) has launched a completely new website - with a more professional look and greater campaigning tools included. An important new feature allows visitors to the site to easily email MPs, TDs or MLAs in any constituency across the region, and to tailor their email to focus on the economic growth, regional balance or environmental importance of rail.
The website also includes the ability to buy ITW’s first ever items of merchandise, with a range of stickers available proclaiming messages like ‘Donegal Needs Rail’ and ‘Tyrone Needs Rail’.
Chair of Into The West, Steve Bradley, explained : “The May 2027 elections present a golden opportunity to influence political parties about the case for rail across the north-west. By approving the All-Island Rail Strategy the governments north and south have now agreed that rail should return to Donegal, Tyrone & Limavady. But the problem is that the politicians and parties aren’t prioritising it, and are instead focusing on better rail between Belfast and Dublin. We therefore need to rally public support to ensure that rail for the North-West is forced into their manifestoes for next year’s elections”.
Mr Bradley continued “As part of this Into The West have just relaunched our website – which now has a tool that makes it really easy for people to directly contact elected representatives across the region and demand that they take rail in the north-west seriously.
"We know that politicians are at their most persuadable in the run-up to any election - so we need people right across counties Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Donegal to demand better rail here and force the issue into their mainfestoes. This is particularly important when it comes to securing funding for a restored rail link between Derry and Letterkenny. We need the Shared Island Fund to step up and get the ball rolling on restoring this route, and public pressure on our politicians will help in securing that”.
Mr Bradley concluded “You can also sign up to become a member of Into The West on our website, which helps strengthen our voice when we meet key decisions-makers. And you can also buy our first pieces of merchandise there too – with stickers proclaiming the need for rail in Donegal, Tyrone, Limavady and Fermanagh on sale. So sign up as a member and get yourself a sticker to put on your car, laptop or fridge to help spread the word and support our campaign for better rail across the north-west”.
The new Into The West website can be visited at www.IntoTheWest.org.