County Wexford could be left with only 10 kilometres of rail operations if proposals by the National Transport Authority to consider the closure of the Dublin to Rosslare railway line is implemented.

Gorey could be the terminus for the line as Iarnróid Éireann is threatened with insolvency and the national rail network needs investment of more than €600 million over the next five years.

A review compiled by the National Transport Authority and Iarnróid Éireann has examined possible solutions to the State-owned rail operator’s financial difficulties and one of the suggestions is that the Wexford line south of Gorey would be shut by 2018.

If this were to occur, Enniscorthy, Wexford and Rosslare would be left without rail services.

The line from Rosslare Europort to Waterford, with stops at Bridgetown, Wellingtonbridge, Ballycullane and Campile, closed down in July, 2010.

Fianna Fáil TD James Browne says he is alarmed by media reports that the future of the Wexford rail service is in doubt.

Gorey’s Cllr Malcolm Byrne, who occasionally uses the rail service to commute to his work in Dublin, has warned that while threats of closure have been mooted in the past, this review places the possibility seriously on the agenda.

“Iarnróid Éireann has lost significant levels of funding in recent years and we need to invest in public transport. However, to cut off Rosslare Europort and most of County Wexford from the rail network would be hugely detrimental to the county,” said Cllr Byrne.

Full story in THE WEXFORD ECHO.