DONEGAL once had more than 300 kilometres of rail line, but since 1965 the county has been without a train service.

Now campaigners are renewing the call to bring rail back. The West Ulster Rail Initiative (WURI), founded in 1995, will hold its AGM this Wednesday, 10 September, at 7.30pm in the Station House Hotel, Letterkenny.

Chairman Rev. David Crooks said rail would transform life in the northwest, providing vital links for students, patients, businesses, communities and tourists.

“The need for rail in Donegal has never been greater,” Rev. Crooks said. “With traffic congestion, climate change and the demands of regional development, it is time to connect Donegal once again.”

WURI is urging the public to write to TDs, Senators and local representatives in support of the campaign.

The push comes as cross-border cooperation strengthens, with the launch of a new tertiary education partnership linking Atlantic Technological University’s nine campuses across the west and northwest with NUI Galway hospital centres. Rev. Crooks said such initiatives show why joined-up transport planning is essential.

WURI hopes a strong turnout at this week’s AGM will send a clear message: Donegal cannot afford to remain cut off from the rail network any longer.