Second platform at Clara train station faces 'funding uncertainty'

Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan has said she is increasingly concerned that nine months after Clara Railway Station was formally included in the All‑Island Strategic Rail Review Project Prioritisation Strategy, there is still no ring‑fenced or guaranteed funding in place to advance the promised second platform.

Deputy Nolan said this lack of financial certainty is reflected in new correspondence she has received from Iarnród Éireann, which confirms that even the initial feasibility and option‑selection works will only proceed in the coming months “subject to funding approval.”

Iarnród Éireann have also informed her that it is only when the funding is approved will it be able to “determine the costings and timescales involved.”

Deputy Nolan said this represents a troubling shift from the assurances that were communicated publicly last year, when Clara secured a second platform as a priority project.

The Independent TD said communities were led to believe that the upgrade was moving ahead and that the 2030 delivery target was realistic. Instead, nine months on, the project appears to be stalled at the very first hurdle because no dedicated funding has been allocated.

“This is exactly the scenario I warned about when Clara was first included in the Early Interventions programme,” Deputy Nolan said.

“I said at the time that unless funding was ring‑fenced and guaranteed, the project would be vulnerable to delay. Unfortunately, that is precisely what appears to be happening. We now have confirmation that nothing, not even initial exploratory works, will proceed until funding is approved, and that approval has not been secured despite nine months of supposed prioritisation.”

Deputy Nolan said the situation raises serious questions about the Government’s commitment to delivering rail improvements outside major urban centres.

She said Clara already has the passing loop infrastructure and that the addition of a second platform is a straightforward, high‑impact upgrade that would improve reliability, increase service flexibility.

Allowing such a project to stall due to a lack of guaranteed funding is, she said, entirely unacceptable.

Deputy Nolan has sought immediate clarification from the Minister for Transport and from Iarnród Éireann on whether the Clara second platform remains a committed priority, whether the 2030 delivery target is still in place, and why no funding has been secured and ring-fenced nine months after the project was formally identified for early intervention.