Louth train station ‘has run out of room’ for parking and ‘may not be fit for purpose’ in ten years

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

Clarke train station in Dundalk has “run out of room for parking,” and could be deemed “not fit for purpose in ten years time,” said a local councillor.

The ongoing parking problems at the station were raised at the monthly meeting of Dundalk Municipal District where Cllr. Antoin Watters said there were concerns about the loss of parking places on the Ardee Road side of the station.

He said the issue had been raised by Louth TD Ruairí Ó Murchú as between 35 and 50 parking spaces are now being restricted along an access road at the station.

This followed an incident where a bus collecting passengers during Storm Amy could not travel along the road due to a line of parked cars.

Irish Rail confirmed they would be clamping cars parked there from this Monday, October 20.

He asked if the council could engage with Irish Rail and Bus Éireann “to see if we can come up with some sort of compromise.”

“I know that by 7a.m in the morning there are no parking spaces left in the train station car park. There are lots of people travelling from all around the county and further afield to use the train services. We are all being encouraged to use public transport, so we need to find a solution here.”

Cllr. Shane McGuinness agreed “there is a serious traffic problem at the train station.”

He said there had been a proposal many years ago to move the station out of town, to Killally.

"We don’t have any room left around the train station now, and it was a great idea raised about ten or 15 years ago.”

He added: “We should really think about this because Dundalk train station might not be fit for purpose in ten years time.”

The council said they would reach out to Iarnrod Éireann as a point of information on the issues at the train station.