Sinn Fein Cllr Nicola Lawless has expressed her concern over the possible change of use of Greystones railway station.
This historic building built in about 1855 is now on the market to let for commercial use.
The Greystones councillor expressed her concerns over the impact that this will have on commuters in the district. Cllr Lawless said “I was of the understanding that it was the small unit in the station that was for let, but information I received yesterday evening indicated that it is the entire ground floor that`s for let and that a change of use under planning would be required. This is currently used by Irish Rail as the train station.”
Cllr Lawless continued “This will mean that our train station as we know it will be gone, commuters will no longer be able to access the platforms through the main entrance. It has been suggested that the night time entrance by the bicycle racks, or possibly the one on Bow Lane will be the new entrance. The station in Greystones will then become fully automated and it will no longer be manned.
“I have huge concerns over this. Greystones is a very busy station and we have people from the town as well as people who travel into the town from the district to commute to Dublin using the station on a daily basis. If anything, we should be improving our station and making it more accessible for all users.
We also must consider commuters with disabilities and how this will affect them and how it will impact their experience of using public transport in the form of train journeys. In June Irish Rail stated that 4 hours notice would be necessary for anyone needing the ramp to access the train but with the station becoming unmanned it will revert back to 24 hour notices and this is just not good enough”.
Cllr Lawless concluded “I will certainly be putting pressure on Irish Rail regarding this matter and I will work to ensure the people of Greystones District keep full services at our station”.
