๐ฟ๐๐ง๐ง๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐ช๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐๐จ๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ
People Before Profit Cllr Maeve OโNeill said,
โOn the back of massive people power climate actions, the demand for rail expansion has grown louder and more powerful right across the island.
The political establishment is now under pressure and under the spotlight to actually deliver.
We have made clear our disappointment at the criminal delay of the Phase 3 Derry-Coleraine rail upgrade. It was suppose to have been completed last year. Therefore, while we welcome Minister Mallonโs announcement that yet another feasibility study has been completed โ it doesnโt equate with delivery.
This is another example of a Stormont Minister attempting to cram 5 years of promises into the final 3 months of a mandate. Itโs just too little, too late.
Derry and the North West has decades of promised infrastructure upgrades from Stormont Ministerโs that never come to fruition. Itโs not that long ago that they attempted to completely shutdown rail in Derry.
The SDLP Infrastructure Minister says sheโs committed to taking action to stop destructive climate change but her record speaks otherwise. Corporate gouging of Lough Neagh has been greenlighted. Toxic mining of the Sperrins has been moved forward. The 1967 Mineral licensing policy has not been updated. Third party right of people in planning has been blocked. No decisive action has been taken to clean-up Mobuoy dump on the outskirts of the city. Thereโs a huge gulf between rhetoric and action.
The reason why the SDLP and the political establishment canโt follow through on climate emergency pledges is because theyโre tied to a system that puts profits for elites and corporations before people and planet.
To see rail prioritised as the main form of public transport in Derry and across the island we need to build a real alternative based on people power action.โ