Old Rail Trail


The Old Rail Trail is a long-distance cycling and walking trail in County Westmeath, which forms a section of the Dublin-Galway Greenway. It is a 42 kilometres long rail-trail over the disused Athlone-Mullingar rail line beginning in Athlone and ending in Mullingar.

History

The route was originally opened in 1851 as a railway line by the Midland Great Western Railway and was the first to reach Athlone from Dublin. The line was closed in 1987 with trains using the former Great Southern and Western Railway line to reach Athlone.
The Moate-Garrycastle section was officially opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in October 2015. In September 2015 the Westmeath Independent reported that the greenway could provide a "€15m boost" to the local economy.
The section was extended up to Ballymahon road in December 2016, with plans to eventually extend into Athlone town.
As of 2015, plans by a community development organisation in Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, were underway to connect the Greenway to the Offaly Cycleways at Kilbeggan with a greenway to Tullamore, County Offaly. Work was planned to begin by summer 2016.
A new bridge to cross the River Shannon in Athlone was allocated €8.1m funding and began construction in 2021. The bridge opened in August 2023.

Access points

The following is a list of the access points to the cycleway.
LocationDistance from Athlone Distance to Mullingar Coordinates
Abbey Road, Athlone-43
Whitegates, Athlone-42
Garrycastle, Athlone-40
Mount Temple634
Maghermore832
Moate 1228
Moate 1228
Rosemount1822
Lisnagree2119
Streamstown2317
Garhy 26.213.8
Castletown Station2812
Dysart3010
Ballinea364
Bellmount37.22.8
Kilpatrick38.41.6
Mullingar Newbrook 40-
Mullingar Newbrook 42-