An Athlone Councillor believes the railway field in the town is an ideal location for a new hotel.
Fine Gael's John Dolan made the comments following a meeting of this month's Athlone-Moate MD, where representatives heard a new planning application is needed for the site.
Council officials say this is due to previous designs not including a proposed 67 space parking bay and maintenance facility for CIE.
However, Councillor John Dolan believes the centre of town is not a location for a bus depot and says CIE should consider relocating the proposed repair centre to an industrial estate.
He believes an additional hotel would make sense with some people finding it difficult to get accommodation in the town at weekends.
Speaking on Let's Talk today the Athlone Councillor says he's concerned work may now not begin on this project until next year.
