I refer the Deputy to Minister of State Kelly's reply to the Topical Issue on this matter on Tuesday 22nd October last. The matter of the reduction of the number of carriages was raised with the Chief Executive of Irish Rail when I met him earlier this week. In some cases, Irish Rail has already responded and re-introduced larger carriages to accommodate passengers and the Chief Executive has agreed that the company will continuously monitor carriage levels to ensure they match passenger demand. It should be noted that carriages were only reduced at off-peak times. Overcrowding which has occurred at peak times was caused by other issues including technical faults, industrial relation and leaf falls.