Vol. 431 No. 5
5 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if an application has been made to EC for a specific grant from Structural Funds for the upgrading of the Dublin/Westport railway line; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
12 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the plans, if any, he has for the upgrading of the railways; to the extent to which EC structural and Cohesion Funds are available for this work; and when he expects tangible results to be achieved.
23 Ms. McManus asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the funds, if any, which are being made available to meet the commitment given in the Programme for a Partnership Government 1993-1997 to help secure the long term development of the rail services and improve the quality of intercity and other passenger rail services.
28 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if any application has been made to the EC for a specific grant for the improvement and upgrading of the Dublin/Westport rail line; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
32 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications when he expects the report of the interdepartmental task force on the mainline rail network to be completed.
63 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if sufficient Structural Funds are available to enable larnród Éireann undertake the re-opening of Kilcock Railway Station, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
69 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications his views on the condition of the Dublin/Sligo railway line; and if he will, in consultation with Iarnród Éireann and the Department of Finance, seek EC Structural Funds to modernise this line and to purchase new rolling stock.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 5, 12, 23, 28, 32, 63 and 69 together.
Work is already underway under the supervision of the Department of Finance on the preparation of a national development plan which will set out the Government's priorities for the use of EC funds available to Ireland from the next tranche of the Structural Funds and from the Cohesion Fund.
As part of this process the Government will be seeking EC funding for an integrated package of transport measures, including improvements in strategic rail links. In this regard a major study of the existing mainline rail network has been undertaken by my Department, in conjunction with the Department of Finance and CIE and with the assistance of independent consultants. The outcome of this work in under consideration at present. Decisions on the allocation of EC funds to the mainline railway network will be dependent on the Government's assessment of overall national priorities and on the outcome of detailed negotiations with the EC authorities.
Would the Minister not agree that the Dublin-Westport line should receive priority in view of the fact that, as confirmed by Iarnród Éireann, the line is 50 years old — the line to Ballina is 100 years old — the signalling system which was installed at the turn of the century is manually operated and the locomotives which are more than 30 years old are in need of urgent replacement?
I agree that there has been under-investment in our rail network due to constraints on national finances and the prioritising of other matters which were deemed to be of greater importance. The availability of Structural Funds provides a unique opportunity to redress the imbalance. My Department, in terms of its application to the Government and the Department of Finance, which coordinates the national development plan proposals, regards investment in railways as necessary. The Department is anxious to facilitate investment in signalling and in rail lines so as to maintain a national network. It is important that those issues are to the fore in allocating Structural Funds.
I welcome the Minister's comments in relation to giving priority to the rail network. Would the Minister not agree that if the rail system is to remain competitive a number of basic prerequisites must be set down as a matter of priority? For example, obsolete tracks should be replaced by welded tracks and timber sleepers replaced by concrete sleepers. In terms of cutting travel time, new locomotives should be introduced on a phased basis, thereby improving the level of service on a line such as the Westport line which is used by a large number of passengers.
Including myself. I agree that locomotives are an important aspect of this matter. Iarnród Éireann will undertake a programme to start purchasing locomotives next year and this will considerably improve the position. The level of investment in lines and signalling will depend, first, on what is agreed in terms of the national development plan and, second, on Commission approval.
Am I correct in thinking that, depending on the priority of rail in the overall national plan and the success of the subsequent discussions in Brussels, unless sufficient EC resources are made available for the rail network we may be looking at a possible closure of the rail network or of significant parts of it? In the assessment of the rail network now being undertaken, it is envisaged that any disused rail links will be re-opened or will the assessment be confined to those rail lines which are currently in regular use?
In relation to provincial mainline rail the priority will be to ensure that we maintain that national network. I do not anticipate the closure of any of the mainline network. Structural Funds are important in order to maintain that national network and bring it to the standards one would expect. Given the level of under investment we had in the past in our existing rail network it is very difficult to envisage how we can open new lines when we have to put a priority on maintaining what we have. I am not excluding the possibility, but any cursory assessment would suggest that we need to invest in what we have before we start talking about opening up new lines.
(Limerick East): Have the proposals for the light rail system for Dublin been advanced in any way and has the Minister established whether EC funding will be available for such a project?
In terms of the Dublin area that is a very important part of our proposals for Structural Funding. We are confident that funding will be available to allow that to go ahead.
As a short term remedial measure, will the Minister investigate the situation at Heuston Station where every Friday the Westport train arrives late and must be cleaned out while 500 to 600 passengers are corralled in a pen like cattle and are then let loose simultaneously? Because of overcrowding it is more like the Calcutta line than the Dublin-Westport line. In the interests of public safety something will have to be done. With the stampede that ensues there, somebody will be killed someday.
I have always admired the ability of the Deputy to exaggerate.
It is not an exaggeration.
Talk about a Calcutta type line going to a depopulated west of Ireland is very difficult to take when one comes in on another issue.
It gets thinner as one goes along.
Investment in locomotives to allow for pulling more carriages would solve a lot of the problems. There is a programme for that sort of investment in 1994.
