Olwyn Enright
Question:99 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Transport the action he intends to take to address overcrowding on the rail service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18313/02]
Written Answers. - Rail Services.
I am very much aware of the problem of crowding on our railway network and am conscious of the discomfort and inconvenience this causes to passengers. Iarnród Éireann has a statutory responsibility for ensuring the safety of its passengers. It is therefore a matter for the company to satisfy itself that the number of passengers being carried in any particular train or carriage does not compromise overall passenger safety. Data provided by Iarnród Éireann show that over the period from 1994 to 2001, passenger numbers on inter-city services have increased from 7.8 million to an estimated 11.3 million, and on suburban services from 18.8 million to an estimated 22.7 million. In order to address this, significant funding has been, and continues to be, made available to Iarnród Éireann for investment to improve the safety of the network, increase the passenger capacity of the system and improve the quality, reliability and speed of services. Iarnród Éireann has ordered 80 diesel railcars for use on suburban routes and delivery of these is expected to commence shortly. The ongoing delivery of this new rolling stock will increase the available capacity to deal with peak periods and should help to alleviate the present crowding difficulties.
In the meantime, the railway inspectorate of my Department continues to monitor developments in regard to crowding on trains. They have been in contact with Iarnród Éireann on a number of occasions drawing its attention to the importance of keeping the issue of crowding under review and have also raised particular aspects of the crowding problem with Iarnród Éireann. Iarnród Éireann has advised the inspectorate that the recommendations made by its consultants in 2001 for alleviating crowding on services in the Dublin area are being implemented by the company.
In regard to inter-city mainline services, a second independent review of its crowding management strategy is currently being carried out by consultants for Iarnród Éireann. Pending completion of that review, crowding issues continue to be managed in a proactive manner by Iarnród Éireann. For instance, Iarnród Éireann has adopted a system of pre-booking tickets and boarding cards at bank holiday weekends and other particularly busy periods. Iarnród Eireann is considering expanding this system to all inter-city services using modern ticket reservation technology. My predecessor advised the House on several previous occasions that there are no national or EU quantitative safety standards in existence at present in regard to the maximum number of passengers permitted on trains and this is still the case.
The Railway Safety Bill 2001, which was published in December last and will commence Second Stage in the House tomorrow, will require all railway undertakings, including Iarnród Éireann, to implement a formal safety management system and to describe that system in a document called a "safety case". The Bill will require a railway undertaking to identify in its safety case all issues impacting on the safety of its operations. Such issues would include its strategy for managing crowding of trains. The railway safety commission, to be established under the Bill, will need to be satisfied that the proposed strategy is adequate to ensure the safety of passengers.
Question No. 100 answered with Question No. 93.