Duncan Smith
Question:55. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Transport his plans to decarbonise Ireland’s passenger rail fleet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31506/21]
View answerThursday, 17 June 2021
Questions (55)
Written answers
Decarbonisation of our society and economy is obviously a key policy priority for Government and transport has a significant role to play in that regard.
An important part of that role is the expansion of sustainable mobility options in our major urban centres and across the country to enable people to make the switch toward more sustainable modes – active travel, bus and rail. This will require significant investment in our infrastructure and services and the Programme for Government - Our Shared Future commits toward such a fundamental change in the nature of transport in Ireland and I look forward to seeing the change occur in the coming years.
I am also clear that within our sustainable mobility sector, or more particularly within public transport, we need to transition toward low-emission and zero-emission fleets in line with available technologies.
In rail, the key focus has been to expand electrification through the DART+ programme of investment which, once completed, will mean around 70% of passenger journeys across the rail network will be on electrified services. This will represent a significant shift from the position of today. The scope to electrify rail services in the other cities has been, or is being, considered their metropolitan area transport strategies are developed.
In terms of inter-urban rail, which is a much smaller component of total annual passenger journeys as compared to that covered by the DART+ programme, I have stated my commitment to conduct a Strategic Rail Review and it is my intention that one of the issues that Review will consider will be future decarbonisation of the inter-city / inter-regional networks. I would note that there is no settled perspective on this matter in a European context, as evidenced by the EU’s recently published Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy which references the requirement for further electrification but also notes that electrification may not be viable in all cases. It is my intention that the forthcoming Review will give an Irish dimension to that European perspective.