Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 September 2022
19. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Transport the position regarding the All-Island Strategic Rail Review in order to progress the delivery of improved rail infrastructure and services to help achieve connectivity for the regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46271/22]
View answer79. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Transport if the Strategic Rail Review is still anticipated to be completed in Q4 2022; if he will commit to publishing the report as soon as it is completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46276/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 79 together.
As the Deputies may be aware, the Strategic Rail Review is being undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. It will inform the development of the railway sector on the Island of Ireland over the coming decades.
The Strategic Rail Review is considering the future of the rail network with regard to the following ambitions: improving sustainable connectivity between the major cities (including the potential for higher/high-speed), enhancing regional accessibility, supporting balanced regional development and rail connectivity to our international gateways. This also includes the role of rail freight.
The Review is also considering the scope for improved rail services and infrastructure along the various existing, or potential future, corridors of the network including disused and closed lines.
Following a competitive tendering process, Arup was appointed to undertake the Review, which commenced last September. A public consultation process ran from 26th November 2021 to 21st January 2022. Submissions made as part of that public consultation have been considered in detail and form a key input into the work of the Review.
The Government has previously stated our belief in the potential of rail. It is vital that we address constraints in the rail sector and achieve a strategy which allows rail to fulfil its potential as a sustainable mode of transport in pursuit of decarbonisation priorities and rural connectivity objectives and as a generator of prosperity for people across Ireland.
The Strategic Rail Review will assist in, and inform, that and I look forward to its completion later this year and the final report which is expected in Quarter 4. It is my intention that it will be published before the end of the year.
