Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 June 2023
3. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Transport to detail what upgrades are currently under way in relation to rail infrastructure, including the western rail corridor, DART services, and MetroLink. [30196/23]
View answerI also want to speak to the Minister of State about rail infrastructure, upgrades and developments in respect of the western rail corridor, the DART service in Dublin which was supposed to get upgrades, and MetroLink which was in the news this morning due to observations on the planning application. These are vital pieces of infrastructure. On the western rail corridor, Waterford Port is one of the destinations for freight all along the western seaboard, the Atlantic corridor. It would deliver freight right into Waterford Port. In the context of Brexit and direct lines to Europe, it makes no sense to be delaying the development of that infrastructure.
There is a huge range of activity occurring across the rail network to improve rail transport for passengers with a variety of projects set for delivery over the next few years. In the short term we will see a new station opening at Kishogue on the Kildare line late this year; new rail carriages entering into service next year through the addition of 41 new carriages to the intercity fleet; and a new station opening at Woodbrook on the DART line by the end of 2024. We will see the new DART+ fleet start to arrive next year and enter into service on the northern line in 2025. Track and station improvements at Oranmore are to be delivered by 2025. A new station is to be delivered at Moyross as part of the pathfinder programme. A redeveloped Ceannt Station in Galway is planned by 2026, while construction has already started on the North Quays in Waterford to deliver a new station there. Phase 1 of the Cork commuter rail programme will be completed by the end of 2026 as part of the EU’s recovery and resilience plan. In addition to those projects, which will all be delivered by 2026, we will see construction start in the next few years on the bigger projects like DART+ West, DART+ South West and MetroLink, which are currently with An Bord Pleanála for determination.
On the inter-urban and inter-regional network, Exchequer investment in protection and renewal continues to deliver safety and service improvements, as evidenced by the ongoing works on the Dublin to Cork line, the journey time improvements delivered on the Limerick to Ballybrophy line last year, the rehabilitation works under way on the Foynes freight line, and the protection works being undertaken on the east coast.
Finally, this year will also see the publication of the strategic rail review, which is the first all-island review of the network since the formation of the State and will provide a framework to develop a much-improved rail network in the decades ahead. This will provide opportunities for the west of Ireland and around to the south east, as I said to Deputy Shanahan.
I accept and understand that. A couple of weeks ago the senior Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was in Sligo and he told us that he wants to put a greenway on top of the part of the rail line running past Knock Airport from Charlestown to Collooney. It is part of the western rail corridor which is intact; the railway has briars and bushes overgrowing it and it needs to be cut back and cleaned out. We all know that greenways are important and are part of what we need to be developing in many areas. However, we should not be putting them on top of key pieces of rail infrastructure that will be needed into the future. We need to keep them separate and apart from whatever other development we have around leisure or tourism. This is for people to be able to get transport. People from Sligo who have to go to hospital in Galway because cancer services have been taken away from Sligo hospital are not going to go on a bicycle. They need to have a service. The Government must re-examine this. All of the decisions coming from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, or the Green Party element of the Government are all-of-government decisions and they need to be dealt with in that way.
The next iteration in terms of decision-making will be the all-island strategic rail review. It will inform the development and decision-making of inter-urban and inter-regional rail across the island over the coming decades. It provides the strategic backdrop to rail investment in our region that the Jaspers review noted was lacking when considering phases 2 and 3 of the corridor.
The review will provide important scope for real improvement of rail services across existing and potential future corridors of the network. That scope will include the potential afforded by disused and closed lines such as the western rail corridor. As I said previously, work on the review is at an advanced stage. It will be published for the purposes of strategic and environmental assessment as part of the public consultation process in July. That forms the formal basis upon which Government decisions will be made after that. Obviously, engagement with public representatives and across everyone in the House will be an important context to inform those decisions.
I accept and understand that. Some progress is being made but unfortunately for many decades - in fact, for almost a century - for those in the west of Ireland it has been a case of waiting for the next report. The next report sits there and then they must wait for the next report. There will come a stage when we have reports about reports. We need action. We need things to be done, development to happen and investment to be seen on the ground to create the infrastructure to build. Then we can have an economy that can function. When we invest, when we create activity, that activity creates opportunity and that opportunity creates more activity. That is how we can build an economy in the parts of the country where we have the most potential to have that economy. Certainly in the west and the north west, that is the case. For too long, rural Ireland has had to see what crumbs come off the table from other places. That cannot be accepted any longer. We need the investment and the infrastructure to be put in place. Finally, will the Minister of State comment in regard to the observations on MetroLink, which is a vital piece of infrastructure for Dublin Airport and the entire city here?
Thankfully, because of the management of the economy and the fact that we are running budgetary surpluses, we have the opportunity to invest in line with our enormous ambition for capital investment in rail infrastructure and other areas. We are ambitious. We have to do that in a strategic way. The rail review will provide an opportunity for that.
A significant milestone in the MetroLink project was cleared in July 2022 when the Cabinet granted decision gate 1 approval under the public spending code. This enabled it to move to the planning application stage. The statutory planning consultation closed on 16 January and the railway order application was made in September of last year. TII is continuing the work on this. It is preparing the project design planning and procurement strategy for MetroLink for consideration under decision gate 2 of the public spending code. It is also in the process of appointing a client partner to support the efficient and effective delivery of the project. It is currently anticipated that the client partner will be appointed in the near future to provide adequate resources and supports across all phases of the project. This will be significant for the development and progress of the overall project, which I know many people want to see delivered as quickly as possible.
