Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 November 2023
13. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport the extent to which it might be possible to ensure the availability of extra carriages to meet commuter demands affecting the towns of Kilcock, Maynooth, Leixlip, Confey and Celbridge, Hazelhatch, Sallins and Newbridge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52780/23]
View answerThis question relates to one of the most rapidly expanding population centres in the country. It covers both the various commuter towns and the urgent necessity to ensure adequate capacity is urgently added to the train lines in question.
I thank the Deputy. As part of Government’s continued investment in improving our rail network, the DART+ programme will extend and enhance the current DART system and services west to Maynooth and Celbridge-Hazelhatch. The DART+ fleet project will also introduce electric and battery electric units to the DART network over time, and may allow for the introduction of DART services in County Kildare in advance of the electrification of lines.
While the existing Iarnród Éireann operational fleet is already fully deployed on scheduled services, delivery of an additional 41 intercity railcars, ICRs, commenced late last year. I am pleased to confirm that these will begin entering service early next year. As the ICRs are intermediate carriages, they will facilitate the lengthening of existing train sets and will serve to enhance passenger capacity across the rail network. A further two additional orders, totalling 185 electric and battery-electric carriages for the DART+ fleet, were placed in December 2021 with 95 carriages ordered and in December 2022 with 90 carriages ordered, with up to 750 carriages in total to be ordered over the coming decade. The first 95 carriages will arrive from mid-2024 and will enter service from 2025. Decisions on the deployment of the ICRs will be made in the coming weeks and months, and will be based on current and projected passenger demand and infrastructure capacity, subject to the approval of the NTA. The ICRs will increase Dublin area capacity, and see commuter and intercity carriages currently in use on commuter services allocated to other routes to increase the capacity and frequency of services. I agree with the Deputy that the growing demand across the network must be accommodated and believe that these new carriages and redeployment of existing carriages will greatly help to address the issues in the coming years.
I thank the Minister. By way of a supplementary question, when is it expected that the impact of this provision will be visible and available to commuters who use the stations to which we already referred, those being, Maynooth, Leixlip Confey, Celbridge, Hazelhatch, Sallins and Newbridge? Right now, the traffic, made up of people who are ordinarily ready to accept the use of rail services, is being forced onto the roads, which are heavily over-trafficked and in need of upgrading. To what extent is progress being made to bring about the earliest possible date?
The Minister has indicated when this is expected. Could we send a message to the providers or the manufacturers with a view to possibly accelerating the speed at which provision is to be made?
The most immediate matter is the deployment of those ICRs. That will happen next year, as I said, and I will look for them to be deployed as quickly as possible.
We have a budget issue in that we have so many different new public transport services to be put in place that we have to make sure we have the budget allocation for all of them. I am confident we can do that.
Iarnród Éireann is best placed, with the NTA, to look at where the locations we have the most constraint and capacity issues are. I am confident that some of the Kildare services to which the Deputy referred already have very high patronage and that we will deliver in that regard.
The bigger, more medium-term issue is that we await planning decisions from An Bord Pleanála on both DART+ West and DART+ South West, but I am hopeful decisions on both will come in the new year. The really big job is the major upgrade of the DART service and the new terminal to the west of Maynooth, which will be the real game-changer. In the interim, the ICRs will start rolling out next year.
The Minister understands this very well. The people in the catchment area involved understand it equally well. They are at the mercy of the traffic on the roads on the one hand and the shortage of capacity on the rail lines on the other hand. They are betwixt and between. It would be hugely helpful if the Minister were to use his good offices to follow up and to impress on those involved in the provision of the extra facilities the importance of doing so at a more rapid pace than we have seen heretofore. While the promise is gratefully appreciated and accepted, delivery on that promise is of huge importance at present in this particularly sensitive and rapidly growing population area.
I very much accept the Deputy's comments. He represents his constituents well. There is an urgent need for us to switch. The M7 motorway inwards is completely jammed. The M50 is at full capacity. We have no additional road capacity. We have to start switching people to public transport, especially on the likes of the Kildare line, where the numbers and the demand are so large.
