Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 17 Feb 1999

Vol. 500 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Rail Services.

Mr. Timmins

I am particularly delighted to see the Minister of State, Deputy Jacob, here to take the question.

Deputy Michael Lowry, as Minister for Transport Energy and Communications, formally launched work on the extension of the DART to Greystones. The purpose of the extension was to provide the population of the greater north Wicklow area, including the growing towns of Greystones and Delgany, with a fast, reliable, frequent and direct public transport service to the city centre.

The cost of the seven kilometre extension was estimated at £11 million. This was to be jointly financed by the EU Cohesion Fund and CIE. It was planned that, once operational, there would be five services per hour at peak commuting times and every 20 to 30 minutes at other times, and the journey to the city would take approximately 45 minutes. It is hoped the DART will attract the motorist from his or her car and on to public transport, thus saving time and fuel consumption and reducing the number of road accidents and air pollution.

A few years ago, we could not have envisaged the difficulties we have today with traffic. Commuters coming into Dublin from east and north Wicklow can spend one to two hours bumper to bumper on the N11. Recently I heard a statistic quoted that, based on the current time spent travelling, the average commuter will spend two years in his car over his lifetime.

The outlook is not good. It was hoped the inauguration of the new service would take place in 1998. Today we still have no service. At a recent meeting of the Greystones Town Commission on 26 January last CIE announced that this service would not now start until July 1999. The Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, replied to me in the Dáil on this subject on 3 November 1998 that the overhead line would be installed by the end of 1998 and the other physical work would be completed in the spring of 1999. However, the new carriages will not be delivered until the autumn of 1999. She said the company may decide to run a partial service.

As travel times increase, as the queues get longer and longer and fuses get shorter and shorter, can the Minister of State tell us when the service will start and what it will consist of. Residents in this area have watched their quality of life deteriorate. They deserve a good public transport system.

I know the Minister of State, Deputy Jacob, is also anxious that the service be operational as soon as possible.

Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise (Mr. Jacob)

This is a matter which is very close to Deputy Timmins's heart as it is to mine. The Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, would dearly like to have been here this evening, but she is indisposed, so I am glad to step into the breach.

It is critically important that the population of north Wicklow is provided with a fast, reliable, frequent and direct public transport service to the city centre. The importance of a DART extension to Greystones to provide that service was recognised by the Dublin Transportation Initiative. The necessary development has been supported by this Government. However, although improvements will be evident from this summer I can understand, and share, the frustration being felt in the Greystones area because this project has taken longer than expected to complete.

Responsibility for day-to-day management of this project rests with Iarnród Éireann, but I assure this House, the Deputy, and the customers who are waiting for the new service that my Department is closely monitoring the project to ensure that maximum progress is maintained.

While the infrastructure project is now nearing completion, the lead in time has been considerable. In December 1995 CIE formally applied to the European Commission for assistance from the Cohesion Fund for the Greystones and Malahide extensions. In July 1996 the European Commission approved assistance from the Cohesion Fund for the two DART extensions.

In October 1996 the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications indicated that the DART service to Greystones would be operational by the end of 1998. While that was a reasonable expectation at that time, a number of factors have delayed the project in the interim.

Key among these was a decision by Iarnród Éireann to undertake work on Greystones and Malahide extensions simultaneously rather than constructing the Greystones extension first. I understand from Iarnród Éireann that work on the extension to Greystones is well under way. The overhead line has been installed and the other physical work is on target to be completed shortly.

While service details and scheduling are a matter for Iarnród Éireann, I understand from the company that it has decided to commence a partial service on the Greystones line in late summer 1999. There will be enhanced services between about 7.00 a.m. and 8 a.m. and the journey to the city centre will take approximately 45 minutes. People with a disability or mobility impairment will have full access to DART trains at Greystones.

Further improvements are dependent on the arrival of new DART carriages. Once these are operational in mid 2000, the peak hour services will be further enhanced.

The extension of DART to Greystones and Malahide will place additional demands on the DART fleet which is already experiencing overcrowding in peak hours. Additional rolling stock will be needed to provide adequate capacity on the extended routes.

In view of this I supported my colleague, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy Mary O'Rourke, in negotiating EU and Exchequer funding to acquire a further 16 carriages for delivery in the year 2000. These will enable a better service to be provided on the DART network, including Greystones.

The message in summary then is that while it has been a long wait, we are within months of at last seeing improvements on the Greystones line. It is not before time and I thank the people of north Wicklow for their understanding during, the development and construction period. For its part, Iarnród Éireann has had a number of difficulties to overcome. It has worked through difficult terrain with minimum disruption to normal services. It too is keen to see the new service operating. That new service will start, albeit in a limited way, this summer. Ongoing improvements will continue to be seen on the Greystones line of the DART network over the coming years.