I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, but I would have liked the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, to be present.
I wish to raise the serious and dangerous overcrowding and chaotic scheduling on the DART network, which traverses my constituency. Day after day I receive complaints from constituents who state that they are being treated worse than animals on seriously overcrowded DART trains during the rush hour. This morning a young man almost fainted in the crush on the 8.50 a.m. DART from Kilbarrack station and had to be held up and assisted by his fellow travellers. People of all ages have suffered serious distress in recent months due to intolerable overcrowding on rush hour DART trains and workers with disabilities have been prevented from travelling.
Many women commuters have informed me that, because their experiences on the DART were so claustrophobic and frightening, they will never use the service again. Through the extraordinary incompetence of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, the new Dublin transport strategy is being ripped apart before it even begins because the workers to whom I refer feel they have no choice but to return their cars.
I am aware that 100,000 commuters use the DART service on a daily basis and that 170 trains travel on the network each day. However, the key reason for the ongoing chaos on the DART network is the Government's deplorable lack of investment in the service. In 1984 the DART service was launched with 80 carriages and until last month not a single new carriage was purchased by Iarnród Éireann because the Government starved it of capital investment. Last month, ten new carriages were purchased from the Alston company in Barcelona and 16 more are due from the Tokyo Car Corporation in Japan. Unfortunately, these 16 carriages will not enter service until April 2001 and a further 12 carriages from the Tokyo Car Corporation will not arrive until late 2001 or early 2002.
I urge the Minister of State to ask the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, and Dr. Lynch of CIE to contact countries with transport systems similar to our own – I refer here to Russia which uses the same train gauge as Ireland – and immediately purchase 35 to 40 carriages before somebody is killed.
The arrival of the new carriages to which I referred has coincided with the Government's decision to bring forward the introduction of the Malahide-Greystones DART service. The Government PR hype surrounding the launch of the new service completely ignored the resulting removal of 18 DART trains a day from the Kilbarrack to Howth line and the dangerous and chaotic overcrowding in rush hour on the existing network. In effect, Deputy O'Rourke has put her PR campaign about the extension of the DART network before the health and safety of existing commuters.
I recall attending several meetings during the term of office of the rainbow Government in the company of the current Taoiseach and Tánaiste. We seemed to have similar views on the urgent necessity for a well resourced, well run city metro for Dublin. However, two and a half years were wasted before either of them ordered the purchase of a single new item of equipment or asked for drivers to be trained. This is characteristic of the lethargic approach of the Fianna FáilProgressive Democrats Government.
On a recent Saturday night, eight carriages were lost to the hard-pressed extended DART network through vandalism at Harmonstown and Dalkey stations, where two trains were vandalised and set on fire by thugs. This, again, highlights the fact that the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, has refused to assist Iarnród Éireann to establish a transport police service. Every metro system in Europe is guarded by some form of transport police service or is served by a late night ticketing service of some kind, but Ireland seems to be the only place where this matter is not taken seriously. Indeed, many Ministers in the Government do not take the needs of Dublin seriously.
The possibility that an accident involving the overcrowded trains which use the routes at rush hour on a daily basis might occur does not bear thinking about, particularly in light of the recent spate of deaths and injuries in the UK. In addition, the treatment of commuters with disabilities is utterly disgraceful. There are no staff available to assist with the portable ramps that have been provided in many stations.
The overcrowding on northside DART trains is intolerable. I call on the Minister, Deputy O'Rourke, and Dr. John Lynch, the new executive chairman of CIE to take immediate and urgent action. I urge the Minister to purchase today, if necessary—
