Vol. 554 No. 5
1278 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Transport the extent to which the rail passenger carrying capacity of the commuter route serving Kilcock, Maynooth, Leixlip and Confey, County Kildare has increased; the measures needed to improve the situation; the new services proposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16695/02]
1279 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Transport the extent to which it is possible to facilitate the provision of extra rail carriages to meet increased demands on the western commuter route serving Kilcock, Maynooth, Leixlip and Confey, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16696/02]
1280 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Transport when the Kilcock, Maynooth, Leixlip commuter rail service will have achieved its potential as anticipated under the re-development programme; if further extensions, embellishments or improvements are contemplated; if so, the time scale envisaged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16697/02]
1318 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Transport the number of additional rail cars which will be deployed on the Maynooth suburban rail line in 2002; the increased capacity resulting; and when the rail cars will be deployed. [17436/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1278 to 1280, inclusive, and 1318 together.
In order to address the increased demand on the Maynooth line, Iarnród Éireann, with EU and Government funding under the national development plan, invested €55 million to double track the line in 2000. Iarnród Éireann put 20 new diesel railcars into service for use on the upgraded line and these improvements increased the capacity of the Maynooth line by over 100% at peak times.
Iarnród Éireann will begin to take delivery next month of the first batch of 80 new diesel railcars. After commissioning they will start going into service from summer 2002 and some of them will be allocated to the Dublin-Maynooth line. These additional railcars will provide further additional capacity by increasing all peak hour trains to eight-car length.
