I thank the Senator for affording me the opportunity to address the Seanad on this issue. Strictly speaking, the issue raised is a day to day matter for Irish Rail. Senator Feighan mentioned the food. I was stuck on a train in a similar situation not long ago and I understand it had nothing to do with Government or Irish Rail but that the person who was due to supply the food rang in sick. The Government is blamed for everything.
I have good news about Government policy and some of the fundamental questions asked by the Senator regarding investment in rail services. The progress made by Irish Rail in recent years and the plans it has for the development of its network in the coming years are good news. We all understand that rail services have suffered from under-investment over a long period, resulting in a deterioration of the levels of services provided. However, the national development plan has changed that. In the period 1998 to 2003, almost €1 billion has been expended by the Exchequer on the upgrade and development of our railways. Thanks to the commitment made by the Minister for Finance in his 2003 budget, this level of investment will continue, at least in the medium term.
Some of the outputs of this investment in the past few years are that by the end of this year, all track on the radial routes serving the regions will have been renewed. Sligo and Westport were completed in 2003 and have, therefore, not been forgotten. By the end of 2007, all signalling equipment, some dating back many decades, will have been replaced by new state-of-the-art computer controlled signalling equipment. Signalling on the Sligo line has also been completed and work on the Westport and Ballina lines will begin in the coming months. Between 2000 and the end of 2007, more than 380 new railway passenger vehicles will have been placed into service on Irish Rail's network. In other words Irish Rail's entire passenger carrying fleet will be new or, in the case of the original DART fleet, completely refurbished to the highest international standards.
The effort that has been put into this massive task by Irish Rail has not been fully recognised. It has gone from being a very under-resourced public transport provider to a highly competent service operator that has proved itself capable of designing and delivering projects to the highest international standards, on time and within budget. This should be a source of great pride to it. I acknowledge the work of all involved in this achievement to date.
I turn now to the particular rail services referred to by the Senator. Currently Irish Rail uses a combination of diesel rail cars and Mark II locomotive hauled carriages on the railway lines serving Sligo, Westport, Ballina and Galway. The company has on order a new fleet of 67 intercity carriages. These carriages are being built by CAF in Spain and are due to enter into service in December 2005 on services from Dublin to Cork and Limerick.
The arrival of these carriages will allow the company, in the short term, to cascade the railway carriages currently used on the Dublin-Cork line onto the services to Sligo, Westport, Ballina and Galway lines. However, this cascading of rolling stock, which is a common feature of railway operations throughout the world, is a short-term measure. In order to offer its customers a top-class service on all its routes, Irish Rail has indicated to the Department that it wishes to further enhance its fleet by purchasing high specification interregional railcars. The Department is awaiting a formal proposal from Irish Rail in this regard. The proposal will also allow for the removal from regular service of much of the older rolling stock in the company's fleet. The new railcars will be used on all routes other than the Dublin-Belfast, Cork and Limerick routes.
Irish Rail's overall policy is to increase the frequency of departures on all routes and to reduce journey times between the main cities and towns. When the examination of the proposal for the railcars is complete, the Minister for Transport hopes to be in a position to announce further details of the implications of the introduction of these railcars on services to Sligo and Westport.
The introduction of the new vehicles will be the last step in an almost complete overhaul of rail infrastructure in this country. I am confident that Irish Rail's customers will begin to see significant improvements in the standards and frequency of all of Irish Rail's services, whether commuting around Dublin, Cork and Limerick or travelling at speed and in comfort to our regional cities. For the first time customers will have a real choice of more frequent services and be in a position to book individual seats.
Significant capacity increases will be delivered on all routes and the level of comfort, speed, safety and reliability will be vastly improved. Access to and from the regions will as a result be far easier and offer a real choice over the private car.
I thank the Senator again for raising this important issue. I hope I have convinced him somewhat of the significant progress that has been made. Hopefully he will spread the word on the good the Government is doing.
