Public Transport

120. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Transport to provide an update on implementation of the recommendations of the all-island rail review; and his plans to improve capacity on rail services. [67279/26]

I have raised overcrowding on early morning trains into Galway with the Minister of State a number of times. It has been going on for years on all services, particularly on that train that arrives into Galway at 8.10 a.m. It is at a crisis point now. People are being put in serious danger. I have had a lot of people in touch with me, and I am sure the Minister of State has as well. What is going to be done about this in the short term?

I thank the Deputy. To take forward the implementation of the all-island strategic rail review, my Department published the rail projects prioritisation strategy in December 2025. In the short term, the strategy specifies a number of early interventions, including new passing loops and platforms to boost the rail network’s resilience and capacity. These investments are funded to be fully delivered by 2030 under the national development plan. The strategy also identifies major projects to be delivered in the long term, including the reinstatement of the western rail corridor between Claremorris and Athenry, which I am pleased to say is also funded to commence construction under the national development plan. To cater for the future demand envisioned under the rail review, we are progressing rail station upgrades across the network, including at Ceannt Station, where improvement works have already increased the number of platforms from two to five. We are also continuing work at Oranmore Station, which will provide an additional platform and a passing loop, increasing capacity on the Galway to Athenry line. Regarding the Deputy’s query on enhancing capacity on the network, larnród Eireann’s rolling stock is currently fully deployed on services across the network. Notwithstanding this, I am pleased to note that, as part of the DART+ programme, three orders delivering a total of 285 new carriages have been placed so far. When the first and second orders start entering service next year, this will allow for the redeployment of existing intercity and commuter trains to other parts of the rail network experiencing capacity issues. The reason we have the capacity issue is because when we built the line from Athenry to Ennis, we had 132,000 passenger journeys per annum. Last year, we had 750,000 passenger journeys. That is an enormous increase, and it is the fastest growing line now, which is what justifies doing all this other investment. We will continue to do that.

I raised this with the NTA last week and was told that all available carriages were in use at peak times, but I have a number of questions in relation to this and would appreciate clear answers to them for the people who have to travel on these overcrowded services daily. Why has there been no forward planning and how have we ended up in a situation where we do not have additional rail carriages? When are we going to have additional carriages on the trains going into Galway? I want a clear timeline on this because the Minister of State mentioned that new electric carriages were going to be arriving into Dublin, which would free up existing stock to go out to the regional routes. Is that going to happen in quarter 2 of 2027? Do we have a clear timeline on when that will happen? Has there been engagement will rail operators and departments in other jurisdictions about the possibility of securing stock on a short-term basis to address these capacity issues while we wait for the new stock? Why has the Government not funded the promised new Athenry bus service? We have been waiting for that for two years. That will take significant pressure off the existing rail services into the city. These are the questions that I am getting of commuters, and I would appreciate clear answers to them because this is not a sustainable situation and the Government cannot continue to sit on its hands.

I want to reiterate that the Government is not sitting on plans. It is very active at the moment, and the Deputy knows that as well. He also well knows that we are preparing to open the line between Athenry and Claremorris, which is something he supports, and we need to get on with that. Next year, 2027, is when we will have additional carriages becoming available. The NTA is working with Irish Rail and the latter has been looking at other places across the world but it cannot just get carriages from some other place because the railway lines themselves may be of different configuration. It is not like getting a car from some place and putting it on the line. There is a lot more to it than that and the carriages have to be compatible with what is there at the moment. In fairness, what we have seen here, and it is something that we have to acknowledge, is the biggest growth in public transport in the west of Ireland. We have gone from 132,000 to 750,000 passenger journeys per annum on that line, making it the fastest-growing line. I agree that there is a shortage of carriages on it. We need to put more into it and I am working to make sure it happens next year.

I just cannot accept the response that nothing is going to be done here in the short term. We are told we have to wait for carriages, with very vague assurances as to when they are going to become available. I have been contacted in relation to people becoming unwell. One woman described getting on the train this week and said that people were pushing and shoving so much that she thought someone could go down the gap between the train and platform. This is the situation on public transport every morning into Galway city. Can the Minister of State give us a clear timeline as to when the rail services going in and out of Galway specifically, and particularly that one arriving at 8.10 a.m., will have additional carriages? Can we get a clear time on that? How we have ended up in this situation where we do not have additional rail carriages? I appreciate it takes time and we cannot just get them into service within a very short period but how has there not been forward planning such that we are left in this situation? I also want to ask about the Athenry bus service. That has been promised for two years and would make a really significant difference in terms of taking pressure off these services. Why has that not been funded?

Just to reiterate, I did say that there will be additional carriages available in 2027. That is the first thing I said to the Deputy.

For Galway?

Yes, for Galway. The second question the Deputy asked was why this has arisen. It has arisen because when one orders new carriages it takes about five years to get them manufactured and delivered to one's specification. That is the timeline. The carriages were ordered four or five years ago and they will be with us next year. I do accept that there has been an underfunding of our service. It has grown over the last five to ten years and that particular line has grown substantially. We need to double-track that line from Athenry into Galway and that is also in the strategy that we have in place. What we need to do first is make sure we can put in the passing loops to get more frequency in and out with the trains we have. I fought hard to make sure that we would retain that early morning train service into Galway, which we have succeeded in doing. As for the bus service, we are working to get that in place as well but we have to make sure that whatever we put in is sustainable. There was a bus service there previously that was not sustainable. That is something we have to be very careful of, that we are not just doing things for the sake of doing them and finding that they are not sustainable. I know that the NTA and Bus Éireann are looking at that at the moment.