Mr. Frank Dawson:

We are fully prepared to articulate the business case, as there has always been the need for such a case. We are satisfied that the business case stands up and we are prepared to contribute our thoughts to that. This is in the context of the rail freight argument we have just made.

Competing bus services between Galway and Limerick are remarkable in that they were introduced by a sister company of Iarnród Éireann just as the railway opened. It is claimed the services reach Limerick in one hour and 20 minutes but such schedules, unlike rail schedules, are not subject to the same level of audit. That said, it is a fact that a person can be quicker to travel by road than the current rail service in this case. There is considerable potential to tighten the speeds on the rail service. The maximum speed on sections of the western rail corridor is 80 mph, which is 20 mph faster than any bus is allowed to travel legally. My expectation is that the full potential of the line will gradually be exploited by Iarnród Éireann as it addresses some pinch points that are currently there. We referred earlier to flooding at Ballycar, which closed the line last year. We hope that can be addressed. It is a national issue and not just for Iarnród Éireann and flooding, like any other issue, should be addressed centrally. Iarnród Éireann needs assistance in that regard.

The National Transport Authority, NTA, could help the western rail corridor by reflecting the fact that the fare from Galway to Limerick is currently €9.99. The NTA website suggests the fares begin at €22.40. I have asked the authority to address this but, to my knowledge, it has not been done up to this morning. The authority could also assist the western rail corridor and corridors in the Cork region by including rail transport in the Leap card, which was launched with a flourish recently in Galway city. However, it only provides for transport on Bus Éireann and another private bus operator in Galway. It excludes the railway, which has many commuters coming from the likes of Gort, Ballinasloe and Athenry. These customers cannot use Leap cards and that is a serious oversight on the part of advocating co-ordinated transport. The duplication of bus and train services between Galway and Limerick poses the question of how two sister companies of CIE can compete on the same route while Bus Éireann is currently discussing whether to sever services on routes that do not have railway services. Perhaps the board of CIE might engage in bringing about some co-ordination between the two subsidiaries. Clearly, there is an alternative to having two companies in the same group competing with each other.

We all advocate full attention to safety but the Railway Safety Commission appears to apply different standards to the western rail corridor level crossings when compared with other level crossings. It regards them somewhat as a new railway but this is the re-opening of a former railway. I am thankful that Iarnród Éireann has addressed most of the issues, although at some considerable expense. The difficulty is that the western rail corridor was opened before it was complete and, in retrospect, it might have been better to delay the opening until the completion. C'est la vie.That is the past.