Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be mainly parochial in my remarks but before I deal with the parish, I refer to one project that is complementary to the project mentioned by the Chairman. I cannot get my head around the fact that the Government is not proceeding with it. It is to connect Dublin Airport to the main rail system. It would allow mainline trains using the tunnel to go north, south, east and west. It would also allow for a connection to the entire rail system, including the DART. Will the witness give us a short brief on the reason we are not doing that? It seems to be a no-brainer in terms of a project that would cost hundreds of millions of euro as against billions of euro for a much longer project, namely, metro north, which I am not against? Why are we not connecting the entire rail system? When we arrive in any airport abroad the first thing we do is look to see if there is a train into the city centre and if there is, we go to the train station where very good services are provided.

On the west of Ireland service to Galway, I understand what Mr. Meade is saying about trains to Galway leaving on an hourly basis. An all-day service into the late evening is needed but to go back to my hobby horse, the commuters want to get into town some time between 8 a.m. and 9.30 a.m., therefore, the trains need to arrive at a much increased frequency at that time. The requirement is more spread out in the evening, with a train leaving from 4.30 p.m. and 7 p.m. People do not always leave town after work so the requirement is more spread out late into the evening, therefore, late evening trains are required, as we have in Dublin up to 11.30 p.m.

First, we cannot magic resources out of thin air so has Iarnród Éireann studied the potential of using existing resources to facilitate more trains at busy commuter times in and out of Galway? In terms of an obvious one, based on the population of the town we know there is a disproportionate number of commuters from Athenry to Galway. It seems to me that is based on frequency. Should more trains run, for example, from Limerick to Athenry where the commuter would change trains and, five minutes later, board the commuter Dublin to Galway train? It seems it is an urgent requirement to get much more frequent trains into Galway. That would breed success, the success would breed investment and so on.

Second, in terms of the other obvious question that arises, Mr. Meade mentioned the passing loop. That would be a good start, although his timing is optimistic. It is a 20-minute journey to Athenry. If that is divided by two, it is ten minutes. That means there would be 20-minute intervals but even that would be better than 40 minutes. That one small piece of the network would free up things. Is it being considered as a priority? Mr. Meade referred to a passing loop somewhere around Oranmore.

The other question is about the Limerick and Galway ends of that railway line. Has consideration been given to commuter trains that would have urban stops? Galway is a rapidly growing city. I understand a large number of people travel from Oranmore to Galway. That is growing rapidly and the only constraint is the frequency of the trains. Has there been any talk of Ballyloughane serving Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT, or whatever? Has there been any talk of an equivalent across the river, near the university in Limerick? It also goes very near Thomond Park and the institute of technology, IT. Rather than bringing everybody into the city centre and out again, has there been a discussion whereby they could get off near the IT and get a commuter bus to the IT or to Thomond Park?

There is a new fashion in regard to transport. People do not always use their cars or the train. Most of us are multi-modal now. We love taking the train when it is convenient. How much work has been done around that area?

That leads to an inevitable conclusion. I believe that will be successful. It will open the Claremorris line. I know Iarnród Éireann want to do that but it will open despite those who have been naysayers in that regard for a long time. I believe commuter rail is the future.