Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I hope that it will be my Leap card and not the pensioner's free travel card that I will be able to use on the day we open up the service from Mallow to Midleton, not just Cork. That is what is in the Cork metropolitan area strategy, which we are seeking to advance. It is a perfect project that will use existing infrastructure. It will require work at Kent Station so that we can run right the way through. That makes sense. It would also involve new stations at the likes of Tivoli, on the north side of Cork, in Blarney and in Monard where housing should be put. Cork County Council must adjust its development plan now to configure housing with the public transport plans that I hope we will get through the national development plan review. Linked with what Deputy Matthews spoke about, the new electric battery trains would be charged in Mallow and run in and out of there. That makes what we are talking about a completely different prospect. That is a metropolitan rail service, not an intercity one, and it could run much more frequently. This is doable and should be our top transport priority because we need Cork to be strong and to grow as a centre.