Mr. Jim Meade:

I thank the committee for the invitation to attend the committee today to discuss the all-island rail review. As members of the committee will know, in April 2021, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland, Nichola Mallon MLA, announced the launch of an all-island strategic rail review. The scope of that review overall was that the all-island strategic rail review will consider how the rail network on the island of Ireland can improve sustainable connectivity between major cities, enhance regional accessibility; support balanced regional development, consider the feasibility of higher speeds on the network and whether there is a potential to increase use of the network for freight.

Before I address these matters from Iarnród Éireann’s perspective, I will briefly outline the process and governance associated with the review, as established by the Department of Transport and Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. Arup Consultants were appointed by the Departments as consultants for the review and work on the review formally commenced in late August-early September 2021. The review’s scope included: setting the context, the opportunities and the constraints, which include the public consultation process; identification of service level scenarios; definition of short-listed service level scenarios and final appraisal; and a final report, which it is expected will be completed by quarter 4 of the current year.

In terms of governance, two oversight groups have been established for the review, which both incorporate representatives from the Departments, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the National Transport Authority, NTA, Translink and EIB. The project management group meeting, referred to as the PMG, is the first line of review for outputs from the review. Iarnród Éireann’s participation in this group is led by my colleague, Peter Muldoon, director of capital investments, who is with me today. The high-level steering group forms the main oversight of the review. It includes the bodies referenced above as well as the Commission for Railway Regulation, and I sit on this steering group on behalf of Iarnród Éireann.

While the committee will appreciate that Iarnród Éireann is contributing to the groups above, the two Departments, North and South, are ultimately responsible for the review and for the policy decisions which arise. That said, I would like to give the committee Iarnród Éireann’s perspective on some of the issues being considered within its scope as well as recent developments which support some of the ambitions within the scope. I will take three elements of the scope together, namely, improving sustainable connectivity between the major cities, enhancing regional accessibility and supporting balanced regional development, as there is some overlap. For sustainable connectivity between the major cities and enhancing regional accessibility, we can deliver this most effectively through higher frequency, improved journey times and reducing the carbon emissions of our operations. Throughout the decade 2000 to 2010, Iarnród Éireann was in a position to demonstrate clearly the benefits of higher frequency across our network. Enhancing rail services on all our InterCity routes, including, for example, hourly to Cork-Limerick and two-hourly to Kerry, eight times daily to Sligo and others, dramatically increased demand, and journey time improvements also supported the process.

Our ambition under Iarnród Éireann’s Strategy 2027 is to again enhance frequency and line speeds. To that end, current projects which will help achieve this ambition include: the DART+ programme, by building the capacity of our infrastructure, through measures such as completing the four-tracking of the line between ParkWest and Heuston Station, and other signalling and city centre capacity issues; the DART+ fleet, by freeing up InterCity railcars currently in use on commuter services to increase frequency and capacity on InterCity services; support under the PEACE PLUS programme for a new Enterprise fleet to allow hourly services between Dublin and Belfast; the Cork line renewal programme by renewing track and the track bed to facilitate improved speeds for journeys to Cork, Kerry and Limerick; and regional city investment, on which I will expand shortly. In addition, a programme to convert our InterCity railcar fleet, currently diesel operated, to hybrid operation is progressing well and will reduce emissions further by more than 35% on that fleet. In the longer term, continuing electrification beyond the greater Dublin area, further double-tracking and the addition of passing loops and other infrastructure investment will help achieve these ambitions.

As well as inter-urban travel, enhancing rail services in and around our major cities is also critical to supporting balanced regional development. It is heartening to see these programmes accelerate, with support at Exchequer and EU level, including: under the European Recovery and Resilience Programme, €185 million has been allocated to Cork commuter rail, which will include resignalling, a new through platform at Kent Station and double-tracking Glounthaune to Midleton; the full Cork metropolitan area transport strategy, CMATS, plans to expand all three commuter rail lines into Cork will follow, including further capacity, new stations and a move to electrification; almost €50 million of urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, funding for two projects in Galway: the redevelopment of Ceannt Station as part of the development of a major transport hub in the city centre and the provision of a second platform and passing loop at Oranmore to increase frequency on this increasingly popular route; the review of the Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transport strategy, LSMATS, in the context of maximising the usage of both existing and disused railway lines around Limerick city; and delivering the relocated Plunkett Station in Waterford, providing for public transport integration and future frequency improvements as part of the Waterford North Quays development.

In terms of considering the feasibility of higher speeds on the network, as I mentioned, further improving journey time is a major part of our strategy to increase demand. Higher speeds – at a minimum reducing journey times between Dublin and all our major cities to under two hours – are a priority for Iarnród Éireann. In railway terms, there is a differentiation between “high speed” and “higher speed,” with the former typified by services such as the TGV in France or the Shinkansen in Japan. These services operate generally in excess of 250 km/h, operate on exclusively developed lines, do not serve smaller, intermediate stations and link large, densely populated urban areas. The business cases involved differ markedly from higher speed, which involves upgrading infrastructure to enhance line speeds and with electrification improving acceleration and deceleration also. Upgrading existing lines to 200 km/h operation is something which is feasible and achievable, and would strengthen our journey time competitiveness significantly.

Regarding the potential to increase use of the network for freight, we are ambitious for our rail freight services to become a key part of Ireland’s freight sector and welcome the Departments' inclusion of rail freight within the review’s scope. In 2021, we published our Rail Freight 2040 strategy, which sets out a clear path to make this happen. Rail Freight 2040 aims to achieve: a fivefold increase in the number of rail freight services to include more than 100 new weekly services across the rail network; a resulting reduction of 25,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, with rail freight emissions per unit as little as 16% of heavy goods vehicle, HGV, emissions; and avoiding the requirement for 140,000 HGV journeys on our roads annually as well as helping the supply chain which is facing a shortage of HGV drivers.

The strategy outlines 25 initiatives and a cumulative investment of approximately €500 million out to 2040, with five strategic pillars, which are: enhancing connections with sea ports - enhancing existing operations to Waterford and Dublin Ports and re-establishing rail connections to Foynes Port in Limerick and Marino Point in Cork; developing a network of inland intermodal terminals - an expansive network of inland rail freight terminals is proposed, establishing rail freight in each of the regions; addressing rolling stock requirements by investment in new wagon fleets and bi-mode locomotives would allow for further decarbonisation of freight flows; network development - the connectivity of industrial sites directly to the rail network and development of additional passing loops and double-tracking on current single-track sections of the network; and policy initiatives - working with national, regional and European stakeholders, Iarnród Éireann will work to ensure a policy framework is in place to support a more favourable environment for rail freight in line with European norms.