Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the speakers and welcome the delegations. It has been an interesting forum. All the rail reviews to date seem to have been based on demand. However, the Irish ways of measuring demand have been proven to be flawed by the cases mentioned here today. Mr. Logue mentioned the Derry line. He described the forecasts for the Belfast-Derry line as conservative, which was quite diplomatic. Mr. Feeney also spoke about what is happening with the Oranmore service. How reliable are these forecasts? How do the Irish forecasting models for rail usage and passengers numbers compare with other international systems?

My second question relates to the whole area of service. The review will more than likely make conclusions based on demand, as all reviews have to date, which brings us back to my first question. The witnesses from Tipperary have explained very well the lack of service, consistency and comfort of a rail service that is to all intents and purposes operating on timetables from the foundation of the State and even before that. Have other rail systems changed their timetabling beyond recognition to better reflect modern consumer demand, modern work pressures and the education pressures Deputy Lowry referred to? Is the Irish rail system, on both sides of the Border, stuck in a time warp or is it similar to other systems internationally?

The western rail corridor is crucial to the Atlantic economic corridor. An all-island rail review, which Mr. Logue put in context, would look at the Atlantic economic corridor. That seems to have slipped down the priority list of this Government. I am referring to the corridor from Derry to Cork. For that to be successful, it needs a cohesive rail line and service. I welcome Mr. Mulligan's reiteration that these two services can operate alongside each other. My worry is that if we proceed with the greenway, as proposed by Mr. Mulligan, we will never see the rail line. The greenway will be used as an excuse. There is nothing to prevent a greenway being developed alongside the existing rail service. We should still pursue the creation of a rail line and an all-island Atlantic economic corridor in the context of the all-island rail review. Rail demand and rail service probably need to be looked at completely differently from how they have been looked at to date, not just here but on the entire island.