Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is phenomenal. It used to be just a few people with a free pass and me. Irish Rail has given people confidence in trains again. Limerick Station looks amazing. It finally has decent coffee, which is a big one for me with early trains. I wish to ask a few questions. The reopening of Cratloe train station is key. I drove to Limerick the other day. I would normally get the train from Ennis. The number of cars on the road was chock-a-block. I could not believe it. I had not driven that road in a while because I always get the train. So many people still go via car to Limerick. There is something missing there. Cratloe train station would be a massive solution. I think people do not value Crusheen train station as much because I hear a lot about Cratloe. I have a guy doing research for me to prove it will be as financially viable and important to get people out of cars. We have to give people choices that suit them better than the car. We have a total car addiction. It is no wonder because we had bad public transport for so long. If we look at climate targets, of which transport has the biggest at 50%, there has never been a more important time to invest in rail. I ask Irish Rail to seriously look at Crusheen as well as Cratloe. People think it is all one-off houses and that there are not many people there. A huge number of people would go to Crusheen to get the train. I would like to hear what is happening about that and Cratloe.

On a more local level in Ennis, I would love to see a link between walking and cycling and getting the train. For instance, the bike shelter there is from the sixties. We need to invest in proper secure bike parking for people in the town or within a distance of perhaps 10 km of the town so they feel they can cycle there safely. I would love to see e-bike charging points for longer distances for someone like me - I would have to do 17 km. I might leave the bike there for three days. I would like to know I can get on my e-bike when I come back instead of bringing it to Dublin. I do not need to bring a bike to Dublin. There is DublinBikes and I have a bike there anyway.

Proper signs for information on train times are needed. The huge challenge for Irish Rail is that no matter how many trains are put on, there is a lack of confidence in public transport. It is a legacy issue. Clear information on train times is important. The people who make train signs for the underground in London are in Clare - the company is in Ennistymon. That should be looked into as well. We have to make it as easy as possible for people to access information.

I raised the issue that if you do not have the parking app, which a lot of older people do not, they are afraid they cannot leave the car there. They do not realise they can go into the station and pay for parking with cash or their card on the machine where you buy train tickets. If there are no signs in the car park to let people know that, they will not do it. People ring me saying they could leave the car there, but they do not know how to use the app so they could not get the train. It is a question of a few signs.

Personally, later trains are needed. The last train from Dublin to Ennis is at 6 p.m. There are later trains to Limerick at around 9 p.m. but there is no train from Limerick to Ennis. That is a missing piece. One onto Galway would be amazing. Trains are very popular now with students and we need more carriages. I will speak about that in a minute. There is one at 6.50 a.m. to Galway and another one at 1.30 p.m. but due to housing reasons and because trains are so cheap thanks to the half-price ticket, students want to get the train to college like never before. They are parking their cars. They have saved up their money since their confirmation to buy a car and now they realise it is mad. Cars cost a ridiculous amount to run so they get the train and give up on the car. We need more trains. Particularly for students with the current train times especially - one at 6.50 a.m. and not another one until 1.30 p.m. does not make for happy commuters.

I feel Irish Rail was left out of Connecting Ireland. I know local authorities in many places talked to Bus Éireann and other bus companies but they did not talk to Irish Rail. It was not in the room. As a result, there are still 16 times a day when the bus and train miss each other by a short five minutes. A train comes in at 7.30 p.m. and at exactly 7.30 p.m. the last bus to west Clare leaves the station. It is a killer. People have to drive their kids up from Kilkee because the bus leaves at the same time. There is a missing piece. It is not necessarily the fault of Irish Rail. Irish Rail was left out of the room when we were looking at Connecting Ireland, from talking to the people who made submissions. Unfortunately, Irish Rail will have to drive it with Bus Éireann and Local Link - we now have that amazing infrastructure that goes where no bus has ever gone before. I would love to see the NTA bring Bus Éireann, Irish Rail and Local Link into a room and ask them to shift the timetables so there really is a Connecting Ireland.

Is there any timeline for the 140 new carriages? As was said, people are sitting on the floors which means Irish Rail is a victim of its own success. I will take the heat on that from people who give out about not having a seat. It is because we have done so well on public transport and trains in particular that we do not have enough seats because of the demand. When will we see the roll-out of increased capacity in trains?