Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Graham very much. I appreciate that. Next, I want to raise the issue of capacity on some services at certain times, which was mentioned in the NTA’s opening statement. That is true. When you go to the Google Maps app, it will tell you when the next bus is busy and the information there is quite accurate. What is becoming a huge trend is that the early morning trains coming into Dublin are very much congested. This morning, I travelled on the 7.40 a.m. train. The earlier train, which was at 7.25 a.m., would have been about half full by the time it left Cork and collected passengers in Limerick Junction. It would increase as it went through Thurles and Portlaoise. Beyond Portlaoise, as you get to areas such as Newbridge, Sallins, Naas, etc., you will start seeing that the train becomes too full to the point that the passengers are not only standing between carriages, but they are also standing up and down the aisles of carriages and they are holding onto seats and are rocking over and back. I do not think it is safe. I do not think it is right. It is morally wrong that there are not more carriages when they are paying a lot of money to travel on those trains. I know the issue corrects itself as the day goes on, but surely there needs to be better oversight of the number of the carriages on those morning trains. Is it safe? I will ask that question. I know it is safe on the Luas and buses, but is it safe for someone when a train is travelling at 120 km/h, or whatever the speed is, that they should be standing in the aisle for the entire duration of the journey?