Mr. Jim Meade:

Not in this programme. Does the Cathaoirleach mean corridor doors such as those at some other stations? No, we have not; that is the straight answer. We are upgrading platforms for different reasons. We are bridging that gap between the train and the platform on our new trains. When the trains arrive a step will come out to the platform from every door to bridge the gap as people step on to the trains. Those trains will go on to that route. They are battery-electric so when they get to Malahide they will continue to Drogheda running on batteries. We can charge the batteries in Drogheda or under the wires when they come back. While we are doing the Maynooth line, the corridor out to Hazelhatch, we will be able to give an uplift to the service delivery. The northern route will have all the new trains and we will cascade some of the existing trains on to the other routes, so that we have a capacity increase.

We are seeing substantial growth again. Anecdotally, there has been a jump in passenger numbers of in or around 20% in the year since September 2023. We are seeing large numbers of people migrating on to the public transport system. That is possibly due to people returning to the office, road congestion or other reasons but we have seen that jump. We are seeing a lot of people travelling.

The electrification process will happen. It will be somewhat disruptive but we will manage that. We will protect the working week, from Monday to Friday, and we will always protect important weekends for special events in the city. We will need to go in at times and do the work, however. Commuters on the northern line will see the uplift long before we have that work finished.