Ms Mary Considine:

Okay, I will be very brief. I thank the Senator for her questions. As I am from the west of Ireland, I empathise and I understand the importance of rail from the perspective of balanced regional development. Regarding the extension out to Collooney, the line is being preserved for future rail reuse. That is really important. The plan is a framework. If we can accelerate some projects, we would be very open to that. It is all subject to funding and the business case but the initial soundings around the western rail corridor are very positive. We hope that this momentum will continue for the spur further out.

I hear very clearly what the Senator is saying on catering. If we are able to reintroduce catering, we will prioritise services with longer journey times. We heard from Deputy Pa Daly earlier about the Kerry line. For those longer journey times, we totally appreciate the requirement for catering.

Regarding the refurbishment of Sligo station, I have been there and I have seen the roof the Senator referred to. This goes back to funding, but it is certainly on our radar. I know the staff there have been raising it with the infrastructure department. We certainly will look at that, subject to funding.

The Senator's last point was about train speeds. My understanding is that as DART+ West is rolled out, we will have more capacity on the Mullingar-Maynooth section. Double tracking will improve train speeds because there are probably speed restrictions. As I am new to the role, I am going to qualify everything I say. I might not have all the facts, but my preliminary understanding is that speed restrictions apply there.