Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are increasing the number of commuter trains, improvements have been made to the Phoenix Park tunnel and ten-minute DART services have been introduced. We regard with a sense of urgency the short-term difficulties to which the Deputy has quite rightly referred, but he will also know that a successful transport system of this sort will always have capacity issues if demand increases at a faster rate than expected. Luas cross-city, which was introduced barely 18 months ago was, overnight, a victim of its own success. We introduced a very successful cross-city project and it immediately attracted an significant number of people to public transport. It is a tribute to public transport in Ireland and something we are going to match and alleviate in a very short time. The projected number of Luas trams we will bring to the green line in a short period will certainly alleviate the difficulties to which the Deputy referred. We will not sort it out in five or six months, but we will sort it out by way of a medium and long-term plan, the details of which I have spelled out clearly to him.

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