Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Luas expansion on the green line in Dublin is now well under way. The first of the extended carriages are arriving which will allow for a 30% increase in capacity on the green line. On the northern and western Maynooth lines, with which I am familiar, two projects are under way. The first is the ordering of hybrid carriages that will allow us to electrify the network. Unfortunately, however, these will take in the region of four years to arrive. The national train control centre project is now under way. Approximately €100 million is being invested in the latter and this will allow more slots and, therefore, more capacity on the northern and Maynooth lines. Unfortunately, in the meantime only investment in buses will make a difference. It will be a couple of years before rail services can be improved.

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