Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to Irish Rail about the Avoca train station and see what the possibilities are. With regard to rail, and particularly the Wexford line going into south Wicklow, there are developments going on across the country. This strategic rail review will look at how we can extend commuter services and I would do that as we electrify. The DART will be fully electrified on certain services, such as the one to Maynooth, with overhead power lines and so on. There may well also be a possibility of running battery electric trains, which can avail of that power supply and then run on a battery system if they go beyond the grid network. This technology is still evolving and the types of trains that would operate on a service running as far south as Wicklow or Arklow are only at an early stage of development but it is something at which we are looking. It might provide an opportunity to enhance our rail services. There are real benefits to electrified trains rather than diesel ones when it comes to starting and stopping times and that might make commuting from the likes of Wicklow town a possibility.

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