Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The next iteration in terms of decision-making will be the all-island strategic rail review. It will inform the development and decision-making of inter-urban and inter-regional rail across the island over the coming decades. It provides the strategic backdrop to rail investment in our region that the Jaspers review noted was lacking when considering phases 2 and 3 of the corridor.

The review will provide important scope for real improvement of rail services across existing and potential future corridors of the network. That scope will include the potential afforded by disused and closed lines such as the western rail corridor. As I said previously, work on the review is at an advanced stage. It will be published for the purposes of strategic and environmental assessment as part of the public consultation process in July. That forms the formal basis upon which Government decisions will be made after that. Obviously, engagement with public representatives and across everyone in the House will be an important context to inform those decisions.

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