James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Public transport is the main artery of our infrastructure. I represent the Kildare North commuter belt, as the Minister knows. Whether it is climate change, quality of life or avoiding gridlock, I think the many reasons for investment in public transport are self-evident.

I want to reference Dart+ West and Dart+ South West, two projects that bring the Dart line electrification out to Maynooth on one line and Hazelhatch on the other. I would say they should go just that little bit further. The Dart+ West should go to Kilcock, at least, if not Enfield. The depot is in Kilcock, so residents of Kilcock will see the trains coming in and out in the morning and evening but they cannot board them because it starts one station up, in Maynooth. In the case of Hazelhatch and Dart+ South West, it stops at Hazelhatch in the new Dart proposals. Sallins and Newbridge should be included as well. They are the stations with the bulk of the commuting population and they are being left behind.

These are once-in-a-generation projects. It is a really positive infrastructural investment but let us go one step further, or one station further in these cases, and get it right to capture the essence, otherwise it could be a lost opportunity.

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