Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)

I thank Deputy Dolan for the question and I share some of his frustration as well, no more than the earlier comments from Deputy O'Hara. I know the Deputy is intensely interested in this issue. As we said earlier, there is no doubt there has been very strong passenger growth in recent years. It does pose challenges at certain times on the public transport network, including on the Athenry to Galway corridor. That has been recognised by Irish Rail. The good news is that a range of measures is being examined to address the issues raised by the Deputy, but to be clear some of these measures have short-term, medium-term and longer-term time horizons so I cannot promise to fix all issues at the one time.

With regard to the short-term measures, last year a revised timetable was introduced that saw an increase in services for Athenry, resulting in total daily services increasing to 39 per day. The changes also increased the number of pre-9 a.m. arrivals into Galway from Athenry from two services to three services every weekday morning. These measures were assisted by the entry into service of 41 additional intercity rail carriages last year, which has helped with capacity issues on the network generally. More, however, needs to be done.

In addition, the upgrade works at Ceannt Station are scheduled to be completed next year. These works, along with the new passing loop at Oranmore station, are vital short-term measures to create additional frequencies getting in and out of the city. Permission was granted in February and construction is expected to commence by the end of this year. These infrastructure projects will deliver additional capacity and efficiency to the rail network.

On medium-term measures, the Deputy is aware that the new DART+ fleet is currently being tested and will begin entry into service over the coming year. While this new fleet is DART specific it will have a knock-on benefit of allowing the release of existing fleet for deployment elsewhere including from Athenry to Galway. The question of where these are to be deployed is currently being reviewed by the NTA and Irish Rail.

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