Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)

I represent Dublin South-Central which is a densely populated area. A huge amount of building is going on, particularly in areas like Bluebell, Inchicore, Ballyfermot, Park West and around that area. Our access to rail is actually quite limited. The Luas goes through it but it is constantly jammed. Bus services are being re-evaluated at the moment in terms of BusConnect and people are quite unhappy about that.

I love that DART+ is going to come out. Kylemore and Ballyfermot are future-proofed but when I did the research, I realised that will be in 2050. I will be 75 years old then. That a long time off. There are many things that need to happen over the next while. It is great that we are future-proofing it, do not get me wrong, but I spent quite a lot of time in Europe where the rail service is excellent, and in a capital city such as Dublin there is no reason for us not to have that here, particularly in Dublin South-Central with so many tourist destinations and people coming to visit. It is really important.

We also have a climate crisis at the moment. We really need to make sure that our rail services reach every part of our city thereby removing people from their reliance on the car. For such a short distance coming into the city, Dublin South-Central really should be very reliant on rail, bus and other active travel methods. It is great that there are going to be expansions but I would love the NTA and Irish Rail to make sure Dublin South-Central is not forgotten when it comes to the rail service.

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