Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, too. It is good news that the DART+ fleets are being rolled out, albeit on the Drogheda line, because that will free up carriages on the Drogheda line, which is what we want. We are first up, best dressed in Athy looking for those additional carriages that come as part of the new DART+ carriages that the Government has already welcomed and that will be part of the northern commuter line, serving Dublin to Drogheda. That is the part that I want to highlight with the Minister of State and, by extension, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney. Once those carriages are put on the Drogheda line, it will free up the additional carriages. The people of Athy, through their petition and their public representatives, are asking that those carriages that were on the Dublin to Drogheda line would come and provide additional services on the Athy and, by extension, as I said, Carlow line.

The figures speak for themselves when you see that 271,000 people used the train station in Athy in 2024. That number is only growing. Thankfully, a number of new housing estates are being built in Athy and in various villages and towns in the locality. The Athy train station services an area extending into County Laois so a large cohort of people use that station each morning. There is adequate car parking and so on for an expansion at the station.

It is positive news that the new carriages are on the way for DART+. That is what the reply from the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and Iarnród Éireann actually said. It was that once those were in place, it would free up the other carriages. I am making a plea to both Ministers of State that the people of Athy are seeking those freed-up carriages to be put on the Waterford to Heuston line, because when that number of people are using public transport, it is always good and we should encourage more people to use public transport and save those car journeys late at night for those people who cannot get a train home to the town of Athy.

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