Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I have known Deputy Byrne for a while and what a proponent he is of public transport and improving it, reducing congestion and emissions. It has always been something he has believed in. It is hard to dispute what he presented. Even if half of those 6,500 could be gotten into train carriages, the difference it would make on the M11 would be significant. I will outline some of the infrastructure and plans for expansion of rail services. In Wexford, the N11 or N25 Oilgate to Rosslare Harbour project, which has received an allocation of €4 million for 2025 is currently in the design and environmental evaluation phase. This would deliver safety improvements to the N11 and N25 corridors in addition to improving regional connectivity and ensuring that the increased volume of freight traffic using Rosslare Europort can be accommodated. Some €2 million has also been allocated for the Rosslare Europort access road - Rosslare port adds to the M11 traffic and issues. In Wicklow, €1.45 million has been allocated to the N11 bus priority interim scheme which would deliver improved safety and bus priority measures on a section of the N11 in the Bray-Kilmacanogue area. Work is continuing on the DART+ programme which will double the peak-hour capacity and triple the length of the existing DART network. As part of this programme, DART+ coastal south involves an improvement to DART services on the existing DART line south of Dublin city with the current focus on enhancing services between Bray and Greystones. Stage 1 of the project will increase train frequency from two to three trains per hour from Bray to Greystones, while stage 2 will boost train frequency from six to 12 trains per hour between Dublin Connolly and Bray. Last month, Iarnród Éireann commenced a non-statutory public consultation on the emerging preferred option for stage 1 of DART+ costal south which will run until December.

The NTA greater Dublin area transport strategy 2022-2042 adopted in 2023 included a recommendation to extend the DART service to Wicklow town. Extending the DART to Wicklow is also supported in the all-island strategic rail review published in July last year. I understand this extension can be facilitated through utilising the new battery-electric DART carriages which arrived in Ireland in late 2024 and are currently undergoing testing. The new battery-electric DART carriages will first be deployed on the busy northern commuter line from Dublin Connolly to Drogheda from 2027. As more carriages arrive, they can be deployed to extend DART services to and from Wicklow from around 2029 onwards. This should provide an improvement in capacity to the people of Wicklow.

In relation to overcrowding currently being experienced on the Rosslare line, Iarnród Éireann is operating all available fleet at the busiest times to meet record demand it is experiencing on all routes. As a result, there is currently no additional fleet available to further increase capacity on the Gorey-Wicklow to Dublin commuter services. There is potential to examine the deployment of new rail fleet as it becomes available, including fleet released as a result of the entry into service of the new DART+ fleet. Iarnród Éireann will keep options for future fleet deployment under review subject to NTA approval. It is not the answer the Deputy is looking for. It is easy for me to say this; I am not the Minister for Transport. I am here representing him today. It sounds like the addition of a few carriages, if that could be accommodated, would make a whole of difference to commuters from that area and also for those who continue to use the M11. It is certainly something I will go back to the Minister with and I know the Deputy has talked to him about it as well.

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