Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to discuss the need to expedite the double tracking of the Irish Rail line connecting Athenry, Oranmore, Ardaun and, ultimately, Galway city. I thank the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, for being here today to discuss this matter.

Athenry has a population of just over 5,000 people and the town has doubled in size over the past 20 years. Oranmore also has a population of about 5,000 people and the population has doubled over the past 20 years. The development of a new town, Ardaun, on the periphery of Galway city connecting Galway to Oranmore, will see a projected population of 18,000 people. In the next decade we can expect the cumulative total population of those three towns reaching close to 40,000 people.

The most recent CSO data tell us that there are 1,850 people commuting to Galway city every morning and evening from Athenry and Oranmore and the vast majority of those commutes are made in cars. If we are deadly serious, as we should be, about effecting a modal shift and encouraging people to leave their cars at home and take public transport, we need to be serious about providing people with a genuine alternative to their cars. We need to be serious about vastly increasing the frequency of the commuter rail service between Athenry, Oranmore, Ardaun and the city of Galway. In doing so, I am convinced we can and should encourage people to make that modal shift.

We need to give people genuine alternatives to getting into their cars each morning in all of those towns and finding themselves, along with thousands of others, sitting for a very long time on the eastern edge of Galway city as they make their way into the city. While we are all working hard as best we can to see the development of the outer bypass of Galway city, that will not solve the problem of the accumulation of cars every morning on the eastern side of the city going to one single location, namely, the Parkmore Industrial Estate where the vast majority of people commuting into the city from that eastern side are working.

We need commuter trains departing in both directions every 15 minutes. Irish Rail is ambitious to see this development happening. I understand the National Transport Authority, NTA, is equally ambitious around this development. Mr. Jim Meade outlined in a presentation to the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport in 2018 that it was an ambition of Irish Rail to develop a better service between Athenry and Galway and that double tracking the line would facilitate the development of a better service.

In addition, this will require significant investment on the part of Irish Rail. It is an investment that needs to be made and makes absolute sense in terms of its sustainability, of vastly improving the quality of life of people residing in those times and of good value for taxpayer. We also need to ensure that any further investment we make in Irish Rail infrastructure in the west of Ireland is made in the best possible interests of rail users and the taxpayer.

I also am anxious to learn when the Minister intends to publish the review of the viability of reinstating a rail service connecting Claremorris to Tuam and onwards to Athenry that was carried out over a year ago. That review has been with the Department long before the Minister arrived there. It is critical to have that review in order that we can plan sustainably and efficiently how we can develop build infrastructure in the west of Ireland in the future. I would argue that these two issues are inextricably linked.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank Deputy Cannon. The Government very much shares the ambition for the twin tracking of the rail line between Athenry and Galway city the Deputy mentioned.

The programme for Government makes a strong commitment to fundamentally change the nature of transport in Ireland, and to deliver on this commitment we need a whole of system perspective across all modes of transport, whether that is active travel, bus or rail. Getting that whole-of-system perspective requires evidence-based and plan-led transport infrastructure development, as well as transport infrastructure development that integrates with and acts as a catalyst for improved land-use planning. Land use planning means that local authorities locate houses, jobs and other facilities along high-capacity transport corridors. That is the framework of many of our EU and international peers and is the framework that can deliver fundamental change for the better.

In the next few years, I want a real focus on that type of delivery. There is a transport strategy for Galway, and now a regional, spatial and economic strategy. There is also a Galway metropolitan area strategy. It is critical that this connects to land development. The Deputy mentioned population growth in Athenry, Oranmore, Ardaun and new areas. It is critical that the connection between new public transport infrastructure and new housing developments goes together.

Many people are correct in thinking that the capacity of development along the corridor and in those centres is held back by the single track nature of the existing line. I know of others who consider that there is the potential to develop commuter services along the corridor, and a move to a double track would alleviate the congestion coming into Galway city. As the Deputy said, there is a particular problem in the Parkmore Industrial Estate with people entering and exiting the estate every morning and evening.

In a series of meetings I held recently with various stakeholders in the Galway area, this is the one project that everyone agreed needed to be progressed. It is viewed as a project that can deliver real improvement to people's lives, cut journey times, alleviate congestion and take a large number of private cars off the streets of the city and its suburbs. I am glad to say that my Department, through the NTA, is this year funding a feasibility study for development options on this rail corridor. The study will identify the short, medium and long-term capacity improvement options for the Athenry to Galway rail line. The study will commence by November and will be finished by quarter 2 of 2021. It will consider all options, including indicating high level costs, and provide recommendations as regards prioritising projects for delivery.

I fully intend to incorporate the recommendations of that study into the consideration of priorities as we look to review the national development plan. I want the improvements on the corridor, as well as the development opportunities identified by Deputy Cannon, to be delivered. He can be assured that my Department is fully supportive of Galway County Council's applications this year to the urban regeneration and development fund for works at Oranmore Station in the meantime. The project can act as an enabler for compact and sustainable growth in Oranmore and the Galway city region. The rail improvements planned at Oranmore, however, including the addition of a second platform and a new passing loop, can only deliver short-term improvements to rail services generally in the region.

I hope that this response provides the Deputy with an update on the various strands of work under way that will lay the groundwork for significant upgrade and twin tracking of the line in the years to come.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for that very positive response. It is indeed heartening to hear that the feasibility study for the development of the twin track option will get under way quite quickly and will be completed by quarter 2 of next year. The land required for the development of that twin track option is already within State ownership under Córas Iompair Éireann, CIÉ. One would hope that the feasibility study would arrive at a conclusion that this would be a very positive development and one that could be easily delivered within a relatively short timeframe and at a reasonable cost.

There is no question but that there is a glaring need for the development of additional commuter rail services. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, has spoken about this on a number of occasions.

There is that need there. I am fully convinced from having spoken to commuters who regularly use that service - I was in Athenry train station this morning heading in the opposite direction - that with the additional frequency one would see a significant amount of additional commuters making the choice to leave their cars at home and hopping on the train from Athenry to Galway, for what is ultimately a very short journey. I hope to make a submission to the development of the feasibility study. One particular matter that needs to be addressed in carrying out of that study is for some sort of shuttle bus service connecting Oranmore, because it is a far quicker and more straightforward connection to make to Parkmore, so that ultimately one can get people from door to door to meet their work needs in the future.

Finally, I raise with the Minister once again the need to expedite publication of the western rail corridor review. It is again critical to this particular issue in that we need ultimately to decide where we are going to make necessary investment in our rail infrastructure in the west. To make those kinds of key decisions we need to have all of the necessary information.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. On the first issue, one of the critical things needed to make this work effectively for the quality of life of people, but also for the economic viability of all of these investments, is that the local authorities all play their part by ensuring that the development plans concentrate development in areas close to public transport hubs. What makes this a viable proposition is when we integrate land-use and transport planning together. That is going to be a critical element in making these projects work.

With regard to the western rail corridor study, I will be answering questions on the same issue tomorrow during priority and oral questions. I hope that we can publish that report shortly. I am waiting for a further report from JASPERS, an international organisation which is reviewing the review and I am reviewing it myself in a slightly wider context. In a series of meetings that I have had with people interested in the project I referred to the fact that if we just look at this in the context of a section of rail line between Claremorris and Athenry, that is a relatively narrative focus. One has to look at a slightly wider focus as to what is the economic potential for development of the west and north-west of the country and the infrastructure that would best suit that purpose. It is not just to my mind a question of whether we need a commuter rail service between Tuam or Claremorris into Galway city or to Athenry. The real consideration is a slightly wider one with regard to the economic development of the whole north-west region and what infrastructure may support that.

Included in that, I am particularly interested in what the potential is for rail freight developments in the western region and if we are looking at a changed policy as to promoting rather than restricting rail freight, which I think has been the case for the last 30 or 40 years. I cannot go into the details of that here now but I look forward to engaging with the Deputy. My focus at the moment is looking at that aspect of it and looking at it in a wider regional context, as well as looking at the content of the two reports he mentioned.