Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Maidin mhaith, a Aire Stáit. Is lá álainn é ag deireadh mhí Aibreáin. Ceapaim gur lá iontach é le dul ar thuras traenach. Is é sin an t-ábhar I am talking about today. It is a great day for a train journey but if one lives in the newer areas in my constituency, such as Adamstown, and if one is an IT professional who needs to go to the likes of Galway, one has to go all the way back into Heuston Station or wait a long time to get a connection to Portarlington. It really is not worth one's while so we need an intercity stop. There is always a question as to where an intercity route would stop in suburban areas. About 12,000 people live in Adamstown. It is a strategic development zone that has a larger population than Portarlington, which has a train station, and Kildare town.

If you were to start in Adamstown and try to get a train to the likes of Galway, for example, it would probably take between 40 minutes and one hour to get to Heuston Station or you would be doing a lot of waiting around trying to time a journey in the other direction. Adamstown definitely has a need for an intercity train station or, if not Adamstown, Kishoge, which is in the Clonburris strategic development zone. While Adamstown has 8,000 houses, Clonburris will have between 8,500 to 11,000. Adamstown’s projected population is 25,000. Clonburris could have anything up to 30,000. Adamstown is a lot more developed.

Some €4 million was wasted on the redevelopment of the Kishoge Station because it was not opened in 2009 when it could have been to cater for the existing population of Lucan. The wider Lucan population is almost 60,000. In that context, there is a huge catchment area for train use but such usage will only be encouraged if it is convenient. I know quite a few IT professionals – there is a diverse demographic in the Adamstown area - who car pool regularly every week in order to go to Galway to do their work. Some people drive rather than car pool, however. They are clogging up the roads when they could get the train. No one is going to spend 40 to 50 minutes on a bus going to Heuston station to then get the train back out again. There is a pressing need for these towns on the outskirts of Dublin, although they are in Dublin, to be treated in their own right as part of an intercity service.

I note that, coming from Galway, there is one stop-off in the morning at nearby Hazelhatch and Celbridge. That area has a much smaller population than the already growing Adamstown population of 12,000 people. I ask the Minister of State and his colleagues, in discussions with the NTA, to look at this, particularly as he has his hand on the lever, so to speak.

I will talk more about departmental funding after the Minister of State’s contribution. There is a pressing and worthwhile need to at least have morning and evening peak stop-offs at either Adamstown or Clonburris, although probably Adamstown in light of the existing population. Try it out, see how it works and see whether it increases the numbers using our intercity train services.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I am delighted that Deputy Gogarty is talking about coming to Galway. We want people to come to Galway.

At the outset, I wish to clarify that while the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien, has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither he, the Minister of State or our officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services rests with the NTA. The NTA works with the public transport operators which deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options. Public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. I agree with the Deputy with regard to giving a good experience to people and that if their experience is good, they will continue to use public transport. To support this objective, under budget 2025, a €652 million funding package was secured for the public service obligation, PSO, and Local Link services.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is backing up its commitment to improving public transport with significant infrastructure investments across the network. Under the National Development Plan 2021-2030, the introduction of additional public transport infrastructure will help to relieve congestion on the transport network while also providing for new rolling stock to provide greater capacity for Iarnród Éireann’s increasing passenger numbers into the future. This includes the Government’s commitment to funding for initiatives, such as the DART+ programme, the new DART+ fleet, the proposed replacement of the current Enterprise fleet and the introduction of 41 new intercity railcars.

Adamstown and Kishoge stations, located in west Dublin, are served by a number of Iarnród Éireann services on the lines to Heuston. Adamstown Station is served by the Dublin Heuston to Cork, Grand Canal Dock and Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise, Dublin Heuston to Newbridge and Grand Canal Dock to Hazelhatch services. Kishoge Station is served by the Dublin Heuston to Cork, Dublin Heuston to Waterford and the Grand Canal Dock and Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise services.

The line between Hazelhatch to Park West is a four-track section, which allows intercity trains to operate on an express non-stop service. The commuter trains on this line stop at all commuter stops, enabled by the four-track section, without the intercity and commuter services slowing down as well. Iarnród Éireann provides an interchange between commuter and intercity services for customers travelling to and from commuter stations such as Adamstown and Kishoge. This typically happens at the following stations: Kildare, for connections to and from Waterford; Portarlington, for connections to and from Galway and Westport; and Portlaoise, for connections to and from Cork, Kerry and Limerick. Such models of interchange are typical on rail systems internationally to facilitate the balance between demand for competitive intercity journey times and the provision of connections for a broad range of journeys. There are some occasions when intercity trains stop at additional stations such as Newbridge or Sallins where a commuter connection is otherwise unavailable. Stopping intercity services at Adamstown, Kishoge or other commuter stations would increase journey times by five minutes per stop on intercity services. Additionally, these increased stops would take up additional track capacity, reducing the overall number of trains which can operate.

I reassure the Deputy that the Department of Transport, the NTA and Iarnród Éireann are working to ensure the optimised deployment of resources across the public transport network match passenger demand. The points the Deputy makes need to be considered, however, and I will bring them back to the NTA.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a fhreagra. The reply mentions that there could be up to five minutes' delay. The whole selling point for Adamstown and Kishoge was that we have four tracks. Some of it was part of the strategic development zone scheme, as was the Phoenix Park tunnel interconnection. To put this in context, the people currently living in Adamstown and Lucan are badly served by the train service.

In the context of the suburban routes, I receive numerous complaints with regard to overcrowding, the lack of convenient times and the inability to get to the likes of Grand Canal Dock at the weekends. We have had an announcement from Iarnród Éireann that services along some routes, including those servicing Adamstown and Kishoge, will be curtailed up until October. While I have been told in meetings with the NTA that there will be additional carriages put on, those carriages will be taken from improvements to the northern line. They will be second-hand carriages. The roll-out of the DART+ South West could be in 2027 or 2028.

The overall train service is poor. Adamstown had a designation of no more than 1.25 car spaces per house. The whole idea of Adamstown is to encourage public transport and active travel. In this context, it makes absolute sense for Adamstown to be an intercity hub to go to other areas. It is worth trying at peak times. Put on one stop-off to Galway, mar shampla, or Cork and see how it works and see whether that increases the number of people using the train service overall. It only makes sense to increase the journey time if you are actually increasing the number of people using the service. I take that point. It needs to be pushed and tried out.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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The Deputy makes a strong case. I am listening. I assure him that the Minister for Transport recognises that transport connectivity is hugely important for people who live and work in Ireland and that expanding the public transport network and increasing service levels throughout the country will lead to more balanced regional development and greater connectivity. The Deputy spoke about Lucan and places like Adamstown. It is important that we provide a good service. Where the service is not good enough, we need to make it the best we can. We need to work on that.

Two initial orders for 185 electric and battery-electric carriages for the DART+ fleet were placed, with 95 carriages ordered in December 2021 and a further 90 ordered in December 2022. A total of 750 carriages will be ordered in the coming decade. That is a statement of intent.

Iarnród Éireann has begun to take delivery of the first order of new trains under the DART+ programme. Regarding the utilisation of the new DART+ fleet, 185 carriages are currently on order. The first order, of 95, will see 65 battery-electric carriages operating on the Drogheda commuter line. Charging facilities are being built at Drogheda. Thirty electric-only carriages will add to capacity on the existing DART network. The battery-electric carriages will begin to enter service in 2026 and will allow a cascade of commuter and intercity trains from the Drogheda line to other lines. The commuter trains would cascade to the Maynooth, M3 Parkway, Phoenix Park Tunnel and Heuston commuter services, allowing full-size trains on all services and replacing shorter and lower-capacity intercity trains operating on the route.

The 90 battery-operated carriages that comprise the second order will be built for the greater Dublin area, with route deployment to be determined. Upon the completion of each element of DART+, capacity for additional trains will be provided. Railway orders have been received for DART+ West and DART+ South West to Hazelhatch, and physical works are expected to commence in 2026.

Again, I thank the Deputy for raising this very important subject. I will relay his suggestions to the NTA.