Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I had several commitments at the same time and appreciate the forbearance of the House in this matter. I thank Senators for the opportunity to address this House on the progress made in recent years regarding public transport facilities in the greater Dublin area and the proposals in hand for further enhancements and improvements in the coming years.

These are exciting and challenging times for all of us involved in public transport. It is widely accepted that a shortage of investment over a long period prior to 1999 led to a deterioration of services provided and a subsequent lack of confidence by customers in public transport facilities generally. The Government recognises the important role public transport plays in the life of the country and has committed unprecedented levels of investment for the upgrade of the necessary infrastructure to meet present and future demands. In the six year period from 1999 to 2004, the Exchequer will have spent just over €2 billion on modern fully accessible buses; increasing capacity and improving facilities on the rail network; the introduction of the Luas; and the development of bus priority measures around the country.

The projects undertaken have impacted on all regions of the country from new rolling stock, track work and signalling on the mainline rail network to the rural transport initiative for the less densely populated areas. However, today's debate refers specifically to the facilities provided in the greater Dublin area and I will confine my comments to this region. It is vital that Dublin, as the nation's capital, has in place an efficient public transport system that allows industry to prosper, tourism to develop and people to travel to and from their employment locations in the shortest possible time. That the population of the greater Dublin area is continually rising and that there is a low-density spread in residential areas provides a challenge for public transport. This must be met and the actions taken to date and those planned for future years will help to relieve congestion and allow traffic in the greater Dublin area to flow again.

Last July, the regional planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area were adopted. This means there is now a robust planning framework to help in planning to meet the transport challenges facing Dublin and the greater Dublin area in the future. This framework will also help to achieve better integration between transport and land use planning. This integration is very important in ensuring sustainable development, which, in turn, will help to eliminate congestion in the greater Dublin area. The regional planning guidelines provide a clear context and direction for future investment to take place within the greater Dublin area up to 2016. Moreover, these guidelines have statutory backing as local authorities must demonstrate that they have had regard to the planning guidelines.

The relevant agencies investing in transport in the greater Dublin area are assessing their plans in the light of the guidelines. In particular, the guidelines provide an important guidance to the Dublin Transportation Office in its input into all development plans and planning applications in the greater Dublin area. With this in mind, I will deal with the specific elements of public transport addressed in recent years, where progress has been made and for which there are significant plans.

The two Luas lines from Tallaght to Connolly Station and from Sandyford to St. Stephen's Green are now operational and passenger numbers exceed expectation. Services on the green line to Sandyford commenced at the end of June 2004 to wide public acclaim with a satisfactory level of patronage achieved to date on the line. Numbers travelling exceed 20,000 per day with passenger numbers particularly strong in the off-peak hours. Services on the red line commenced at the end of September 2004. The target journey time from Tallaght to Connolly Station is 43 minutes with expected daily patronage of approximately 40,000 when full services are operating.

Since 30 June 2004, the Luas system has carried in excess of 3.5 million passengers. Park and ride facilities are an important feature in promoting the Luas network. The Railway Procurement Agency provides over 1,600 spaces at its park and ride facilities at Balally, Stillorgan and Sandyford stops on the green line and at the Red Cow on the red line. An additional 450 spaces will be provided as part of a private development near the Tallaght stop, which will be completed soon.

With the first lines in place and operational, the Railway Procurement Agency is now advancing plans for extensions of Luas to the docklands and Cherrywood. These plans will include private sector funding captured through levies under the Planning and Development Act 2000, from developers who own land along a proposed route. The Department is awaiting business plans from the Railway Procurement Agency to assist in its evaluation of both extensions.

I have also asked the Railway Procurement Agency to examine the possibilities of linking the two existing Luas lines and I am awaiting its report. Based on preliminary analysis, the agency has indicated that, arising from recent traffic management measures introduced by Dublin City Council, including an active policy to remove traffic from the city centre and the delivery of quality bus schemes, the environment across the city centre appears to be more conducive now to Luas than in the past. I understand the scheme could add a further 20% to Luas patronage, which would mean in excess of 7 million new Luas trips per year.

Iarnród Éireann expects the demand for services along the DART and all of its other suburban rail lines to increase substantially in the coming years. In July the company submitted to my Department a business case for the development of an integrated rail network for the greater Dublin area up to 2016 at a cost of almost €3 billion. The proposals involve an increase in capacity through the introduction of additional rolling stock and the extension of platforms; the upgrade of signalling to provide for additional train paths; and the construction of a new station in the city centre. The proposals represent the opportunity to expand significantly the capacity on the rail network in the greater Dublin area, particularly along the Kildare and Maynooth lines where major housing development will take place. The construction of an interconnector tunnel linking Heuston Station to the docklands also forms part of the programme.

My Department is assessing the business case and I will be able to make commitments over the coming period on several key aspects of the plan which are deliverable in the short to medium term. However, already some significant elements of the plan are under way. The first phase of the DART upgrade will be completed in 2005. This involves increasing the power supply, replacing overhead lines and lengthening platforms. When coupled with the introduction of 40 new DART railcars, this will result in a 100% increase in DART capacity since 2000. The second phase of the DART upgrade, to be completed by the end of 2007, will improve signalling and allow for an increase in the number of trains that can cross from Connolly Station to Pearse Station at peak times.

The introduction into service in late 2003 and early 2004 of a new fleet of diesel railcars, 80 of which are already in service, has substantially increased capacity on the suburban rail services. Other major improvements achieved on the rail network since 2000 include new, longer trains on all services into Heuston delivering a capacity increase of 130% in December 2003 alone. On the Maynooth line, the track work was doubled and new diesel railcars were assigned to the route in 2000.

This capacity has been further increased by 25% in the past year with the addition of new rolling stock. Capacity increases of over 40% have been achieved on the Dundalk route. In addition, the refurbishment of Heuston Station has been completed. Four new platforms have been provided and the signalling on the approaches to the station has been replaced. On the Kildare route, new turnback facilities have been provided in 2003 at Hazelhatch and Portlaoise, allowing frequency increases along the line into Dublin.

Buses also play a vital role in providing public transport services in the greater Dublin area. The network operated by Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and private operators is essential in the fight to persuade more people to leave their cars for the public transport alternative. Under the national development plan, Dublin Bus has purchased 460 new buses to date, of which 93 are additional and 367 are replacements. These buses improve the quality and reliability of the fleet as well as providing for increased services. This has resulted in a 25% increase in Dublin Bus peak hour capacity since the beginning of the national development plan. Proof that expenditure in expanding and improving the bus fleet is paying off is provided by the Dublin Bus passenger numbers, which have been growing steadily in recent years and in 2003 exceeded 149 million. Bus Éireann also has a successful story to tell. Bus Éireann has increased its capacity by approximately 40% from commuter towns such as Drogheda, Navan and Naas to the city centre.

The main focus of traffic management schemes is bus priority measures, as well as enhanced park and ride measures and improved interchange facilities between bus and rail. Considerable investment is being made in such facilities at present and the results are good. Dublin is at the upper end of success in terms of bus lanes as a percentage of the total road network, when compared with other international cities. A key element for easing congestion in the greater Dublin area is the delivery of quality bus corridors. Good progress has been made in rolling out bus priority schemes. Nine QBCs have been commissioned to date regarding Malahide, Lucan, Stillorgan, Finglas, north Clondalkin, Rathfarnham, Tallaght, Swords and Blanchardstown. Further QBC roll-out is being prioritised with funding through the Department's traffic management grants of €27 million for 2004.

The QBCs are making a significant contribution with greater patronage and increased speeds. For example, bus patronage on QBC routes at peak periods increased by over 60% between November 1997 and November 2003. Bus speeds on the QBC sections of bus routes increased by 14% during peak hours between November 2002 and November 2003.

There are those who suggest that Dublin's transport problems could be solved by congestion charges and London is cited as the best experience in that regard. It is my view that congestion charges should only be considered for Dublin when the many measures now being put in place to improve public transport services and to expand and enhance the roads network at strategic locations around Dublin city, have been fully evaluated and are fully operational. Discussions have been taking place with the relevant agencies regarding the use, by buses, of hard shoulders on roads, particularly those linking Dublin and satellite towns. Making hard shoulders available to buses would help operators to meet their schedules. This would make buses a more attractive and feasible option, and contribute to a modal shift from the private car to public transport.

A very significant amount of development and enhancement work has taken place on the public transport network in recent years. More is needed and my Department, together with the implementing agencies, is continually monitoring the investment programme to ensure the right projects are pursued at the right time. Significant progress is being made in the battle to tackle congestion. With car ownership levels continuing to rise, the challenge is still a major one. However, the scale of this Government's commitment to investment is public transport is significant. I look forward to next year when further projects are completed such as the M50 and the port tunnel, which will handle thousands of trucks, buses and cars each day. I look forward to next year when the DART and suburban rail are operating at greatly enhanced capacity, when the Luas lines are delivering on their planned levels of patronage, and when further traffic management measures are in place. Much of the investment is paying off and there is much more coming down the track in a short space of time. I apologise to Senators as this is a debate that interests me, but I am committed to the Road Traffic Bill 2004 at the same time as I am here. Unfortunately, I had very short notice of this debate.