Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, to the House. The Minister of State is very familiar with Sligo. I understand he has been in Sligo for nearly the past month. He has visited St. Angela's College and he also was down to launch the national development plan. The Minister of State went down very well while he was there.

This matter concerns the need for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to ensure the necessary funding is secured to upgrade the Dublin-Sligo railway line to address the ongoing overcrowding and to improve journey times. If one analyses distances and journey times on the various rail lines around the State, it is clear there are issues to be addressed with regard to the Dublin-Sligo railway line. The journey time from Sligo to Dublin, which is a distance of approximately 207 km, is three hours. The journey time from Cork to Dublin, which is a distance of 267 km or 60 km longer, is two and a half hours. The Galway-Dublin route comprises a journey of 209 km and takes two hours and ten minutes. I simply do not understand why it takes longer to get from Sligo to Dublin than it does to get from Cork or Galway to Dublin, given that Cork and Galway are further away from Dublin. Even the train from Castlerea, Country Roscommon to Dublin takes one and a half hours less to travel a distance of 184 km than does the train from Boyle to Dublin, which is on the Sligo line and is a distance of 170 km. At a recent Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport, Irish Rail executives admitted they did not know why the Sligo-Dublin journey takes three hours. They agreed that three hours is a long time. This was in response to my question. At the meeting they said that unless we provide competitive journey times, people will return to using their cars and I could not agree more.

The other big issue is whether rail users are getting value for money. There is regular reporting of overcrowding on the Sligo-Dublin service and the question must be asked as to why rail users, who have spent hard-earned money on tickets, should have to endure these types of conditions. These overcrowding conditions could also have health and safety implications. I am aware that the service volume is increasing all the time and according to Irish Rail figures, there has been a 6% increase in passenger numbers on the route. In response to overcrowding, I welcome that Irish Rail has announced an extra service between Sligo and Dublin this year. I am not sure when the extra service is coming into effect but perhaps the Minister of State will give the House some indication of that.

I was in Sligo last Friday to attend the very successful launch of Project Ireland 2040, the Government's pan for the future of Ireland. The plan commits to maintain the Sligo-Dublin rail route to help ensure high levels of service quality, accessibility and connectivity. The plan also details that Sligo will fulfil the role of a regional centre for the north-west region, which I greatly welcome. We ensured that this was included. It is now, more than ever, that we need to ensure that sufficient funding is in place in order that this vital Sligo-Dublin line has the capacity to meet expected growth.