Seanad debates

Wednesday, 9 November 2022

10:30 am

Photo of Mark WallMark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the Fianna Fáil Senators, in particular Senators Fiona O'Loughlin and Pat Casey, for bringing forward this very important Private Members’ motion, which is very welcome. The extension of the short hop zone to Newbridge station in my county of Kildare is an issue that I and Labour Party colleagues in Newbridge and south Kildare have been working on for some time. The campaign has included all of the rail stations in this part of the State. Indeed, as part of our campaign for a so-called “fare” deal for south Kildare commuters, I, along with members of the Newbridge branch of the Labour Party, met with Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Authority, NTA, in 2018 to hand over 7,000 signatures from the campaign we have run and are continuing to run. At that meeting and in much correspondence since, we have been told the NTA is responsible for setting fares, and indeed every piece of correspondence from the Government has stated that. However, in the absence of appropriate Government funding to fund any fare reductions, we are continually told the hands of the NTA are tied.

That argument was also used with my colleagues and it has already been referenced in this debate. My colleague, Deputy Sean Sherlock, started a similar campaign back in 2016 to include Mallow train station in the Leap card fares, thereby reducing fares from that station in Cork as well. After Deputy Sherlock succeeded in his campaign this year by adding Mallow to the Leap card fares, the evidence told its own story. Passenger numbers have almost doubled from the station. From May 2021 to the beginning of September 2021, they stood at 44,000, whereas the same figure for this year sees an almost doubling of that figure to 77,000 commuters.

I welcome the creation of a focus group by Newbridge Community Development within recent months to advocate for an extension, as I have said before in this House. Indeed, I and colleagues have had numerous conversations with its spokesperson, Jennifer Caffrey, on sharing information and updates from the numerous times I have raised this matter in this House, and my colleagues have supported those calls in the Lower House while raising the same issue in their areas.

The fact remains, as has been said many times today, that hard-pressed commuters bypass Newbridge and other Kildare stations and drive daily to Sallins station in Naas to avail of the short hop fares. Who can blame them? Many people who I still correspond with on this matter are saving up to €200 a month by choosing to get into their cars each morning and drive past their local stations in favour of stopping at Sallins station and availing of the short hop zone fares. The result, as anyone who uses the M7 will know, is that it has simply become a car park. Most mornings, the traffic stops at Kill and commuters’ cars crawl all the way to Newlands Cross, a journey of ten minutes that is now taking 40 minutes-plus each morning.

This is not just a commuter crisis; it is also a climate one. I agree with the wording of the motion that it is necessary to incentivise greater use of public transport to meet the climate targets as set out in the climate action plan. Currently, the cost is prohibiting many commuters who can use the trains to get to their work and appointments and they are using their cars instead, adding to emissions. In August of this year, my colleague, Deputy Ged Nash, received another reply from the NTA regarding his campaign for fare reductions towards Drogheda. In one of the latest replies from the NTA, the CEO states the authority recognises there is a higher base fare outside the short hop zone. The reply, like previous ones, states the work on examining what needs to be done is ongoing and the authority will be examining the fare forgone cost in an effort to introduce a more equitable system. Most importantly, once again, the reply concludes by saying this will then be presented to the Government for funding at the next budgetary cycle.

Before I finish, I support the calls by Senators Fiona O'Loughlin and Victor Boyhan about public toilets on the transport network. We have all been contacted by commuters about train stations, particularly Newbridge, and it is not just the public toilets in Newbridge but also the infrastructure. It has taken weeks for that to be solved. It is unbelievable in this day and age that we do not have public toilets on our transport systems, for example, at Newbridge, and that is replicated in many more stations throughout south Kildare and on to Portarlington.

In supporting this very important Private Members’ motion, I once again thank the Fianna Fáil Senators for introducing it. We need to be clear that the NTA has continually said it will not be moving to extend the short hop zone to the stations mentioned in this motion until it receives funding from Government. That funding, of course, could be provided by the Government now. I was told very recently - in fact, yesterday - that the NTA will have to act on getting its report ready faster and, more importantly, will have to reduce the fares if it is provided with such funding. Those hard-pressed commuters I spoke about earlier need the funding to be provided. The simple fact is that, as was shown in Mallow, if we reduce fares, commuters will use the trains.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.