Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Curaim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I again wish to raise the issue of underinvestment in the Dublin to Rosslare rail line. I do so because of growing traffic volumes along the N11. Many car users in Wexford and Wicklow would quite happily transfer to the train if they knew they had a regular and reliable service. Unfortunately, that has not been the case for quite a long time.

The Minister of State is quite fortunate to live in north Dublin, which is very well served by trains. Indeed, there are plans to expand the number of rail lines in north Dublin even further, from two to four. In fact, the objective is now to have trains running between Dublin and Belfast in under two hours. My home town of Gorey is only half the distance to Dublin as Belfast is but I would love to be guaranteed that I could get on a train that would take under two hours to reach the city centre. Of the 14 new rail carriages coming into the system, none is being provided to the Rosslare rail line. The only additional service is one later-evening service that was provided earlier this year. If we are to achieve our objective of having more people use rail, in the context of sustainable transport models, it has to be realistic for them to do it. At the moment, it is not realistic for many people from Wexford and Wicklow to travel to Dublin by train. Along the rail line into Dublin, there are six level crossings which slow down trains coming into the city centre. It is a slow service. The mainline service obviously gets held up behind the DART because there are no additional lines.

There is a great deal of money being spent on trying to tackle coastal erosion, but is there not a need for a far more ambitious plan to serve the Rosslare route? If we had more rail lines, we would have a much faster rail service operating. That means double-tracking the line. I commend the fact that going north out of the city, we are moving towards having four tracks. If we could even move to two tracks the whole way along the Rosslare line in order to allow for additional services, that would certainly be welcome. While also welcome, the only proposal right now is the possibility of extending the DART to Wicklow. However, there is an expectation that passengers travelling from places further south, including Rathdrum, Arklow, and Gorey, will have to change at either Wicklow or Greystones. On cold, wet and wintry mornings, people will be expected to get off the train, hang around the station and then get onto another train. That is not going to incentivise people to use the rail service. It will also be incredibly unfair to wheelchair users and those with mobility difficulties.

I am sorry to say that there seems to be no commitment to investing in the Dublin to Rosslare rail line. It is something I have raised constantly in this House. What we are now seeing is further traffic build-up on the N11. Anyone who uses the N11 knows how busy it is. The problem is that there is no viable alternative. I would encourage people to use the rail line but they cannot rely on a regular and efficient service at the moment.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address this issue on behalf of the Minister for Transport. Improving public transport services and infrastructure is central to improving citizens' quality of life and addressing our climate action challenges. This Government is committed to a fundamental change in the nature of transport in Ireland.

The Minister for Transport considers it useful to clarify the planned proposals related to the DART+ coastal south project, the current position of those proposals and related issues. Modelling undertaken by the National Transport Authority, NTA, for the DART+ programme related to facilitating increased rail services on the Rosslare to Dublin line. This includes an option that would allow Rosslare train services interchanging with the DART at Wicklow or Greystones in order to connect seamlessly to DART services to or from the heart of Dublin. It must be stressed that this is an infrastructural modelling exercise and the NTA has advised that no decision has yet been made to alter services on the Rosslare line. As a Government we need to provide more options to people so they can make the switch to sustainable mobility. Within the greater Dublin area, work on the DART+ programme is continuing in order that it can become part of those options.

As the Senator may be aware, under the greater Dublin area transport strategy adopted last year, it is intended to further expand the DART system to Wicklow town. Design work is ongoing at present by the NTA on the DART+ coastal south project to plan for the enhanced DART service level to Greystones. A public consultation will be undertaken in relation to those proposals later this year. In addition, initial planning and design work is currently ongoing by the NTA to establish the feasibility of operating an hourly DART service to and from Wicklow town and Dublin using battery-electric trains that could operate along the unelectrified section of the railway between Greystones and Wicklow. Under this arrangement, one DART per hour arriving at Greystones would be a battery-electric train, which would be able to continue further south along the unelectrified line and terminate at Wicklow town train station, with the same approach in the opposite direction. South of Wicklow, the provision of a diesel train shuttle service between Rosslare and Wicklow could provide the potential for a much more frequent train service along the southern sections of the south-east line.It should be stressed that this is an infrastructural modelling exercise by the NTA and no decision has yet been made on the matter.

As regards the issue of coastal erosion, coastal railway construction and maintenance have always been challenging. Throughout its history, interventions have been required to protect the east coast rail line from impacts on embankments, water coming over the line and coastal erosion. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, understands that Iarnród Éireann has, over many years, managed the coastal defence of the east coast Dublin to Rosslare line and monitors the coastline erosion rates at key points along the railway on an ongoing basis.

The east coast railway infrastructure protection project, ECRIPP, was established to deliver the necessary enhanced coastal protection to the existing railway infrastructure in a number of key locations on this rail network. The primary focus of this project is to address, implement and protect the existing railway and coastal infrastructure against the further effects of coastal erosion due to climate change. The Minister assures the Senator that this matter is taken seriously and that appropriate remedial action is under way.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. While I appreciate he is taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport, in summary, there is no real progress, apart from the potential for additional services to Greystones and Wicklow. There is no promise of additional services for anyone south of Wicklow, but rather a promise of a "seamless" transition from trains. Those who will end up standing in the cold and wet at 7.45 a.m. at Wicklow station will not categorise this as seamless. It is clear the message coming from the Minister for those along the Rosslare line who want an efficient and effective transport service is that they are not going to get it and they should get in their cars because it will be far quicker to travel up the N11, even when there are traffic jams. If I had not driven this morning and had chosen to get the train at 8.20 a.m. instead, I would not be here in time for this Commencement matter. I did not have to leave my house in my car until just after 9 a.m. and I was here in plenty of time.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank Senator Byrne. I am not going to rehash what I have said already. I will emphasis one point, however, which may give some hope in this connection. For people living south of Wicklow, the provision of a diesel shuttle service between Rosslare and Wicklow could create potential for a more frequent train service along the southern sectors of the south-east line.