Written answers
Tuesday, 13 December 2016
Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
Rail Services Provision
Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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617. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the steps he will take to ensure the future of the Ennis to Athenry rail line; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39665/16]
Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The National Transport Authority (NTA) is currently running a public consultation on rail in Ireland. It was launched with the publication of the Rail Review 2016 - which the NTA undertook in conjunction with Iarnród Éireann - together with an NTA consultation document "The Role of Rail in Ireland and Funding its Delivery". Both documents are available on the NTA's website.
The NTA's public consultation will run until 18th January. Through the consultation process, the public and interested parties have an opportunity to contribute to the debate on the future of rail. The purpose of the public consultation is to open up a public discussion on the role of rail and its funding and to provide factual material to inform that discussion. The NTA will then prepare a report about the consultation process which I intend to bring to Government.
While there has been much speculation regarding the future of individual rail lines, I want to stress that no decisions will be taken on any of the options identified in the Review in advance of the full process of public consultation.
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