Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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50. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he anticipates any delay to the completion of the all-island strategic rail review as a result of the assembly being down in Northern Ireland; if he will provide assurances that there will be no impact on progressing the western rail corridor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55900/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Strategic Rail Reviewis being undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. It will inform the development of the railway sector on the Island of Ireland over the coming decades.

The Strategic Rail Review is considering the future of the rail network with regard to the following ambitions: improving sustainable connectivity between the major cities (including the potential for higher/high-speed), enhancing regional accessibility, supporting balanced regional development and rail connectivity to our international gateways. This also includes the role of rail freight.

The Review is also considering the scope for improved rail services and infrastructure along the various existing, or potential future, corridors of the network including disused and closed lines such as the Western Rail Corridor.

The Government has previously stated its belief in the potential of rail. It is vital that we address constraints in the rail sector and deliver a strategy which allows rail to fulfil its potential as a sustainable mode of transport in pursuit of decarbonisation priorities, rural connectivity objectives and as a generator of prosperity for people across Ireland.

I look forward to a draft report from the Review being ready before the end of the year. Publication of the final report will follow at an appropriate juncture when it has been considered and approved at Ministerial level on both sides of the border.