Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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144. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will address as a matter of urgency the lack of facilitation of rail passengers travelling with bicycles on trains bound for Tralee Casement station, which is immediately adjacent to the Tralee to Fenit greenway; his views on whether the unique location of Tralee station on the greenway warrants a tailored service response from Irish Rail; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23431/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As the Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

As the Deputy may be aware, to enable additional capacity to be added to Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) services within as short a timeframe as possible, an order was placed in December 2019 for the provision of 41 Inter-City Railcar (ICR) intermediate carriages. This Government is committed to improving public transport and is backing up that commitment with significant investments across the network, including the introduction of 41 new IICRs into the fleet this year.

Decisions on the deployment of the 41 intercity carriages will be based on current and projected demand and infrastructure capacity, and subject to approval of the NTA.

Each of the new ICR intermediate carriages incorporates a large multipurpose area at one end. These areas will have sufficient space to accommodate 2 bicycles; combined with the bicycle rack already located in the cab/end vehicle of each ICR unit, this will enable at least 4 bicycles to be carried on each ICR unit, which aligns with the latest bicycle carriage requirements applicable to new and refurbished trains destined for operation within the European Union (e.g. each new DART unit will have space for at least 4 bicycles).

In addition, in 2023 funding was allocated to an IÉ project to install new bicycle racks and tip-up seat areas on existing units. Two seating bay areas consisting of 7 seats will be removed and replaced with 4/5 bicycle spaces and 6 tip-up seats. Overall, the combination of the new ICRs along with the upgrade of existing trains will help to accommodate more bicycles on rail carriages.

Decisions on the deployment of the 41 intercity carriages will be based on current and projected demand and infrastructure capacity, and subject to approval of the NTA. Therefore, I have referred the Deputy's question to Irish Rail and the NTA for direct response to the Deputy. Please advise my private office if you do not receive replies within ten working days.