Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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238.To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for an update on the introduction of an hourly rail service between Dublin and Belfast; to provide the total allocation; the expenditure to date; the amount that is contained with expenditure ceilings laid out in the Stability Programme Update and Summer Economic Statement and the amount that will have to come from additional funding; the date the project was started; and the projected date of completion, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[34830/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As the Deputy may be aware, there are two projects to enhance the cross-border intercity rail service between Dublin and Belfast.

In the short-term, the Enterprise service will move to an hourly service in the coming months utilising existing trains on the network. This will represent an almost doubling of the offering of Dublin-Belfast train services on most days, going from eight to fifteen services on most days. Funding of €12.5 million has been allocated from the Shared Island Fund, with match funding from my Department, to meet the cost of introducing this hourly-frequency rail service over an initial three-year period.

This increased frequency of services will be complemented in later years by the replacement of the trains on the Enterprise service under the Enterprise Fleet Replacement project. The scope of this project is to replace the current fleet of four Enterprise train sets with eight new Enterprise train sets, allowing for increased service frequency and faster journey times. The new trains are expected to be in operation from 2029. The trains will be designed to run initially on electric and battery power on part of the Dublin to Belfast route and can be converted into fully electric operation in the future.

Funding of €165m has been approved for the Enterprise Replacement Fleet project under the PEACEPLUS cross-border EU programme. The balance of funding for the project will be provided jointly through my Department and the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The final budget/funding for the project will only be set after completion of tendering and procurement, which is ongoing.