Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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572. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on the work being done to deliver greater public transport systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43535/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware there are a number of workstreams ongoing to provide a better connected public transport network, which will help provide a more efficient, reliable and more integrated public transport service helping connect people with education, jobs and other amenities they want to access. These workstreams include investing in new public transport infrastructure, reviewing public transport fares and extending the reach of rural public transport through Connecting Ireland. Integrated transport planning also plays an important role in providing a better connected transport network for the people of Ireland.

The Programme for Government commits to delivering investment in the transport sector over the lifetime of this Government. The last few years have seen significant progress on investment in public transport infrastructure and services. There are a number of key public transport projects progressing at the moment.

The DART+ programme was approved in principle by Government in 2021 and comprises five different projects in and around the Greater Dublin Area:

DART+ Fleet: Two fleet orders have been placed (185 carriages, mostly battery-electric, with some electric units) and the first trains from the first fleet order have now arrived in Ireland, with the rest to follow. Safety testing will take place throughout 2025 and deployment of these new battery-electric sets is expected from 2026 on the Northern Commuter Line serving Dublin to/from Drogheda.

DART+ West: This will involve the extension of DART services from the City Centre to the M3 Parkway and Maynooth, and the construction of a new depot and city centre enhancements. A Railway Order (planning decision) was granted by An Coimisiún Pleanála in July 2024, subject to certain conditions, notably that the proposed depot west of Maynooth not be constructed due to concerns about flood risk. Iarnród Éireann and the NTA are currently engaging on the submission of a new Railway Order for a depot.

DART+ South West: This will involve the extension of DART services from the City Centre to Hazelhatch, including four-tracking from Park West to Heuston. A Railway Order was approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála in November 2024.

DART+ Coastal North: This will extend DART overhead electrified wires to Drogheda. A Railway Order application was lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála in July 2024.

DART+ Coastal South: This project will improve DART services on the existing DART line south of Dublin city, with the current focus on enhancing services between Bray and Greystones.

Procurement for DART+ South West and West is progressing with pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ) notices for Design and Build works recently advertised by Iarnród Éireann in May 2025.

BusConnects is providing a transformative programme of investments in the bus services across five cities in Ireland. In each city the programme will involve a mix of network redesign, new electric bus fleet, and the provision of segregated bus and cycling facilities to support more efficient journey times for sustainable transport modes.

In relation to BusConnects Dublin, which is the most advanced of the programmes, there have been some positive developments recently, with An Coimisiún Pleanála having approved all 12 of the BusConnects Dublin Core Bus Corridors. The contract for the Liffey Valley to City Centre Core Bus Corridor is to be signed on 31st July and that Core Bus Corridor will enter construction later this year. Procurement is also underway for the Ballymun/Finglas Core Bus Corridor. The first six phases of new bus routes have rolled-out as part of the Bus Network Redesign in Dublin. Phase 6A, the E-Spine (Ballymun to Bray) was the latest phase to be rolled-out by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in January 2025. Additional service roll-outs are expected to continue over the next year or so. There are currently circa 120 double-deck electric buses in service in Dublin. Further electric buses will roll-out over the coming years.

BusConnects programmes are at an early stage of development in the regional cities. However, there have already been positive developments, including the roll-out of 34 electric buses in Limerick in April 2024. The Preliminary Business Case for BusConnects Cork is also currently being considered by the Department of Transport.

Bus network redesign plans have been published for Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway. In Galway progress has also been made on planning applications, with the Cross City Link project approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála in September last year, though this is currently the subject of an ongoing legal challenge. A planning application for the Dublin Road scheme in Galway was also submitted earlier this year.

MetroLink will be a fully segregated and mostly underground new railway line between Swords and Dublin City Centre, the first of its kind in Ireland. MetroLink will serve multiple residential communities such as Swords, Ballymun and Glasnevin, as well as the City Centre, Dublin Airport, major employment zones, education, transport and other facilities. Depending on the outcome of the planning process, construction of MetroLink is earmarked to commence over the coming years with a view to operation around the mid-2030s.

The Luas Finglas project is part of four proposed Luas network extensions identified in the NTA's Transport Strategy for the GDA 2022-2042. The project will extend the existing Luas tram network northwards by almost 4km from Broombridge to the Finglas area. A planning application for the project was lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála in November last year and a planning decision is awaited.

The Luas Cork project, which is being developed along an east-west corridor, had a public consultation on the Emerging Preferred Route between 14th April and 9th June, and the issues highlighted in those submissions are now being considered.

In addition, April this year saw the launch of a new Platform at Kent station in Cork. The platform is just the first element of the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme to go live. Works are also well underway on two other work packages, which make up Phase 1 of the Programme, the twin tracking of the Glounthaune to Midleton line and a significant signalling upgrade, which are both on course to be delivered next year.

Another of the key public transport priorities for this Government is the continued roll-out of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan. The plan aims to connect people and places to provide access to employment, education, healthcare, retail, and leisure, either locally or via connections to larger centres that offer those opportunities. Since its launch in 2022, over 160 new and enhanced bus services have been introduced, providing 240 new towns and villages with connections to the public transport network. 4.7 million passenger journeys were recorded on rural regular services in 2024, up from 3.2 million in 2023.

A key part of Connecting Ireland is to implement non ‘fixed route’ (non-conventional) public transport services in highly remote, sparsely populated areas. ‘Smart DRT’ is the use of technology to provide demand responsive shared mobility services with no predefined routes or timetables. Services can be offered on demand and pre-planned. For rural areas, it has the potential to integrate ‘first and last mile’ connections, reduce vehicle emissions and mitigate some of the risks of scheduled services while providing access to more places for more people.

In April 2023, the NTA published a new National Fares Strategy, aiming to deliver a more consistent, equitable, and transparent fare structure for all passengers. Following this, the NTA commenced a phased rollout of revised fare zones and structures. Phase 1 of this Fares Determination was implemented in June 2024, focusing on fare changes for towns and shorter journeys within Dublin.

As the Deputy may be aware, the second part of this Determination is being implemented in two phases: Phase 2A (commenced from Monday, 28th April 2025) introduced new multi-modal fare caps in Dublin and revised commuter rail fares; and Phase 2B (commenced from Monday, 16th June 2025) for revised commuter bus fares. It is the NTA’s intention to roll out further changes in future determinations during 2025, designed to deliver a fares approach that is easier for customers to understand.

Alongside this, Budget 2025 includes funding for the continuation of popular public transport fare initiatives including the 90-minute fare, the Young Adult/Student Leap Card, and the discounted fares on Public Service Obligation (PSO) services, with further provision to extend child fares to include those ages 5-8 years of age in Q3 of this year.

My Department supports these measures in line with the recent commitment in the Programme for Government to keeping fares low and affordable. As with all such measures, further expansion will be considered as part of the upcoming Annual Estimates process.

In addition to the provision of new public transport infrastructure and examining fares and services, integrated land use planning and transport planning plays an important role in providing a better connected transport network. In the five cities (Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford) integrated transport planning is led through metropolitan area transport strategies which set out programmes of proposed transport investment in active travel, bus and rail for each city over a 20-year period. These strategies are consistent with the spatial planning objectives in the National Planning Framework (NPF) and the relevant Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy.

A revised statutory Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) 2022-2042 was developed by the NTA and published in 2023.

The Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy was published in 2020 and is a non-statutory strategy prepared by the NTA in collaboration with Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland. It is currently anticipated that the NTA will commence the review process of CMATS in 2026.

The Limerick-Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy was published in 2022 and is a non-statutory strategy prepared by the NTA in collaboration with Limerick City and County Council, Clare County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

The Waterford Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy was published in 2022 and is a non-statutory strategy prepared by the NTA in collaboration with Waterford City and County Council, Kilkenny County Council, the Southern Regional Assembly and Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

The NTA is currently developing the Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (GMATS), in conjunction with Galway City Council and Galway County Council. This strategy will replace the existing Galway Transport Strategy adopted in 2016 and will provide a long-term strategic planning framework for the delivery of transport and the integrated development of transport infrastructure and services in the Galway Metropolitan Area.

The NTA considers that it is appropriate to await An Coimisiún Pleanála’s determination on the re-submitted N6 Galway City Ring Road application. The NTA will then review the timeline, and publication date for the GMATS when this determination has been made. Once sufficiently developed the draft Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (GMATS) will be opened to full public consultation, during which time opportunity for submissions and raising concerns will be welcomed. In the meantime, implementation will continue on the current Galway Transport Strategy. A significant amount of planning and design has already taken place which will enable construction activity in the coming years across active travel, bus and rail related projects including BusConnects.

Transport Orientated Development (TOD) is a well-established plan-led approach that will help achieve goals of compact growth and sustainable mobility through higher density mixed-use developments in close proximity to high-quality and high-capacity transport services.

The delivery of TOD is supported in the Programme for Government and has been included in the recently revised NPF as a National Policy Objective methodology for ensuring compact and sequential patterns of growth. TOD has also been identified as a key policy to help achieve climate targets under the Climate Action Plan and in meeting goals both in relation to housing delivery targets under the Housing for All plan and goals set out in the Sustainable Mobility Policy.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Transport working group on TOD comprised of membership from both Departments, the NTA and the Land Development Agency published its Dublin Report in June 2023. The Dublin TOD study involved a review of lands in the administrative areas of the four Dublin local authorities that are located close to existing or proposed high-capacity public transport nodes, including DART, MetroLink, Luas and BusConnects. This covers undeveloped greenfield lands and brownfield lands considered suitable by reference to their location for intensive residential and urban development at scale. The working Group identified short to medium term opportunities with planned capacity for up to c. 60,000 residential units at nine locations.

The working group are currently considering opportunities for TOD in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, as well as the wider Eastern Region (Counties Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow). Draft reports on TOD opportunities will be brought to Cabinet shortly for information and publication thereafter.