I am delighted that Deputy Gogarty is talking about coming to Galway. We want people to come to Galway. At the outset, I wish to clarify that while the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien, has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither he, the Minister of State or our officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services rests with the NTA. The NTA works with the public transport operators which deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options. Public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. I agree with the Deputy with regard to giving a good experience to people and that if their experience is good, they will continue to use public transport. To support this objective, under budget 2025, a €652 million funding package was secured for the public service obligation, PSO, and Local Link services. As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is backing up its commitment to improving public transport with significant infrastructure investments across the network. Under the National Development Plan 2021-2030, the introduction of additional public transport infrastructure will help to relieve congestion on the transport network while also providing for new rolling stock to provide greater capacity for Iarnród Éireann’s increasing passenger numbers into the future. This includes the Government’s commitment to funding for initiatives, such as the DART+ programme, the new DART+ fleet, the proposed replacement of the current Enterprise fleet and the introduction of 41 new intercity railcars. Adamstown and Kishoge stations, located in west Dublin, are served by a number of Iarnród Éireann services on the lines to Heuston. Adamstown Station is served by the Dublin Heuston to Cork, Grand Canal Dock and Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise, Dublin Heuston to Newbridge and Grand Canal Dock to Hazelhatch services. Kishoge Station is served by the Dublin Heuston to Cork, Dublin Heuston to Waterford and the Grand Canal Dock and Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise services. The line between Hazelhatch to Park West is a four-track section, which allows intercity trains to operate on an express non-stop service. The commuter trains on this line stop at all commuter stops, enabled by the four-track section, without the intercity and commuter services slowing down as well. Iarnród Éireann provides an interchange between commuter and intercity services for customers travelling to and from commuter stations such as Adamstown and Kishoge. This typically happens at the following stations: Kildare, for connections to and from Waterford; Portarlington, for connections to and from Galway and Westport; and Portlaoise, for connections to and from Cork, Kerry and Limerick. Such models of interchange are typical on rail systems internationally to facilitate the balance between demand for competitive intercity journey times and the provision of connections for a broad range of journeys. There are some occasions when intercity trains stop at additional stations such as Newbridge or Sallins where a commuter connection is otherwise unavailable. Stopping intercity services at Adamstown, Kishoge or other commuter stations would increase journey times by five minutes per stop on intercity services. Additionally, these increased stops would take up additional track capacity, reducing the overall number of trains which can operate. I reassure the Deputy that the Department of Transport, the NTA and Iarnród Éireann are working to ensure the optimised deployment of resources across the public transport network match passenger demand. The points the Deputy makes need to be considered, however, and I will bring them back to the NTA.

Sentiment score: 0.29

The Deputy makes a strong case. I am listening. I assure him that the Minister for Transport recognises that transport connectivity is hugely important for people who live and work in Ireland and that expanding the public transport network and increasing service levels throughout the country will lead to more balanced regional development and greater connectivity. The Deputy spoke about Lucan and places like Adamstown. It is important that we provide a good service. Where the service is not good enough, we need to make it the best we can. We need to work on that. Two initial orders for 185 electric and battery-electric carriages for the DART+ fleet were placed, with 95 carriages ordered in December 2021 and a further 90 ordered in December 2022. A total of 750 carriages will be ordered in the coming decade. That is a statement of intent. Iarnród Éireann has begun to take delivery of the first order of new trains under the DART+ programme. Regarding the utilisation of the new DART+ fleet, 185 carriages are currently on order. The first order, of 95, will see 65 battery-electric carriages operating on the Drogheda commuter line. Charging facilities are being built at Drogheda. Thirty electric-only carriages will add to capacity on the existing DART network. The battery-electric carriages will begin to enter service in 2026 and will allow a cascade of commuter and intercity trains from the Drogheda line to other lines. The commuter trains would cascade to the Maynooth, M3 Parkway, Phoenix Park Tunnel and Heuston commuter services, allowing full-size trains on all services and replacing shorter and lower-capacity intercity trains operating on the route. The 90 battery-operated carriages that comprise the second order will be built for the greater Dublin area, with route deployment to be determined. Upon the completion of each element of DART+, capacity for additional trains will be provided. Railway orders have been received for DART+ West and DART+ South West to Hazelhatch, and physical works are expected to commence in 2026. Again, I thank the Deputy for raising this very important subject. I will relay his suggestions to the NTA.

Sentiment score: 0.18

I thank the Deputy for his very precise request and for raising this topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien. The Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, neither he nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the NTA. The NTA works with the public transport operators that deliver the services and has responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. That said, I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays key role of the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2025 the Department of Transport secured €658.442 million in public funding for public service obligations and TFI Local Link services. That is an increase from €613 million in 2024. This funding also supports continuation after a 20% fare reduction in PSO services, the young adult card for both PSO and commercial bus services and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding is also being secured to extend free child fares on PSO services to include those between ages five and eight and to support the roll-out of new enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland. The NTA has strategy responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect to public transport services provided under the PSO contracts. In this context, in April 2023 the NTA published a new national fare strategy. The fare strategy follows the implementation of the simplified fare structure in Dublin. This strategy aims to create a more equitable, consistent and easy-to-understand fare system based on distance travelled. In January 2024, the NTA published fare determinations covering the Dublin city zone, which extends 25 km from the city centre to Rush, Ratoath, Blanchardstown and Bray, and the Dublin commuter zone, which extends 50 kilometres, from the city centre, to Drogheda, Kildare, Rathdrum, etc. Phase 1 was implemented in June 2024 and focused on fares for shorter journeys within Dublin. Phase 2, initially scheduled for September 2024, was delayed due to technical issues with the rail ticketing system. The second phase of the previously announced fare determinations was implemented on Monday, 28 April, introducing new multimodal fare caps in Dublin and revised commuter rail services, with revised commuter fares to come into effect in mid-May. The implementation saw the roll-out of the new Dublin city fare zone and three new Dublin commuter fare zones. Communications campaigns in the form of posters at train stations, etc., commenced on Monday, 24 April. I will refer to this further in my next contribution.

Sentiment score: 0.24

Let me bring some balance to this. Single fares for some routes will be reduced significantly. Drogheda to Dublin Connolly will drop from €11.95 to €6, which is a 50% reduction. Conversely, some fares will increase, most notably in Greystones, Sallins and Naas, and Skerries, which fall outside the city zone. Within the Dublin city zone - the 25 km radius from the city centre - the fares determination will see a single monthly Leap fee of €96 and an annual fee of €960. This includes travel across all Dublin city bus, Luas and Irish Rail services within the Dublin city zone, representing a reduction of approximately 17%. The annual tickets on Dublin city bus and rail services will see a 9% fare reduction. The 90-minute fare level will be retained at €2. Fare caps will be revised, reducing the maximum daily, weekly and monthly expenditure for passengers in the Dublin city zone from €8 to €6 for adults. The Department is liaising closely with the NTA and Irish Rail on the matter and will continue to monitor phase 2. I will bring to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Deputy's request for a meeting to deal with this. It is important to return to the initial issue: there is no increase overall in the level of charges across services. The Deputy has said there are some anomalies in the service, which we will continue to monitor.

Sentiment score: 0.03