Extract
from Adjournment Debate
Rail
Network
Deputy
Brendan Howlin: I
seldom raise a matter on the Adjournment. I do so only
if I feel a matter is of considerable importance. While
I very much welcome the presence of the Minister of
State, Deputy Áine Brady, as an officeholder of this
House I feel we must do better than have a single
Minister of State with prepared responses to five
Adjournment debate matters. We must reform the way we do
business to ensure matters brought to the attention of
this House are properly dealt with.
I regard the issue as
very important. I refer to the future of rail services
in the south east, specifically the future of the
Waterford to Rosslare railway line. I refer to general
Government policy on public transport. For a long time,
we have listened to commitments to having a green tinge
to public policy, with investment in public transport to
get people off the roads and, in particular, on to the
environmentally friendly rail network. However, there is
no clear manifestation of that in policy terms. I was
Minister with responsibility for the environment in the
run-up to the Kyoto Agreement and I chaired the prep
conference for Kyoto as president of the Council of
Ministers. We have demanding climate change abatement
commitments and these will become even stronger. We must
have an overt, proactive development strategy for the
rail network. I have been formally advised by Mr. Emmett
Cotter, district manager of Irish Rail for Waterford,
that Irish Rail is considering suspending services on
the Waterford to Rosslare line within weeks. Clearly,
the service as constructed is not viable but it is not
viable because it has never been made viable. It has
never been properly marketed and there was no effort to
see if there was tourism potential or if further local
business could be attracted.
Since the demise of the
sugar beet industry - the mainstay of the line - there
has been a determination by Irish Rail to allow this
line to close. We need marketing and promotion in order
to preserve and develop this important rail link in the
south east. It is fanciful that we are talking about the
Atlantic corridor or a motorway being built along the
entire west coast and southern coast to link the south
east to the north west when at the same time we want to
dismantle the rail links that currently provide the
interaction. Irish Rail has been contacted by local
interests, including the Waterford & Suir Valley
Heritage Railway group, to make a proposal in respect of
the future of the line. I hope to hear from the Minister
of State, even if my request was of a general nature and
she is lacking specifics, that she will bring back to
the Minister for Transport and the Cabinet the
determination of the people of my county of Wexford, of
Waterford and of the south east generally to preserve
and develop the infrastructure that has been there for
decades. It is unacceptable there is almost a deliberate
policy to undermine them.
I can provide the
Minister with some of the logistical issues associated
with the provision of this service that make no business
sense. There seems to be no business case or plan to
develop and enhance rail in Ireland. Instead, there is a
view from Irish Rail that is predicated on seeking to
cut services wherever possible. The idea that one might
think outside the box to develop the line with community
interests, how students could be brought to Waterford
Institute of Technology, how tourists could be brought
on a heritage trail and how local commuters could be
facilitated on a cheap basis in terms of timing,
logistics and marketing seems not to have occurred to
Irish Rail. I ask the Minister of State to explain to
the House the commitment this Government has to rail
services in this country generally, specifically to
those in the south east and more specifically to those
between Watford and Rosslare.
Deputy
Áine Brady: I
am responding to this matter on behalf of the Minister
for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey. Rail services in the
south east have improved significantly in recent years,
reflecting the sustained high levels of investment in
the railway network generally. Over the period 2000-09 a
total of €2.9 billion in capital funding and €1.69
billion in current funding has been invested in railway
infrastructure and services. The railway network in the
south east has benefited from this.
Following significant
investment in track, signalling and other infrastructure
on the Dublin-Waterford and Dublin-Rosslare lines, the
recent focus of investment in the south east has been on
new fleet, with resulting benefits in frequency for
customers. The Waterford-Dublin route is now fully
operated by larnród Eireann’s new intercity railcar
fleet, which provides customers with a modern,
comfortable and reliable rail service. This has allowed
an expansion in services, with seven trains daily now
operating from Waterford to Dublin. This includes a new
express 7.10 a.m. Waterford to Dublin line, introduced
in November 2009, with a journey time of two hours,
calling only at Carlow en route.
All Rosslare Europort
and Wexford-Dublin services are now also operated by
larnród Eireann’s new intercity railcar fleet. larnród
Eireann has expanded services between Wexford and Dublin
from a service of three trains each way daily up to 2008
to five trains each way daily over 2008 and 2009. Rail
freight operations in the south east have also been
expanded with increased container traffic and pulpwood
traffic between Ballina and Waterford.
Despite these service
improvements that have supported increased passenger
carriage in recent years, larnród Eireann is facing a
very severe financial challenge following a decline in
passenger numbers in 2008 and 2009. In response, larnród
Eireann is implementing a wide ranging cost recovery
plan to ensure its financial viability. In this context,
I understand the company is considering the suspension
of services on the Waterford-Rosslare line. The line, on
which one train operates each way daily, has experienced
low patronage for many years with approximately 25
passengers each way per day. I understand that revenue
covers only 2% of operating costs. In addition, the
sugar beet freight business, which sustained the
viability of the line, ceased in 2006 following the
cessation of the sugar beet business in Ireland.
Decisions in regard to
services such as those on the Waterford-Rosslare route
are a matter for larnród Éireann having regard to the
resources available to it. I understand that larnród Éireann
has surveyed customers on the route in terms of origin
and destination and is examining possible alternative
services which could be provided to customers on the
route. larnród Éireann expects to make a decision in
regard to the service in the coming weeks. I also
understand that it is exploring with interested parties
the possibility of establishing a heritage railway on
the route, which would be of benefit to tourism in the
area.
Railway services in the
south east have benefited from investment in railway
infrastructure and rolling stock under the NDP,
Transport 21 and from the annual subvention to larnród
Éireann. This will continue to be the case but larnród
Éireann, in view of the pressures on the resources
available to it from fares and Exchequer funds, must
also address the matter of low patronage services as
part of its ongoing efforts to achieve break-even.
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