James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Transport sends his apologies. He would like to thank the Senator for the opportunity to address this issue.

Improving public transport services and infrastructure is central to improving citizens' quality of life and addressing our climate action challenge, and this Government is committed to a fundamental change in the nature of transport in Ireland. The Minister for Transport has seen the media reports of recent weeks with regard to a planned proposal related to the DART+ coastal south project and considers it useful to clarify what the current position is with the proposal.

Modelling undertaken by the National Transport Authority for the DART+ programme is related to facilitating increased rail services on the Rosslare to Dublin line. This includes an option to be considered that would allow Rosslare services interchanging at Wicklow or Greystones to connect seamlessly to DART services into the heart of Dublin. It must be stressed that this was an infrastructural modelling exercise. The NTA has advised that no decision has been made to alter services on the Rosslare line.

The Government has to provide more options to people so they can make the switch to sustainable mobility and within the greater Dublin area, GDA, work on the DART+ programme is continuing so it can become part of those options. As the Senator may be aware, under the Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042, which was adopted last year, it is intended to further expand the DART system to Wicklow town. Design work is ongoing at present on the DART+ coastal south project to plan for the enhanced DART service level to Greystones. A public consultation will be undertaken with regard to those proposals later this year.

In addition, initial planning and design work is currently ongoing by the NTA to establish the feasibility of operating an hourly DART service to Wicklow town using battery electric train sets that could operate along the unelectrified section of the railway between Greystones and Wicklow. Under this arrangement, one DART per hour arriving at Greystones would be a battery electric train, which would be able to continue further south along the unelectrified line and terminate at Wicklow town train station, with the same approach in the opposite direction. South of Wicklow, the provision of a diesel train shuttle service between Rosslare and Wicklow would provide the potential for a much more frequent train service along the southern sections of the south-east line.

With regard to the issue of coastal erosion, coastal railway construction and maintenance has always been challenging. Throughout its history, interventions have been required to protect the east coast railway line from impacts on embankments, water coming over the line and coastal erosion. The Minister for Transport understands that Iarnród Éireann has over many years managed the coastal defence of the east coast Dublin to Rosslare line and monitors the coastline erosion rates at key points along the railway on an ongoing basis. The east coast railway infrastructure protection project was established to deliver the necessary enhanced coastal protections. The primary focus of this project is to address and implement protection of the existing railway and coastal infrastructure against the further effects of coastal erosion due to climate change. The Minister for Transport assures the Senator that this matter is taken seriously and that appropriate remedial action will be under way.