Cullen launches 67 new carriages to Iarnrod Eireann fleet

Date: 10 July 2006

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, T.D., today (Monday, 10th July 2006) officially launched 67 new carriages to Iarnród Éireann Intercity fleet, which form part of a €117 million upgrade of rolling stock.

Welcoming the new carriages into Kent Station in Cork, the Minister said: "The new carriages will greatly enhance what is one of the busiest routes on the rail network. These are exciting times for the development of the rail network including the biggest rail investment package in the history of rail in Ireland with 253 new carriages at a cost of €501 million. In addition, 150 new intercity carriages costing €321m will start to arrive next year for service on the other Intercity routes Dublin Westport/Ballina, Sligo, Galway, Tralee, Waterford and Rosslare, providing a consistent standard of service across the Intercity Network."

Serving over 11 million passengers a year, the new state of the art fleet will be designed and built to the very latest standards of safety and comfort. Alongside these improvements will come increased reliability and timekeeping on all routes. The latest on-line reservation systems will be available to book and pay for seats in advance. Furthermore, all of the trains will have full facilities to cater for people with disabilities.

The Minister said that the new trains demonstrate the work that has been undertaken on our railways in recent years. He said: "In the past five years the company has virtually rebuilt the railway network. The railway infrastructure in Ireland has moved to a 21st Century standard. Passenger numbers have increased substantially and last year Iarnród Éireann carried nearly 38 million passengers, making it the fastest growing railway network in Europe.

"All of the work carried out on the railway fixed infrastructure is largely unseen by the travelling public but with the entry into service of the new carriages we will now reap the rewards of this investment. The improvements in terms of timesavings, reliability, frequencies and comfort will now be evident to all who use the Intercity network," said the Minister.

Since 2000, the Government has invested over €2.7 billion in public transport infrastructure in Ireland. This level of investment will be continued and grown under Transport 21. Over €15 billion has been earmarked for public transport projects. These include the completion of the renewal of the railway infrastructure and substantially improved safety management systems, the phased development of the Western Rail Corridor, the construction of a new traincare depot at Portlaoise to accommodate the 150 new railcars and the introduction of commuter rail services in Cork and Galway.

The Minister is currently considering the report of the Inspector on an application made by Iarnród Éireann for a Railway Order to four-track the line between Hazlehatch and Heuston. Ultimately, the Kildare line (to Hazlehatch), the Northern line (to Balbriggan), and the Maynooth lines will be electrified and brought into a 2-line DART system. This will be facilitated also by the construction of a railway interconnector joining up the Southwestern suburban rail line from Heuston Station with the Northern lines, also serving a new underground station at the Docklands.

Work has begun on the construction of the new Docklands Station, the first new station in Dublin city for over one hundred years. It will create additional services on the Maynooth line from 2007, as well as new services from Dunboyne when the first phase of the Navan rail link becomes operational in 2009.

Minister Cullen said he looked forward to seeing the development of a €700 million commercial, mixed-use development of approximately 14 acres adjoining Cork's Kent Station, which will include a reconfigured Kent station concourse together with integrated bus connections. "It is essential that the upgrade of the Kent Station area is developed to deliver improved access to the city centre along with a strong integration of rail and bus services", he added.

All track and signalling on the Dublin/Cork line has been upgraded to modern standards over the past decade with E.U. and Exchequer grant assistance. Currently, a Trans-European Network project is underway to improve the Cork-Dublin route and ultimately onwards to Belfast, through the removal of speed restrictions.

The Minister also spoke of the development of the proposed commuter rail service for Cork. It involves the re-opening of the line from Glounthaune to Midleton, and on the Cork-Mallow line, the construction of new stations along the route and the provision of park and ride facilities at strategic locations. Iarnród Éireann has recently applied to Minister Cullen for a Railway Order in respect of the Glounthaune to Midleton railway project and he has appointed Mr Pat Butler, SC as inspector to the public inquiry, which will commence later this year. The project is scheduled for completion in 2008 and it is proposed that, ultimately, a service every 15 minutes will operate at peak times.

ENDS

Further info:

Veronica Scanlan at (01) 6041087 or 087 6430622