Speech by the Minister for Transport, Mr Martin Cullen TD at the opening of the new Bus Éireann Bus Station in Tralee, County Kerry

Date: 26 February 2007

Mayor of Tralee, Councillor Norma Foley; Reverend Fathers, Canon Robert Warren and Fr Padraig Walsh; my fellow colleagues from Dáil Éireann; Chairman of CIÉ, Dr John Lynch; Bus Éireann Chief Executive Officer, Tim Hayes; Bus Éireann Tralee Area Manager, Michael McElligott; Bus Éireann Tralee Services Manager, Bláithin McElligott; staff of the Station; ladies and gentlemen:

Thank you for your invitation to officially open this new state-of-the-art fully accessible Bus Station here in Tralee today.

Tralee Project

A key priority of my Department is the development and upgrading of public transport and public transport facilities. Bus Éireann, with financial support from the European Union and the exchequer, have been engaged over several years in upgrading bus stations throughout the country, to make them more attractive to customers generally but in particular, to make them accessible to all and safer for both customers and staff.

The project here in Tralee has involved a comprehensive redevelopment of the whole bus station. This co-financed Government and EU funded project has cost in the region of €1.8 million. Construction of the 440 square metre building began in the fourth quarter of 2005 and was completed at the end of 2006.

The purpose of the project was to build a completely new fully accessible bus station, which contains all of the required current accessibility features and systems needed within a modern bus station facility.

The success of the project can be seen today in this modern, functional and easily accessible building and I am delighted to be here to perform the official opening. I would like to congratulate Bus Éireann and Griffin Brother contractors, and the architects Pascal and Watson for their design of this light-filled two-storey building. Architecture is ever present in our built environment and a potent influence on our visual landscape. We live and work among its creations and its impact is widely felt. It is important to insist on certain aesthetic standards in buildings and I have been impressed this afternoon when viewing the Bus Station; the facilities like the ones we see here today in Tralee are essential if we are to attract people travelling or commuting out of their cars and on to public transport.

Eight hundred and seventy thousand passengers have been using Tralee Bus Station on an annual basis, - when it was part of the Railway Station next door - and this brand new facility will be in a position to cater for all of those passengers and the 5% increase in passenger growth expected each year.

Services out of Tralee

The Bus Éireann bus services out of Tralee are extensive there are 29 expressway departures each day from Tralee including an hourly service to Cork. During the summer months, there are important additions for tourists to the time-table, including departure times to the Cliffs of Moher, down to Glengarriff and around the Ring of Kerry. Local routes include Tralee to Dingle; Tralee to Ballybunion and on to Ardfert to name but a few. As part of its development plans, Bus Éireann is planning to buy 29 new buses for its services in the Limerick and Tralee areas. I am happy to say that exchequer funding has already been provided for 16 of those buses as part of €50 million approved by the Government last September for Bus Éireann to increase the number of buses in its fleet. Next door to us here of course is the Railway Station, allowing for a seamless transfer between the two transport options. There are now eight daily intercity rail services between Dublin and Kerry and last year €11.5 million was invested in computerised signalling for the route. Kerry will soon benefit too like many other locations around the country, from 150 new rail carriages, funded under Transport 21, the Government's investment programme for transport. Irish Rail will enter these new carriages into service during 2007.

Accessibility

Accessibility is a matter of primary concern across all transport projects. Accessible transport can make the difference between people being able to participate fully in social and economic life, and not being able to participate. The Government is committed to promoting social inclusion and this was our aim when we brought in the Disability Act 2005 and associated Sectoral Plans.

My own Department's Sectoral Plan, 'Transport Access for All', addresses the accessibility needs of people with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments across all transport modes. It contains time bound targets for the progressive realisation of accessible transport in Ireland. It was prepared following an extensive consultation exercise involving meetings and discussions with transport providers, together with a wide range of groups in the disability sector.

We insisted from the beginning of the NDP 2000-2006 that new public transport projects should have accessibility for all built in from the design stage. We have continued this commitment in our ten-year investment strategy, Transport 21, which was launched in 2005 and which has been endorsed by the new National Development Plan 2007-2013 published recently.

At the same time, we have to recognise that the transport infrastructure that we have inherited was built without taking into account the needs of those with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments. For this reason, we have included provision in both the NDPs and Transport 21 for the retrofitting and adaptation of existing infrastructure to take account of accessibility. The refurbished station we are opening today is a prime example of what this means in practice.

Tralee Bus Station now has a series of accessibility features automatic doors, ramped footpaths and accessible washrooms designed to facilitate use of the station and freedom of movement for those with mobility impairments. There have also been improvements to information provision, such as signage displays and the installation of counter loop systems to improve communications between staff and customers with hearing disabilities.

It is envisaged that most Bus Éireann stations will have been brought up to accessibility standards by the end of 2007.

New facilities in themselves are only a part of achieving the objective of accessibility. Staff training in disability awareness is essential if customers are to achieve the full benefits of new accessible facilities. This has been recognised for some years, and I am pleased to note that Bus Éireann has been providing disability awareness training both for its own staff and for contractors.

Conclusion

I would like to thank Bus Éireann for carrying out all of these improvements in their facilities and I wish Bus Éireann personnel who work here in Tralee and the travelling public well in their operation and use of the facilities.

Thank you all very much.

ENDS