South East on Track: Response to proposal to end direct Wexford-Dublin trains

South East on Track is an organisation dedicated to the improvement of rail services across the South East Region…

We have noted with disappointment an article in the Irish Times on April 2 2024 entitled: NTA considering proposals to end direct rail services between Wexford and Dublin.

The proposals to terminate Rosslare & Wexford to Dublin trains at Wicklow or Greystones and provide a DART shuttle are based on two reports prepared by the National Transport Authority. We have requested copies of these reports, but based on past documents prepared by the NTA we expect that many alternate solutions to the shuttle proposal will have been ruled out of scope for spurious reasons.

The facts of the matter are that this proposal will marginally improve services for Kilcoole and Wicklow, while making the service almost unusable for passengers at busier stations further south. According to the most recent Heavy Rail Census, Wexford Town had more passenger boardings than Wicklow Town, and Rathdrum, Arklow, Gorey, Enniscorthy, and Wexford Town had more passenger boardings than Kilcoole.

There are no other proposals to terminate any other Inter City or Commuter services in neighbouring counties to Dublin.

The NTA will likely claim that this proposal is the only option to improve services on the Rosslare line. This is untrue. In the short term, using the third track at Bray station, and extending the turnback at Grand Canal Dock could provide passing options to alleviate conflicts between Inter City trains and DARTs. In the long term, additional passing locations can be explored & developed.

In the mid 2000s the Bray-Dublin Connolly journey time on the Wexford train was approximately 31 minutes, compared to the current 47 minutes on the DART in 2024 for the same journey. This shows a consistent pattern of downgrading the service for the South Eastern commuter and rail user.

The recent draft Report of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review proposed reopening the Wexford to Waterford railway line to improve connectivity in the South East region. Part of that connectivity is providing direct rail services along the East Coast to the Capital. The review also stated that any provision of a shuttle would be in addition to the existing direct Commuter services.

While welcoming potential additional rail services, South East on Track will campaign vigorously against ending direct Wexford-Dublin trains.