There has been a lot of uproar across County Wexford ever since The Irish Times ran an article entitled ‘NTA considering proposals to end direct rail services between Wexford and Dublin‘…
The proposals to terminate Rosslare and Wexford to Dublin trains at Wicklow or Greystones and provide a DART shuttle are based on two reports prepared by the National Transport Authority.
While this move could ensure more frequent trains from Rosslare to Dublin, it would come at a cost: it would impact the direct train services. During a time when people are encouraged to decrease their driving habits and to use public transport, the move has been viewed as somewhat regressive – with many arguing that, we instead, need more direct trains and that they need to be faster.
Speaking earlier on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne called on the NTA to be “more imaginative” in its planning which seems to be the common view from most across the county.
We reached out to Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport, for comment on the matter.
“NTA’s and the Department of Transport’s aim is to ensure more frequent, reliable and interconnected transport services throughout the country, including from Wexford to Dublin. Modelling undertaken by the NTA for the DART+ Programme has indicated that in order to facilitate increased services on the Rosslare line, and to achieve maximum capacity in the Greater Dublin Area, Rosslare services would include an interchange at Wicklow or Greystones to connect seamlessly to DART services right into the heart of Dublin. However, it must be stressed that this was an infrastructural modelling exercise, and the NTA have advised that no decision has been made to alter services on the Rosslare line,” a spokesperson for the Minister of Transport, Eamon Ryan said.
He believes that the Rosslare line to Dublin is a particularly challenging one, because of the location and frequency of the DART in Greystones:
“The DART+ Programme is designed to deliver infrastructure across the Greater Dublin Area to maximise capacity for rail services on all routes – in short, it will double the capacity and treble the electrified network. Delivering additional frequency on the Rosslare to Dublin line is challenging primarily because of the high frequency DART service from Bray to Dublin. This challenge will increase with improvements in DART frequency from Greystones, which will come about with DART+ Coastal South. There will ultimately be operational timetabling decisions after DART+ Coastal South is delivered, based on passenger demand. A combination of direct/interchange services will remain options available to the NTA,” he said.
He confirmed that a public consultation will take place later this summer to discuss the matter:
“Any timetabling proposals are subject to public consultation should they at any time be proposed, as is the case with all timetable reviews, and the approval of the NTA. The DART+ Coastal South project will commence public consultation this summer,” he said.
South East on Track have also responded to and criticised the plans by the NTA. South East on Track is an organisation dedicated to the improvement of rail services across the South East Region.
“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,” they said.
The full response from the South East on Track organisation can be read here.
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