Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has received a reply from Irish Rail stating that they have not been provided with funding for any new trains or carriages for 2018, 2019 or 2020. The response came on foot of a series of questions that Deputy Murphy has posed to the Minister for Transport, the National Transport Authority and Irish Rail regarding the significant capacity issues faced by commuters trying to use the rail network on a daily basis.

Deputy Murphy said:

“Every week I get contact from someone who is frustrated with the lack of capacity on the rail network. They have either not been able to get on a train or they have found themselves on an uncomfortable packed train.   As bad as things are at the moment we know that there are significant new numbers of housing developments planned for many areas and if the stock of carriages and trains doesn’t increase then how can we possibly expect the existing rail services to cope with an increased demand?

“We should be encouraging people to use public transport. In fact people often would prefer to use public transport but they won’t or can’t do so if they have to endure a journey like a canned sardine.”

24th January 2018

ENDS

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