Public Transport: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2025-02-26 ============================================================ Seán Kyne (FG), Cultural and Educational Panel The Minister is welcome. I thank my colleagues in Fianna Fáil for tabling this Private Members' motion this afternoon on the very important area of transport. It is clear that there has been considerable investment over the years and the decades but many more projects need to be brought to fruition. It is important that we see progress not only on delivery but also in terms of the planning. For those that have not been delivered, there needs to be at least a route and a plan towards their delivery. The Minister mentioned the welcome investment in Ceannt station, Galway, which will be a game changer in the delivery of improved rail services for the city and the region. Hopefully it can allow for the expansion of the use of rail, including the commuter services from Oranmore into Galway city. I know there will be a passing loop at Oranmore station, but we need to consider doubling the track into the city and from Athenry into Oranmore to allow for commuter rail and to allow for the possible creation of commuter rail stations at various locations between Oranmore and the city. It would complement the existing services from Limerick and Ennis into Galway city. The motion mentions the reinstatement of the western rail corridor, of which I am a big supporter. I acknowledge the work of West on Track over the years in supporting work on the western rail corridor. It is fair to say there is now a strong commitment to the reopening of the track from Athenry to Claremorris and the protection of the line on to Sligo. We need to see actual works on that. We have seen the investment in Foynes and the physical work that has taken place. We need to see machinery on the ground of that old railway line and we need to see the investment. It is an obvious project. There has been too much debate about greenways versus railway. It is now clear that this needs to be used to reopen the railway line and to have the commuter service along with facilities for park and ride at Tuam, Claremorris and elsewhere to free up the roads and provide a much more pleasant journey for commuters into Galway city than they have at present and also to link up with the Limerick line. I am fully supportive of that project. The Gluas light rail or very light rail for Galway has been mentioned. I know there was a commitment relating to a feasibility study which has indicated that there are possibilities there. I am not sure if that has crossed the Minister's desk yet. Perhaps it is something he will be looking at. There are certain models in Coventry, for example, and there is capacity to look at very light rail between Oranmore and Galway and Barna and vice versa . I wish to speak about BusConnects and local bus services. Obviously, there are BusConnects plans for Galway. We have had some investment in bus lanes over the years. I know that the Dublin Road scheme has gone to and been approved by An Bord Pleanála. I hope to see progress on that. It will involve some disruption during construction but the project will be very important in improving the bus capacity in Galway. If the buses are frequent, reliable and comfortable for passengers, they will be used. Comfort also includes proper bus shelters, which we have seen in certain areas in towns, but much more could be done across the country. Every town and village that has a main route should have the comfort of a bus shelter. The local authorities need to be funded and the NTA needs to assist in that provision. There are 12 bus shelters across County Galway which are very welcome. Most of them are in place now. We need to see that replicated every year to make the experience more pleasant for commuters. There has been investment in the Local Link service. It is very welcome to have that service reliable. Again, there is no shortage of possible additions to routes that could be looked at. It would be very important in rural communities for people who do not drive or who maybe can drive but do not want to drive and want to be able to socialise. There are services for which there is demand but which are very infrequent. If that could be improved in conjunction with initiatives relating to school runs and things like that so that those buses are used throughout the day, that would be very welcome. People might say it is counterintuitive to talk about the Galway city ring road, but the Galway city ring road is pivotal in freeing up capacity in Galway city for public transport needs. As long as cars that do not need and do not want to go through the city are going through the city, we will not have the capacity needed to allow for proper public transport networks and everything else that is needed, such as pedestrianisation, improved cycle lanes, improved cycling capacity and public transport routes within the city. I think that would be absolutely vital. I know that project is still with An Bord Pleanála. I know that there has been a commitment from both Government parties, which is very welcome. It is something I would like to see progressed. As I have often said at doors and on radio, if we get planning permission, I am confident that we will build the Galway city ring road but we cannot build anything without planning permission. I certainly hope to see progress on that over the course of this year. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-02-26/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:33+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-02-26