Rail Network Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12 ============================================================ Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Transport, who sends his apologies. The Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable sustainable mobility options. Public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. Improving public transport services and infrastructure is central to improving all people's quality of life. As the Deputy mentioned, the Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transport strategy sets out the framework for the delivery of the transport system required to further develop that whole Limerick region. A key principle of the strategy is to reduce dependency on the car while increasing the appeal of sustainable transport options. Proposed projects such as double tracking the line from Limerick Colbert to Limerick Junction and improving the frequency of services on the Limerick-Nenagh-Ballybrophy line as demand for travel increases will help to achieve this. Investment in the Ballybrophy line is provided for under the infrastructure manager multi-annual contract, the contractual arrangement between the Minister for Transport and Iarnród Éireann for the protection and renewal of the rail network. The current contract runs for four years from 2026 to 2030 and will see over €2 billion invested in the rail network over this period. The funding will increase service reliability and punctuality, improve journey times and ensure continued safety of rail services across the network. As an example of the type of works funded, in 2021, an enhanced programme of track re-laying on the Ballybrophy line was supported by this programme. Iarnród Éireann invested €22.8 million between 2011 and 2020 on improvements and upgrades to the infrastructure on the Ballybrophy to Limerick rail line. The upgrades were made up of a range of infrastructural improvements across the track, bridges, signalling systems and other structures that comprise the assets on this route. Irish Rail has invested further in the line between 2020 and 2022, which ha seen the route upgraded from jointed track to continuous welded rail, yielding journey time improvements of 15 minutes. Any further journey time improvements would be dependent on further investment in level crossings and other infrastructure. There are 12 staffed level crossings on the Limerick-Ballybrophy branch and there are no plans to automate these in the short to medium term. A re-signalling scheme for this branch will likely be required to facilitate the automation of these level crossings. An estimate in 2023 suggested it would cost in the region of €58 million to re-signal the line and automate these level crossings, but further studies would be required to produce a definitive current estimate. The high number of user-operated crossings, including farm crossings, would also need to be addressed to further improve journey time. As well as addressing gatekeeper resources, one of the most significant issues currently is fleet availability. While new trains entering service from 2027 onwards as part of the DART+ programme will initially have direct benefit within the greater Dublin area, the secondary effect of these new trains will be to free up intercity and commuter trains currently operating on the northern line to be used on other routes around the network. Their deployment will be subject to review with, and the approval of, the National Transport Authority, subject to demand and infrastructure capacity at the time. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, the Minister and I look forward to working closely with the NTA and Iarnród Éireann in the coming years to increase the number of trains in operation on regional lines across the country. Deputy O'Meara's points are well made about the commuter line, the servicing of it and the need for a uniformity of approach. I will bring his remarks back to the Minister. I thank the Deputy for meeting with the NTA and for his ongoing advocacy and the work he is doing. His points are well made and are part of what we will be the national rail framework in the coming years. --- 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/dail/2026-05-12/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-12