Public Transport
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Louis O'Hara (SF), Galway East

I raised this with the NTA last week and was told that all available carriages were in use at peak times, but I have a number of questions in relation to this and would appreciate clear answers to them for the people who have to travel on these overcrowded services daily. Why has there been no forward planning and how have we ended up in a situation where we do not have additional rail carriages? When are we going to have additional carriages on the trains going into Galway? I want a clear timeline on this because the Minister of State mentioned that new electric carriages were going to be arriving into Dublin, which would free up existing stock to go out to the regional routes. Is that going to happen in quarter 2 of 2027? Do we have a clear timeline on when that will happen? Has there been engagement will rail operators and departments in other jurisdictions about the possibility of securing stock on a short-term basis to address these capacity issues while we wait for the new stock?
Why has the Government not funded the promised new Athenry bus service? We have been waiting for that for two years. That will take significant pressure off the existing rail services into the city.
These are the questions that I am getting of commuters, and I would appreciate clear answers to them because this is not a sustainable situation and the Government cannot continue to sit on its hands.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24