Councillor Staples Calls For Major Train Upgrades For Wexford

A Wexford councillor says the NTA should recognise the demand for train services in the county.

Fine Gael's Robbie Staples says Wexford is bottom of the list when it comes to daily services to Dublin.

Only 5 daily trains run between Rosslare and the capital with fears that the direct service may be shelved in the near future.

Councillor Staples says transport authorities are not calculating the numbers correctly and have gotten the wrong picture of the situation:

"The demand is there and I would question how the NTA are monitoring that demand.

"There's no ticket turnstiles here in Wexford or Enniscorthy and I know there's a gentleman who checks the tickets as you go into Gorey.

"So how are they monitoring the capacity of people who are using the trains from Wexford and how can they come back and say they're only focusing on extending the DART out to Wicklow."

Irish Rail is also being urged to expand the early morning Dublin train service to help bring Wexford passengers to the capital.

Currently, the earliest train from O'Hanrahan station to Connoly is at 5:59am, arriving at 8:48am which is too late for many commuters.

Councillor Staples says more user friendly routes are needed to avoid direct services being withdrawn altogether.

He says a solution to this is staring at us in the face:

"The 5:45am in Gorey, that to me should be extended to Wexford commuters so they're able to reach Dublin before 8 o'clock in the morning.

"I know people who are working and living in the Wexford borough that have to travel to Gorey, park up, pay for the parking, get on the train and then go at 5:45am to Dublin."

There are calls for newer trains to be provided on the Wexford rail line to improve capacity and comfort.

In April, the head of Irish Rail confirmed Wexford relies on the aging 29000 class of railcar compared to the more modern 22000 class used on other Intercity services.

The NTA is being called on to review the number of services and their timings to encourage more people to travel to Dublin by train.

Councillor Staples says an update to the carriages is desperately needed too:

"The actual trains themselves, the newer ones have an option of 262 seats on four carriages compared to an older train which is 185.

"The jump in the number of seats is fantastic and plus you're dealing with the extra capacity because there are people who are standing on these trains as they go up to Dublin."

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.