The new early-morning train service from Belfast to Dublin should be scrapped or put back to a later time as a result of the delays it is causing for commuters travelling into the city, Minister of State Joe O’Brien has suggested.
In letters to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, the Green Party Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development asked them to intervene to deal with problems arising from timetable changes for commuter rail routes serving north Dublin and Louth as a result of the new Belfast service.
Mr O’Brien acknowledged that the new early-morning Belfast service followed a commitment under the Government’s Shared Island initiative. He said he appreciated the need “to enhance and grow our connection with Northern Ireland”.
However, he said that the consequent timetable changes “have impacted very negatively on the commuter service, increasing journey times significantly for commuters in the towns of Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush, Lusk and Donabate”.
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Mr O’Brien, who is a TD in Fingal, said: “What is especially problematic is a 30-minute gap at the peak morning period where there is no commuter service. This not only leads to a significantly decreased level of service but existing services have been concentrated over a shorter time, causing capacity issues on some trains and long delays.
“The changes have also reduced through-services, impacting commuters who travel south of the Liffey. With all trains now terminating in Connolly or Pearse, this adds to journey times and increases the risk of delays.”
Mr O’Brien said the core of the problem was that with the introduction of the new 6am service from Belfast, commuter trains operating from Drogheda to Dublin had to be cleared from the line in order for it to run on schedule.
“A delay or cancellation of the 6am Belfast service would go some way to alleviate some of these issues, while the [Belfast] Enterprise service is important, the knock-on effect on Dublin commuters is unacceptable. It is important to note that the previous first service out of Belfast was 6.50am. I am also led to believe that currently the relevant Enterprise service is starting in Newry (not Belfast) and it will be later in the year before it actually serves Belfast.
“In my 20 years using the commuter line I have never seen such a poorly implemented change and would request an immediate intervention to resolve the ongoing issues.
“To sum up, we are simply trying to squeeze too many services on to a single train track. We ultimately need additional track space.”
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