Catherine Murphy, Co-Leader of the Social Democrats has said that recent parliamentary replies to her and many contacts from the public has confirmed that there are significant capacity issues across our entire public transport system.
Deputy Murphy said that while the replies received by her detail investment in the heavy rail network, it is clear there is a lack of investment in rolling stock which would increase capacity. Similarly in Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann it is becoming increasingly obvious that the current stock is not sufficient to meet the capacity demands.
Catherine Murphy said:
“At a time when we have more people seeking to commute, many of whom would prefer to use public transport, we have a public transport system that is simply not capable of accommodating the demand. I am getting stories from people who are left standing at bus stops in the morning; parents who can’t get their children to school as buses are passing them packed to the brim; and people who have no choice but to put a car on the road in order to have a reliable commute. Not only is that entirely unacceptable it is also environmentally disastrous.”
“While the recent investments in the Luas network are welcome, it is extremely short-sighted not to have a greater level of investment in capacity measures in both existing and expanding services across our public transport system including Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail.”
14th Nov 2017
ENDS