Colm McCarthy: a superior policy is to limit urban sprawl and take the bus

Local newspapers and radio stations around the country are diligent in covering the meetings of county councils and of the Oireachtas and its committees on matters affecting their areas.

They report faithfully the recitation of demands from local politicians for better roads, more frequent bus and train services, subsidies for regional airports and the nightmares of long-distance commuters.

The complaints of the politicians are invariably focussed on the geographical location of the speaker’s constituency. It is tempting to forgive this constant special pleading as an example of local democracy in action.

But it thrives in the absence of any coherent national approach to transport policy and the vacuum is the handiwork of the National Transport Authority and its parent, the Department of Transport.

The Waterford News and Star, for example, has been quoting local politicians who believe that Waterford ought to have more frequent direct train services to Dublin, citing figures from Irish Rail which claim that traffic on the route reached 1.8 million passengers last year.

Deputy Conor McGuinness, a Waterford TD, thinks that the existing service is too slow and that stops at some intermediate stations, which include Kilkenny and Carlow, should be skipped.

The volume quoted and attributed to Irish Rail is for all traffic on the line into Heuston from the Waterford direction and includes the numbers using the outer suburban services from places like Kildare and Newbridge. Annual volume actually originating in Waterford is not reported, but cannot be more than about 300,000.

Figures from the most recent National Rail Census taken on 14 November 2024 show that northbound traffic from Waterford is dwarfed by the volumes generated at the five intermediate stations on the line before it joins the main line from the southwest at Kildare. These stations are Thomastown, Kilkenny, Bagenalstown, Carlow and Athy.

Total boardings at Waterford on census day were 752 on the six direct services, an average of only 125 per train. North-bound boardings at the five intermediate stations totalled 2,390, three times the numbers joining at Waterford. Express services would leave these passengers in the lurch.

It detours off a direct route into a dead-end station close to the centre of Kilkenny which would presumably be closed if the express option were to be pursued – there are no other services to or from Kilkenny

Of the total boarding trains on the route south of Athy, roughly 3,000, only one quarter would welcome the proposed express service. Nor would an express service for the ex-Waterford customers be straightforward – the line is mostly single-track and southbound services could not be accommodated at the right times to yield a manageable timetable for Irish Rail.

There is a further limitation – the line does not go straight to Dublin. It detours off a direct route into a dead-end station close to the centre of Kilkenny which would presumably be closed if the express option were to be pursued – there are no other services to or from Kilkenny.

The retention of this station was itself the fruit of a local political campaign some years back designed to defend the interests of some Kilkenny retailers against those who might have been happier had a new station been built a little further out, beside the M9 motorway, shortening the trip to Dublin and encouraging retail expansion elsewhere, perhaps closer to the centre of the Marble City and to the disadvantage of those located at the dead-end station.

Irish Rail planners are faced with demands which they know are not feasible given the configuration of the existing rail network.

The simplest response to demands for impossible rail service improvements from local politicians is for Irish Rail to stress how small are the volumes actually using many of the services concerned. In every case, there are plentiful alternatives in the form of long-distance buses – from Waterford, around 25 departures per day are offered by the three operators including Expressway, Irish Rail’s sister company, and they offer faster journey times in most cases.

Many serve Dublin airport as well as the city centre and include services leaving Waterford in the wee hours in time to check-in for the bunching of airport departures from 6am onwards. They use the M9 motorway which goes all the way to Waterford despite the thin traffic volumes on the sections south of Carlow and Kilkenny.

The construction of this section to full motorway spec was itself the result of local political lobbying at the time and was not the preference of road engineers.

A broader problem in Ireland, worst in the east region, is the proliferation of housing development in locations at long distances (Waterford is 170km from Dublin) and the resultant commuter stress.

There should be every sympathy for those facing arduous commutes, but it is simplistic and unreasonable to lay the blame on Irish Rail which can only optimise the use of the inherited Victorian rail system. For the foreseeable future, a superior policy is to limit urban sprawl and take the bus.