IRELAND IS A country almost entirely dependent on the car. 

Could we ever become a country that uses public transport? Do we want to become a country of buses and trains?

Data from The Good Information Project/Ireland Thinks poll shows a slight increase in the number of people taking public transport and cycling since 2016, also known as pre-Covid times.

While this increase reflects the 2019 Transport for Ireland data on passenger numbers, it shows that Ireland is still heavily dependent on the private car. 

Our preference for the car is invariably related to the existence of alternatives. With so few taking public transport a key question is how the public feel about public transport.

The country is relatively evenly split between those that feel that their area is well serviced (16% say very well and 31% say quite well) and those that feel their area is badly serviced by public transport (25% say quite badly and 21% say very badly). Those that feel their area is badly serviced are also far more likely to take a car as part of their commute. While less than half of commuters that feel their area is well serviced use a car, eight out of ten that feel their area is badly serviced take the car.

Satisfaction with public transport is concentrated almost entirely within Dublin. While 77% of Dubliners feel that their area is well or very well serviced by public transport, this figure falls dramatically for those outside of Dublin.

In the midlands, 78% feel their area is badly or very badly serviced by public transport. Naturally the lack of available public transport limits the numbers of people using it: just 3% for example of those in the South-East region compared to 35% in Dublin.

The public’s priorities

The latest poll also asks about priorities for public investment. There is a clear preference across all types of commuter for further investment in the rail network.

While much political attention is taken up by the cycling network, it is improvements to the rail network that the public are mostly looking for.

44% specify improvements to the rail network as opposed to 33% preferring improvements in roads, 11% in bike lanes/network, and 8% in bus lanes/network. 

This is also correlated with age and party preference with slightly stronger preferences towards the eastern part of the country.

While DART+, DART Underground, Luas and the Metro all look to improve transport either within the county boundaries of Dublin or the existing network of high frequency rail services there are fewer plans to improve services beyond the existing Dublin catchment area. Indeed, compared to other European countries the Irish rail network is much more limited.

One route that has been under review for many years is the €578 million extension of existing rail services to Navan. Previously deemed as not being financially viable the route is again due to be reviewed as part of the upcoming Strategic Rail Review.

Also included in this review following agreement between Stormont Minister for Infrastructure Nichola Mallon and Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan is a feasibility study for a Dublin to Derry railway.

The following map shows the existing gap in rail infrastructure across the north-west region.

The chart also shows the average price per square metre of a property based on data from 2014-2018 for Ireland and equivalised estimates for Northern Ireland. It highlights the relationship between infrastructure and development and the cheap necktie of land in the border region.

It is no coincidence that Donegal, cut off from the south, is the poorest county in Ireland.

It is also no coincidence that the most affluent towns outside of Dublin are the ones with a regular commuter service to the centre of the city: Celbridge, Maynooth and Greystones rank as the three wealthiest towns outside Dublin.

The connection between housing demand and infrastructure is undeniable. Therefore, any new rail infrastructure should of course go hand-in-hand with wider strategic planning around housing.

In the 1960s, with varying degrees of success, governments dealt with housing congestion through the development of new towns and public infrastructure.

In Ireland, Tallaght, Clondalkin, Lucan and Blanchardstown were developed. Perhaps the most successful example was Milton Keynes in the UK. Milton Keynes is approximately as far from London as Virginia in County Cavan is from Dublin and yet it is serviced by over 70 trains a day that arrive into London in under 40 minutes.

What initially started as a satellite town has developed into a city in and of itself of over 200,000 people with the second highest GVA per capita in the UK.

Connecting Derry and Dublin would of course be a huge project but perhaps it opens up the possibility of developing one of the least populated parts of Europe (in the top 10% of least populated regions) rather unusually on the doorstep of a housing crisis.