Debate contribution: All-island Rail Fares

Debate contribution by Mr Matthew O'Toole on 3 December 2024.

MLA

Mr Matthew O'Toole

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

3 December 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

All-island Rail Fares

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4691329

Read the official Assembly record

Text

What an apposite moment to be called: it means that I can respond to some of the comments that the Member for Lagan Valley made about constructive motions from the Opposition. I take profound exception to the suggestion that the SDLP has not put forward serious and constructive proposals; in fact, it is, frankly, asinine to say that we have not done that, given the seriousness with which we have approached our role in opposition. We have been constructive and serious throughout. Occasionally, we are robust, and we make no apology for that, because that is our job. In the most recent Opposition day, we put forward a series of constructive and serious proposals on regeneration and childcare. Yes, one of our motions included condemnation of Ministers who had been found to have broken the ministerial code. Another one was on our future relationship with the European Union; indeed, we are publishing a paper on that tomorrow.

I will. It is very reasonable of you to bring me back to the point, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I needed to address the absolutely absurd accusation that the SDLP has not been putting forward ideas.

We have been doing our job in opposition, which is fundamentally holding the Executive to account. We have put down a range of practical proposals. We do that constantly and will do it tomorrow.

On the important motion that we are discussing today — I am slightly surprised to hear the Member who previously seemed to agree with everything in the motion say that he does not like it — it is critical that we effect what many people know now to be one of the most vital agendas for the rest of the century, which is moving away from the addiction, created in the 20th century, to getting everywhere by car. We are one of the most car-dependent regions and islands in the developed world. The car is not going anywhere. We are all aware that, as part of the migration to net zero, we will need to reform through the greater use of electric vehicles. The car will continue to be critical, particularly in rural areas and, indeed, urban areas. I am, however, proud and unashamed to say that I want more of us across the island to be able to take train routes, including those who live in County Fermanagh. I am sure that the Chair of the Infrastructure Committee would be deeply offended if I did not mention that. My colleague the former SDLP Infrastructure Minister set out a clear intention. She commissioned the first all-Ireland strategic rail review. I am glad to see that the Minister has stuck with that agenda. We will continue to press him and his Southern counterpart to progress that. Presumably, it will be his new counterpart in the South, because there will be a new responsible Minister down there at some point in the next month or two. We destroyed our rail network, particularly in the North, during the middle of the 20th century. We are only now starting to construct the ambition towards rebuilding the network. Grand Central station is in the middle of Belfast. By the way, the associated roadworks are causing huge disruption to my constituents, but I will never criticise it for existing, because I want that potential. I want the extra platforms and extra capacity in Belfast to build the muscle memory and capacity for rail connectivity across the North and across the island. That is what is really important. The motion touches on a very specific issue, which is the alignment and unification of the fare structure. That will be a short-term bureaucratic challenge, but we certainly want the Minister to progress it, insofar as he can, with his Southern counterpart. It is deeply frustrating not just for people who live in border regions but those who regularly use cross-border rail services that the system is clunky and that there are cost disparities. It is, yes, cheaper, but also, in many ways, more straightforward to book a ticket south of the border that gets you north of the border. It is far too complicated. We should make it as easy and cost-effective as possible for people to use public transport, particularly our rail network. We are unabashed and proud of that, and it is one of the most important agendas facing us for the rest of the century. Let us make progress on the matter. Our motion today is about putting it on the Assembly's agenda. There are a lot of constructive suggestions in the DUP amendment. We might not have worded it in exactly the same way, but it has a lot of constructive suggestions and things that are important to progress. I am glad that the Assembly is debating the motion from my colleague Justin McNulty. We look forward to progressing the motion and continuing to robustly put the case for rebuilding our all-island rail network, putting it on the agenda and holding the Executive to account for delivering on it.

842 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:43 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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