Debate contribution: All-island Rail Fares

Debate contribution by Mr Mark Durkan on 3 December 2024.

MLA

Mr Mark Durkan

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 4691420

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to close the debate on the motion. I thank everyone who contributed to it and reaffirm the SDLP's long-standing commitment to establishing an all-island rail network that meets the needs of a modern society while addressing entrenched regional disparities. Disparity in fare structures either side of the border is creating barriers for commuters in the North, making it harder for individuals to access jobs, education and essential services. Aligning fares is a simple but effective catalyst required to achieve zero-emission climate goals and ensure that the North can share in the economic growth of regions that have historically been overlooked. The need for investment in public transport has not been met by the Executive. Indeed, the draft Programme for Government is notable for its lack of commitment to, and detail on, future spend or commitment to public transport. Treasury figures show that public spending on public transport per person in the North is the lowest across UK jurisdictions, with just £193 per head spent here compared with £465 per head in England and Scotland. That is astounding. While Governments elsewhere are driving investment towards public transport and passing on improved services and savings to passengers, the North continues to lag behind. In the South, they are full steam ahead, with record public transport investment and record passenger numbers. The disparity in action is perfectly exemplified, as the motion highlights, in the ludicrous fact that rail passengers travelling from Belfast to Dublin pay double the price that those going in the opposite direction pay. During her tenure as Infrastructure Minister, the SDLP's Nichola Mallon implemented two separate freezes on public transport fares during a period of significant inflation in an attempt to alleviate financial pressures on people but also to drive greener modes of travel. As caretaker Minister, Minister O'Dowd outlined his intention that fares would also be frozen the following year, but, a short time later, in the absence of an Executive thanks to the DUP, passengers were hit with a 7% hike. In fact, we then saw three separate hikes in just 15 months. The Executive have failed to grasp the significant opportunity offered by public transport. It is ludicrous to include "Planet" as one of the key missions in the draft Programme for Government yet not have improving the affordability of and accessibility to public transport as a prominent and defining feature. Even more frustrating is that one of the key components of the Finance Minister's revenue-raising plan is to increase Translink's travel fares even further. I hope that I am wrong, but it would appear that that measure is one of very few left standing, given that the deadline to remove the rates cap for the North's most expensive homes has been missed. I hope that that does not mean that the fare increase will be even more than stated and that commuters end carrying an even bigger can. When I asked the Infrastructure Minister for the year-on-year per capita spend on public transport per council area, the Department was unable to provide the figures. That inability is indicative of the lackadaisical approach to the issue by the Department and/ Translink. If it has not been assessed, it will not be addressed. We have an Executive who prioritise vanity over sanity. At a time when public transport fares are becoming more unaffordable to the average person and further increases are being used as a crutch for revenue raising, we have, as Mr Carroll mentioned, spent £340 million on the Grand Central station in Belfast and £11 million on management fees. Without developing rail and bus routes, reducing costs or even tweaking timetables to bring benefits that will improve public transport and increase passenger numbers, that station runs a real risk of becoming a white elephant. I apologise for any offence caused by Mr McNulty's analogy earlier. Deputy Speaker Aiken thought that it was below the belt. The approach is akin to embarking on a kitchen renovation when you do not have the money to stock the cupboards. We have seen some modest, incremental improvements in rail timetabling, such as an alignment of the Derry to Belfast train schedule with that for the Belfast to Dublin service. That alignment ensures that passengers do not have to wait as long for connecting trains, but more connectivity is required. Since the hourly Belfast service from Derry was introduced in 2017, we have witnessed exponential growth in passenger numbers due, in no small part, to the lobbying of Into the West and others. That is the living embodiment of the phrase, "If you build it, they will come". It stands to reason that if we make public transport more affordable and more accessible, even more will come. Public transport journeys are on the rise, despite multiple fare increases and fairly limited rail networks, which is proof of the public's desire to use more sustainable modes of transport. I will touch on some of the contributions by Members. My colleague Justin McNulty proposed the motion and spoke of the enormous and unequal burden on people who are travelling from the North that is created by the difference in fare structures. He gave numerous examples. Of course, the one closest to home and closest to his heart is that of a ticket from Newry to Belfast costing more than twice the price of a ticket from Dundalk to Belfast. At the heart of that is inequality. Affordable and accessible public transport is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Our inability to address those issues undermines efforts to meet climate obligations and reduce our carbon emissions. Affordable public transport benefits so many people, including students, and so many areas and aspects of society. It will combat congestion in and around our towns and cities, and it will relieve pressure on parking and on the Minister to deliver residents' parking schemes. It is a question of fairness, and it is ironic that prices in the Six Counties are going north while prices in the Twenty-six Counties are going south. The Chair of the Committee moved the amendment, which we will support. She pointed to a perceived shortcoming in our motion, in that it does not name every county. However, I remind the House of the very first motion that the SDLP tabled in the reconvened Assembly, which made that call and made specific mention of Fermanagh, as I am sure the Committee Chair will recall. She told us that the DUP does not support unification. That came as no great surprise, but we are happy to support its call for alignment. Cathal Boylan disagreed with the motion's assertion that the North had demonstrated a lack of ambition. We fully get that we have been hampered greatly by a lack of investment. Peter McReynolds also lamented that lack of investment and the lack of a strategic approach. He then echoed the SDLP's long and loud call for the establishment of an infrastructure commission to oversee all those massive and expensive projects, many of which were later described by the Minister. I come to his party colleague David Honeyford. I will see your grumpy and raise you. He said that our motion was "narrow". I know that Alliance motions are normally sufficiently broad to include motherhood and apple pie. As for his assertion that the motion lacks any ideas, "asinine" was the term that Matthew O'Toole used to describe that. The motion latches on to one idea to make a wider point. It is about the economy — I will stop there. It is about the environment, people and places. Improved connectivity will improve our all-island economy. The Member asked where the money will come from. It will come from addressing the cost of division. Matthew O'Toole spoke of the importance of engaging with the new Minister in the South to further all-island rail. I look forward to the Minister's engagement on that. The Minister spoke of the difficult financial environment in which his Department and all Departments are operating. We recognise that, of course. He outlined some of the bargains to be had on Translink. I encourage the Minister to encourage Translink to do more to promote and raise awareness of those. Without question, rail is the most environmentally friendly transport option. Its success is core to achieving a greener future on the journey to zero emissions by 2030. Aligning fares on an all-island basis is a simple but necessary solution. The Executive must recognise the tremendous opportunity provided by rail. Making rail the choice for daily commutes means improving accessibility, reducing travel times through high-speed networks, controlling costs and connecting people and places. Failure to act and invest now will hamper future prosperity and hinder our ability to meet our Climate Act obligations.

1,468 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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