Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

286 Chapter 11: Environment and Transport Much of this increase can be ascribed to the introduction and improvement of services under the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan 2 and the BusConnects Network Redesign. 3 Another factor contributing to this increase is the ongoing improvements in fare and ticketing design, aimed at facilitating easier and more equitable access to services through simplified multimodal and multi-period ticketing, along with fare adjustments made under the National Fares Strategy (NTA and Systra, 2023). Over the last 4–5 years, investment has ramped up significantly, with an unprecedented number of rail projects in planning phases including DART+ West and South West, the Dublin– Navan line (new line), Luas Finglas and MetroLink. Since 2022, there has been a significant increase in rail services provided nationwide on existing rail lines. However, the last new major rail infrastructure project delivered in Dublin was Luas Cross City in 2017, and no new rail network is currently under construction in Dublin. 2 www.nationaltransport.ie/connecting-ireland/ (accessed 11 April 2024). 3 www.dublinbus.ie/bus-connects-hub (accessed 11 April 2024). 4 www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/about-us/iarnrod-eireann-projects-and-investments/cork-area-commuter-rail#: ~:text=Cork%20Area%20 Commuter%20Rail%20Programme%20The%20Cork%20Area,rail%20improvement%20programme%20for%20the%20 Cork%20Rail%20Network (accessed 30 July 2024). There have been improvements to the rail network in Cork. The frequency of rail services in the Cork Metropolitan Area was doubled in July 2022, providing a train every 30 minutes to and from Cork and Cobh and Cork and Midleton and every 15 minutes to and from Cork and Glounthaune. Investment is also being made in the Cork Area Commuter Rail programme, which represents the largest investment in the rail network in Cork in the history of the state. 4 Freight transport Economic activity is an important factor driving freight demand, as it is directly correlated with increased consumption and production, subsequently raising the demand for transport of goods. In Ireland, the demand (expressed in terms of the modified domestic demand) and road freight activity (in tonne-kilometres) both experienced disruptions in 2020, probably influenced by the pandemic (Figure 11.6). However, both indicators showed a notable recovery in subsequent years. Figure 11.6  Trends in road freight activity and domestic economic activity, 2006–2022 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 0 2,000 6,000 10,000 14,000 18,000 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000 20,000 ˜ Modified total domestic demand ˜ Road freight activity Modified domestic demand (million €) Road freight activity (million tonne-kilometres) 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Year Sources: Compiled from data in CSO, 2023d; CSO, 2023e