A FARE DEAL FOR NEWBRIDGE & KILDARE – OUR RAIL CAMPAIGN CONTINUES
Following questioning from Labour Party Cllr Mark Wall at a special meeting of Kildare County
Council , NTA officials once again confirmed that government policy would need to change in
order to reduce rail fares for Newbridge commuters.
Our team from the Labour Party-Kildare South met with Anne Graham in Leinster House late last
December.
Councillor Mark Wall, Secretary & Candidate for Newbridge LEA, Ciara O’Reilly, along with PRO
Mark Leigh were joined by Labour Spokesperson for Transport, Senator Kevin Humphreys and
Deputy Brendan Ryan, to discuss the extension of the “Short Hop Zone” to Newbridge & Kildare,
and to present the NTA with our then petition of 6,000 signatures.
If you travel the same distance from the city centre in a North & South direction, you shall still find
yourself within the Short Hop Zone. However, it is only when you travel West, to Newbridge that
you find yourself outside this zone and faced with Intercity fares, in excess of four times the cost
for a single journey.
The unsustainable situation where people continue to routinely drive to an overcrowded Sallins
train station to avail of the Short Hop Zone fares, shall continue ad-infinitum as long as this
disparity is not addressed.
Anne Graham NTA CEO, at the time, acknowledged our issues and admitted the line was nearly
at full capacity.
She also stated “The National Transport Authority had no plans to bring Newbridge into the
“Short Hop Zone” due to the resulting loss of revenue to the overall transport network.”
Unfortunately, the NTA’s hands are tied as the government and Minister for Transport, Shane
Ross, continue to sit on the fence with regard to public transport service provision and the severe
lack of funding for South Kildare.
Minister Ross continues to decline our request to meet with us.
Our goal now is to reach 10,000 signatures, we have a figure currently in excess of 6,200 people
who have signed to date.
You can sign our petition here:
https://www.change.org/p/a-fare-deal-for-newbridge-and-kild