As spokesperson for the Sallins & Naas train lobby group NASRUG, I meet regularly with Irish Rail to review performance of the commuter services and discuss any issues affecting the Kildare railway line. I most recently met with Irish rail on the Monday 1st December and discussed a range of issues as follows:

• Parking Offer Extended

One key item was parking at the station. In October, Irish Rail ran a special annual parking offer of €180 for a year’s parking at the station, however that offer expired before a lot of people renewed or took it up. I raised this with Irish Rail and in response they agreed to re-open the offer for a limited period to 17th December to allow commuters take advantage of that discounted parking rate.

• Secure “Bike Lockers” to be piloted

I also agreed with Irish Rail that a series of “Bike Lockers” would be piloted at Sallins station, these are secure and individual shelters which come with a dedicated key and are geared at protecting some of the high-end bikes that some commuters use. The new lockers are now installed at the station and can be taken up on a year’s lease.

• Punctuality and Delays

Also raised were punctuality issues, in particular the 7.38 and 8.35 am services, which are regularly late and secured agreement that issues downstream on the Limerick line would be addressed, freeing up those trains to get to Sallins quicker.

• Local Works on Track

This may only affect a few people but it can be annoying; when Irish Rail perform overnight works on the track, a lot of noise is created and they are supposed to issue notice to residents in the vicinity but they seldom do. They agreed to add Sallins Pier and Waterways to their notice list in future.

• New Timetable

No new timetable planned at present but may be looked at again next year. I did mention the gap homewards between 16.40 and 17.30 and they said they will take a look at that for the next timetable.

• Fares and Pricing

I has also requested the National Transport Authority attend at council to discuss pricing policy and explain why Sallins day tickets are dearer per-mile than many other commuter stations, that meeting is expected to take place in the New Year.