Rail Investment Aligned with Housing Delivery

Transport infrastructure investment is being aligned with housing delivery to unlock residential developments across rail corridors, Dáil Éireann has heard.

Responding to parliamentary questions from Deputy Tony McCormack regarding infrastructure alignment in regional towns, Deputy Darragh O'Brien stated that transport-orientated development (TOD) is being embedded into planning under the National Planning Framework.

According to the debate, housing infrastructure investment funding was recently allocated to accelerate new train station developments at Blarney and Water Rock in County Cork, as well as west Maynooth in County Kildare. These station projects are intended to facilitate the delivery of more than 12,000 homes adjacent to the new public transport facilities.

In County Galway, a new platform and passing loop at Oranmore Station will serve a proposed 1,000-unit residential scheme. In Dublin, procurement for MetroLink is scheduled to commence early next year, with the project projected to support approximately 77,000 homes along its route and more than 120,000 homes across the greater Dublin area.

Deputy McCormack raised concerns that local authorities may identify land for housing while public transport and road upgrades remain years away, arguing that projects unlocking substantial development should receive accelerated assessment and delivery.

In response, it was confirmed that a joint TOD working group between the Departments of Transport and Housing informed revisions to the National Planning Framework, with transport-orientated development guided by planning objectives 10, 97, and 99. The National Transport Authority (NTA) coordinates directly with the Department of Housing to align transport strategies and investment programmes with local authority zoning and statutory housing targets.