Calls for direct transport connections from Kildare to Dublin Airport

A Social Democrats councillor has called for direct transport connections to Dublin Airport from the Celbridge Leixlip Municipal District, and for the council to engage with the NTA to hold a “comprehensive review” in this regard.

Tabling her motion at a September MD meeting, Cllr Nuala Killeen asked: “That the council engages with the National Transport Authority (NTA) to undertake a comprehensive review, in collaboration with all relevant authorities and stakeholders, including private operators, to explore the feasibility of repurposing existing public transport routes to facilitate direct connections to Dublin Airport, utilising alighting and embarking points that are not currently in operation.”

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Killeen said her motion came from a desire for transport sustainability, and the need to encourage people into group travel.

She said there was an airport “Hopper” route serving Kildare which once operated very successfully, but had ceased to operate now.

She pointed out that the towns of Celbridge and Leixlip have large populations, and noted the 10% increase in passengers in Dublin Airport.

There is a requirement to “get people from A to B”, she added, and said the onus was on the council to engage with the NTA to get some kind of public transport service directly to the airport from Celbridge and Leixlip.

Cllr Killeen said it “might take a while” to realise this, but that it was a “sensible action for this MD to engage in.”

Supporting Cllr Killeen's motion, Cllr Rupert Heather (LAB) said he “very much supports this motion”, as the price of taxis to the airport from Celbridge or Leixlip is “ridiculous.”

It was not just Celbridge, he said, but all of North Kildare which is drastically underserved regarding access to the airport.

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Cllr Lumi Panaite Fahey (FG), also supporting the motion, said that in Celbridge, apart from the cost of taxis, etc, there are people who simply do not drive, and they have no way of getting to the airport.

It was agreed in council for the local authority to contact the NTA with regard to undertaking a comprehensive transport review of connectivity to Dublin Airport from North Kildare.