Amount spent on public transport projects in various counties

Date: 17 June 2008


--Dáil Question No: 99 *To ask the Minister for Transport the amount of money that has been spent on public transport projects under Transport 21 in Counties Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim. - Martin Ferris. (Nominated by: Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin).

Answered by the Minister for Transport
(Noel Dempsey TD)

REPLY

Under the Transport 21 programme substantial funding has been provided to these counties for the various projects.
Kerry
- Iarnród Éireann has expanded the services on the Tralee – Dublin/Cork line to approximately one every two hours in each direction. This has been facilitated by the introduction of 67 intercity carriages on the Cork – Dublin line.
- To facilitate the introduction of modern rolling stock and to improve accessibility for mobility-impaired passengers, station improvements have been carried out including raising and lengthening the current platforms at Banteer, Rathmore and Killarney.
- Accessibility improvements have been made to Tralee Bus Station.
- To date, €189,000 has been spent under Transport 21 on improvements to Kerry Airport out of the total allocation of €17.7million.

Limerick
- There has been a total investment of €2.33 million in bus priority and Park and Ride projects.
- The refueling and maintenance facilities at Limerick Depot have been upgraded at a cost of €1.75 million.
- Upgrade works on the rail system in Limerick and improvement works on the Limerick-Ballybrophy line which included track renewal, signal upgrading, level crossings, structures and fencing, have been undertaken as part of the Railway Safety Programme.

Clare
- Ennis railway station car park was upgraded from 30 car spaces to 170 car spaces. Accessibility improvement works were also carried out at Ennis Bus Station.

Galway
- There has been a total investment of €1.33 million in bus priority and Park and Ride projects.
- To date €735,000 has been spent on improvements to Galway Airport out of a total allocation of €6.3million.

Mayo
- A €14 million programme of investment in automating level crossings on the Dublin – Mayo rail route is in progress.
- €27.9 million has been invested in resignalling the Mayo line, upgrading from mechanical semaphore signalling to a computerised system. This will yield safety and efficiency benefits.
- Platform extension work has been undertaken to facilitate the new fleet.
- To date €1.123 million has been spent on improvements to Knock Airport, out of a total allocation of €27 million.

Sligo
- €9.35m has been invested on automation of level crossings on the Sligo rail line.
- To date €304,000 has been spent on improvements to Sligo Airport, out of a total allocation of €8.5million.

In addition to the projects listed above €402 million is being spent on 183 high-specification Intercity railcars to serve the national Intercity network. These railcars entered service on the Dublin – Sligo line last year and on the Limerick – Dublin, the Westport – Dublin and the Galway – Dublin routes this year. They will enter service on the Dublin to Tralee line at a later date.

Phase 1 of the Western Rail Corridor, which runs from Ennis to Athenry, was commenced in 2007 and is due to be completed in 2009. This will facilitate the introduction of a rail service from Limerick to Galway. The introduction of a commuter service from Galway to Athenry is also due for completion in 2009. My Department has allocated €106.5m to meet expenditure on the project and has paid €9.849m to Iarnród Éireann towards the cost of the project to date.