Public Transport Investment 2000 - 2005

Significant investment (approximately €2.5 billion) in public transport was made under the National Development Plan in the period 2000 to 2005. A considerable amount of funding was secured over this period from EU sources, approximately €360 million in Structural Funding and over €85 million in Cohesion Funding, for a wide range of important public transport projects under the NDP/ESIOP 2000 – 2006. Much of this investment paved the way for the Transport 21 proposals. These achievements can be summarised as follows:

Greater Dublin Area
The DART upgrade has seen the extension of platforms to cater for 8 car trains, the complete rewiring of the overhead cabling, the commissioning of additional electrical sub-stations and the provision of full accessibility at the vast majority of DART stations as part of this project - Iarnród Éireann are currently working with the Department of Transport to improve the accessibility of the remaining stations. Since 2000, the capacity on the DART network has increased 100%. A total of 78 additional DART cars have been purchased. Many peak hour services now operate with 8-car trains. This was co-funded under the ESIOP to the tune of €65 million.

On the outer suburban Lines the upgrade of the track and the purchase of 20 rail cars has seen the capacity of the Maynooth – Dublin line doubled since 2002 while the purchase of 80 diesel railcars has seen capacity increases of between 40% and 160% on other Dublin suburban routes. This additional rolling stock was also part-financed by the European Commission.

In this period, 2 Luas lines were constructed and services introduced. The Red Line (Tallaght to Connolly Station) and the Green Line (Sandyford to St. Stephen’s Green) commenced revenue service in June and September 2004 respectively. In 2005 Luas carried nearly 22 million passengers. The Luas Red line (originally Luas Line "A") was developed with €82.5 million funding from the European Regional Development Fund under the Economic and Social Infrastructure Operational Programme.

Under the National Development Plan, Bus Átha Cliath purchased 510 new buses, of which 93 are additional and 417 are replacement buses. Approximately half of these buses were funded by the Exchequer and half were funded from the company’s own resources. Transport 21 provided funding for 20 additional buses at end 2005. These buses improve the quality and reliability of the fleet as well as providing for increased services. A capacity increase of 18% was achieved between the years 2000 and 2005.

Since 1996, 11 Quality Bus Corridors have been introduced in the Dublin area with a total length of 139 km - Malahide, Lucan, Stillorgan (incl. extension to Bray), Finglas (incl. extension at Phibsborough), North Clondalkin, South Clondalkin, Rathfarnham, Tallaght, Swords (incl. extension), and Blanchardstown, and Orbital (Tallaght - N4 at Lucan).

The Quality Bus Network (QBN) also includes about 16km of bus priority measures, which may not meet the full QBC specification, but which prioritise buses through traffic, i.e. Howth Road, Merrion Corridor, Pearse Street, Naas Road Phase 1, N32, Clontarf Road and Laurel Lodge.

QBN rollout includes, where appropriate, cycling, pedestrian, mobility impaired and disabled (MID) facilities and accident remedial measures

National
The first railway safety investment programme was implemented over the period 1999 to 2003 with over €600m of Exchequer and EU funds expended on the physical infrastructure across the rail network and a further €60m on safety management systems within Iarnród Éireann. Over 400km of track was renewed and upgraded to continuous welded rail and there was intensive work carried out on level crossings, bridges and fencing.

In conjunction with this, network resignalling has been completed on the Galway, Waterford, Sligo and Tralee routes and extended to include the Westport/Ballina and Rosslare lines. This improves journey times and safety across the network. This work was carried out with financial assistance from the European Commission through both the Cohesion and Structural Funds.

Heuston Station was completely redesigned to increase the number of platforms from 5 to 9 and to re-track and re-signal the approaches to the station. This allows greater flexibility in train movements in and out of the station and reduces journey times. 67 Intercity carriages ordered for use on the Dublin-Cork line have been delivered and are being introduced into service as they complete testing/commissioning. The new carriages will facilitate the provision of hourly clockface services on the route by end 2006. Both of these projects received significant financial assistance from the EU sources.

In 2005 a further 36 diesel railcars were introduced on the Sligo/ Dublin Line as well as providing some increased services on the Maynooth and Drogheda routes.

The introduction of the 67 intercity carriages and the 150 diesel railcars will mean the entire intercity fleet will be renewed by end 2007.

Under the National Development Plan Bus Éireann has purchased 421 new buses between 2000 and 2005, of which 65 are additional and 356 are replacement buses. 172 of these buses were funded by the NDP and 249 of these buses were funded from Bus Éireann’s own resources. These buses improve the quality and reliability of the fleet as well as providing for increased services.

All this investment has meant improved safety, reliability, frequency of services and safety across the public transport network, benefiting all customers across the board.

Roads Investment 2000 to 2005 

Exchequer investment in the delivery of the National Roads Programme over the period 2000-2005 amounted to approx. €6.62 billion.

The elimination of major bottlenecks on the key inter-urban routes such as those at Kildare, Monasterevin, Cashel, Drogheda, Dundalk etc. has been achieved. Further work to eliminate other bottlenecks on the major interurban routes continues, relief roads for Castleblayney, Edgeworthstown, Rathcormac/Fermoy and Waterford City are well underway.

Since 2000, a total of 64 projects (409kms) have been completed. Work is in progress on 24 projects (310kms) and another 13 projects (272kms) are at tender stage with a further 7 projects (141kms) through the statutory approval process. (See NRA website for full listings of completed schemes from 2000 to date)

The greater use of design/build contracts on the National Roads Programme is yielding better value for money. Increasingly, many projects, such as the Dundalk Western, Kildare, Monasterevin, Carrickmacross and Cashel Bypasses and the Sligo Inner Relief Road have been delivered on or ahead of time and within budget. The improved cost estimation and control measures in place in the NRA should enable this trend to continue into the future.

The beneficial impact of the investment in roads is increasingly evident throughout around the country. Nothing short of a transformation of the national network is underway. The improvements on the roads to the Border, Cork, Limerick and Galway gives an idea of the type of network we are seeking to put in place – high quality roads - many to motorway standard providing high quality inter-urban links. These roads are connecting communities, promoting prosperity and enhancing the quality of life.