EUR 20 billion plan for new rail and road links
Liam Reid
5 May 2005
Irish Times

The Government is finalising details of a €20 billion, 10-year transport plan that will include a metro to Dublin airport and an underground rail link between Heuston Station and the Dublin Docklands.

The plan, which is expected to be brought to Cabinet next month, will include a new "western corridor" linking Cork by dual carriageway to Sligo via Limerick and Galway.

Detailed planning on both rail projects is expected to get under way almost immediately, once a decision is made by Cabinet, although both are not expected to go into construction phase at the same time.

Officials from the Department of Transport and the Department of Finance are currently discussing the final details of the plan, including the total costs, budget of the plan, and the phasing of the major construction projects.

There is general agreement on the broad outline of the plan within the Cabinet subcommittee on transport, which includes the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, the Tánaiste, Mary Harney, and the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen.

The committee has held a number of discussions on the plan since March, when Mr Cullen presented it to the committee. It is expected to have further discussions before the final plan, is agreed.

Mr Cullen, who will bring the plan to Cabinet, is understood to favour a metro route that would extend from Dublin city centre to the airport and on to Swords.

The final decision on the route and extent of the metro will depend on the final budget for the project to be agreed with the Department of Finance over the coming weeks.

The Rail Procurement Agency has provided estimates ranging from €2 billion to nearly €5 billion for the project. The €1.2 billion "interconnector" is expected to be built by 2012 and would link a new station at Spencer Dock to Heuston station, with stations at St Stephen's Green and Christchurch. Spencer Dock will in turn link back to Connolly station.

Under the plans by Iarnród Éireann, double-decker trains would be able to use the line, travelling directly from Drogheda through to Kildare. It would also free up capacity on northern routes allowing for increased commuter services, with the extension of the Dart line to Maynooth.

Iarnród Éireann has claimed that unless the interconnector is built, commuter rail services in Dublin will be seriously overcrowded from 2012, with projected population increases of 300,000 in the region.

The cost of the whole plan is believed to be in the region of €20 billion, although this could be further increased, if parts of the plan are extended beyond 2015, as is currently being proposed by the Department of Transport.

The plan is to be divided in two sections, one for Dublin and another for the rest of the country.

The completion of all motorways and dual carriageways between Dublin and the main Irish cities, which has already been committed to, will also be included in the plan.

The main road project is the western corridor dual carriageway linking Cork to Limerick, Galway and Sligo.

Other projects expected to be included in the plan will be commuter rail links for the Cork area, a new commuter line for Dunboyne, Co Meath, upgrade programmes for local and inter-regional roads around the country, bus and "green corridors", and park and ride facilities on the outskirts of major cities.

any plan maps avaibles?

The new found wealth should be spent mostly on infrastructure projects. Rail connections are a disaster in Ireland.

I've searched the Department of Transport but was not able to find a rendering. However, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce issued a press release about their side of the story (http://www.dubchamber.ie/press_release.asp?article=575).

that would be great.

I don't see anything would cost near 20bil Euros?
Some freeways and even an extensive subway for Dublin will still not come near 20billion would it?

Time to fast-track commuter rail services
Opinion - Garret FitzGerald
2 July 2005
Irish Times

Our cities all have commuting problems but, given that the population of greater Dublin is about 4 times that of greater Cork, and that our other cities have far smaller populations, it is fair to say that much of the greater share of our commuter problems arises in our capital city.

Some of these difficulties derive from the layout of Dublin, which has only one north-south route across the city centre, that between the Bank of Ireland and Trinity College. Moreover, access from both northern and southern suburbs is somewhat restricted because of the need in both cases to cross a river and canal.

Even more fundamental, however, is the fact that Dublin is an extraordinarily low-density city. As little as one kilometre in almost any direction from O'Connell Bridge, houses with gardens are the principal form of residential accommodation.

This means that the city has not lent itself to rail mass transit, the economics of which are largely a function of high-density housing. The defunct Harcourt Street line apart, it was only along the coastline that rail commuter services came into existence - the economics of which were not helped by the fact that half of the hinterland of these two rail lines consisted of water.

Throughout the lifetime of our State Dublin has lacked any serious attempt at physical planning. Responding to public demand from a population half of whom are at most two generations away from rural life, successive governments have permitted very low-density housing with gardens in every direction around the city core, with the result that within the 100-plus square miles of continuous built-up areas the population density is a fraction of what is normal for a city of this or larger size.

Developers have been free to build housing for Dublin commuters in towns 50 or more miles from Dublin. And because of very high Dublin house prices, arising from exceptional economic growth, tens of thousands of commuters have felt it necessary to move to these distant towns - from which even those who go by train must daily spend 2� hours en route - and car commuters much more.

With oil prices already pushed to record levels by rapidly growing world demand, failure to address this perverse pattern of spatial development will impose heavy, possibly unbearable, costs upon future generations of residents of this region.

On the first anniversary of Luas and as the South Eastern Motorway is opened, I have to say that the solution to this problem is the creation of an efficient metro system within the Dublin city area, running underground in the city centre as metros do in cities of similar size elsewhere.

This situation was belatedly identified by the Government a couple of years ago, and a commitment to build such a system was announced by the Taoiseach at a press conference that I recall attending.

The development of such a system, offering easy access to the city centre, would stimulate higher-density development along these metro lines, and thus gradually reverse the present uneconomic pattern of housing development up to 50 miles from the capital. Unhappily there is every sign that, as one minister for transport has succeeded another, the Government, demoralised by its mishandling of the Luas project, has lost its nerve and seems to have lost the will to carry through its own metro plan.

While we await a recovery of governmental nerve on this issue, measures to deal with the immediate crisis of road congestion should include early completion of the extraordinarily slowly emerging bus-lane system; the introduction of a sufficient measure of competition in urban bus operations to limit the abuse of monopoly power by management or unions; and the introduction of an efficient road-pricing system to replace fuel tax.

The British government is preparing its population for such a road-pricing scheme, using GPS to track car movements: we should join them in this process. It would hugely reduce travel costs for rural dwellers, and it would tackle in the only possible effective way the problem of car congestion on urban roads.

In the absence of rational planning and the construction of a Dublin metro, three-fifths of the Dublin region's population growth is taking place outside Co Dublin, in the parts of the three neighbouring counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow that are nearest to the city. In these areas the population growth rate is running at an astonishing 3.5 per cent a year, as against 1 per cent a year in Dublin itself.

The transport solution to this outer suburban commuter problem lies with a series of radial rail services enabling all who live 10-30 miles of the city to have access to a commuter station within a few miles of their homes, from which the centre of Dublin could be reached by train in 30-45 minutes.

How near are we to such a situation? Closer, perhaps, than many imagine. The construction of adequate park-and-ride facilities at outer suburban stations is still grossly inadequate, of course, and in order to complete the network one old rail line would need to be reopened, that to Navan via Clonsilla and Dunshaughlin. There is, I believe, some danger that if, as has recently been suggested, this line is reopened, a false economy might lead to it not being extended as far as Navan. This would be very shortsighted.

The population of the part of Meath along this line is growing very rapidly and this part of Dublin's hinterland seems capable of taking a bigger population increase than can be easily provided for along the other existing four commuter rail lines.

True, the population of the towns along this Meath line is 35-40 per cent less than the population of those served by the Kildare and Maynooth lines, which respectively enjoy 38 and 27 trains a day each way.

But the population along the Meath line is growing much more rapidly than elsewhere, and it is hard to believe that by the time its reconstruction would be completed it would require fewer than 20-25 trains a day. And in terms of the social value offered by the diversion of so much traffic from road to rail, that volume of rail services would seem to justify fully the investment required.

Have a look at this link. It is not quite actual, but includes a map with all the projects (DART, LUAS and METRO).

http://www.dto.ie/platform1.pdf

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5724/dublinmetro6of.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Here is a map with the transports projects for Dublin.

I hope they finally start building the Metro or improving the DART system.

During the time I have been living there the problem of a Metro for the city was the prize. At this time the LUAS system was unfinished and nobody knew the final result.

Nowadays, Dublin must think seriously in a public transport network not only in unconnected lines but in a whole plan.

The LUAS has improved Dublin public transport a lot!
Let's see about the metro...
:wink2:

The LUAS has improved Dublin public transport a lot!
Let's see about the metro...
:wink2:

LUAS has improved public transport in Dublin because before the only way to move inside the city it was the bus network. DART system is good only for moving in certain areas, not the whole city.

I have suffered, sorry used the bus during more than one year and a half and it was unsiutable for a city like Dublin (timetables not respected, bad frecuency, old buses...)

Other map. Only the metro netowrk proposed

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/2583/dubmetro3xv.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

As you can see on the previous map, the future network includes what nowadays is part of the LUAS system.

The south branch of LUAS is in exclusive right of way because it was the old way of the Harcourt railway line closed in the 50's. From this point (Harcourt station) the line should be uderground to cross the city center. In the area called Cabra the metro is again over ground. Here still you can find the old railway path from the Broadstone station, so the only work to do should be to wide it, repair the walls in both sides and to take out all the vegetation.

The proposed metro should have a "circula" way in the west side of Dublin. As you can see in the map the metro will link new developing areas, so new houses and neighbourhoods could be created folloowing the metro way.

Stephen's Green to be a 'key transport hub'.
2 November 2005
Irish Times

Greater Dublin Area: Twice as many public passengers are envisaged, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.

A "huge increase" in public transport capacity in the Greater Dublin Area has been pledged by Minister for Transport Martin Cullen, following implementation over the next 10 years of Luas extensions, two metro lines and an underground rail link in the city centre.

St Stephen's Green would become be a key transport hub, enabling transfer between Luas, metro and suburban rail.

In effect, Mr Cullen said, "it will be to Dublin what Grand Central is to New York - integrating all services at a central city location".

The Government's Transport 21 plan, unveiled yesterday, anticipates the number of public transport passengers in Dublin almost to double, from 200 million a year at present to 375 million a year in 2015, when all the elements of the programme are in place.

These include:

A signalling project to relieve congestion on the city centre rail network, principally around Connolly Station, to increase the number of trains in each direction from 12 to 16.

Upgrading the Heuston-Kildare line, as planned by Iarnród Éireann, to separate mainline and commuter trains and provide a service to places like Parkwest and Adamstown.

Reopening the railway line to Navan, Co Meath, on a phased basis, initially with a spur off the existing Maynooth line as far as Dunboyne, with a new terminal at Spencer Dock in the Docklands.

A rail interconnector running underground from Heuston station to Spencer Dock, via St Stephen's Green and Pearse Station, to cater for a major expansion of suburban commuter services.

Electrification of the northern, Kildare and Maynooth commuter lines as far as Balbriggan, Hazelhatch and Maynooth (respectively) to make them compatible with Dart and Dart-type trains.

Joining the two Luas lines in the city centre, as originally planned, and extending the Sandyford line northwards via Broadstone to connect with the Maynooth line at Liffey Junction.

Extending the Tallaght Luas line to the Docklands, building a spur to serve Citywest and extending the Sandyford Luas line to Cherrywood and later to Bray, Co Wicklow, to connect with the Dart line.

A metro line from St Stephen's Green to Swords, via Glasnevin, Dublin City University, Ballymun and Dublin airport, enabling the airport's users to reach the city centre in 17 minutes.

A new Luas line from Lucan to the city centre, running via Liffey Valley, where it would connect with a proposed orbital metro line linking Tallaght, Clondalkin and Blanchardstown.

In his speech at yesterday's launch, the Minister emphasised that buses would continue to play a "crucial role" in Dublin's public transport system, particularly in the short to medium term, "whilst the other infrastructure is being put in place".

He said the Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) network would be "at least doubled" over the 10- year period, but there would also be a greater focus on developing orbital, feeder and local services and integrating bus and rail services in the city.

"I have asked Dublin Bus to review their network in light of the planned investment and to examine the most effective means of expanding bus services in the short, medium and long term and they are to report to me early in the new year, " Mr Cullen said. The transport plan would increase total bus capacity to cater for an extra 80,000 passenger journeys by 2015. However, the Minister said he was conscious that there was an "immediate need" for 20 additional buses and he would sanction these in the coming weeks.

More park-and-ride facilities are to be provided, with a particular focus on rail-based public transport, as well as better interchange facilities between bus and rail.

Integrated ticketing and passenger information will also be introduced on a phased basis.

The only major road project targeted for completion in the 10- year period is the major upgrade of the M50, under which the motorway junctions will be rebuilt and the number of lanes increased from four to six, at an estimated cost of €1 billion.

Feasibility and planning work will be undertaken on an eastern bypass motorway, linking the Port Tunnel with the southern leg of the M50, as well as an outer orbital road from Drogheda, Co Louth, via Navan, Co Meath, and south to Naas, Co Kildare, with a possible extension to Wicklow.

Minister says €34bn plan to be completed by 2015.
Tim O'Brien
2 November 2005
Irish Times

Transport timetable: An underground in Dublin city centre, a new orbital metro and seven new light rail schemes were among the investments outlined in the Government's €34 billion transport plan unveiled yesterday.

The 10-year plan which Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said would provide a world-class 21st-century transport system, envisages a spend of €9.4 million every day between 2006 and 2015.

In the largest overhaul and expansion of public transport in the capital to date, the plan provides for four lines on the Kildare to Heuston station route; an underground rail interconnector linking Heuston, Pearse and Connolly stations via an interchange with the proposed metro system at St Stephen's Green.

The metro system involves a northern route from St Stephen's Green via O'Connell Street, Ballymun and Dublin airport to Swords, and an orbital route from Ballymun via Abbotstown, Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley and Clondalkin to Tallaght.

Suburban rail services are to be electrified with the extension of Dart services to Balbriggan, Hazelhatch and Maynooth. A new station in the Docklands will ease congestion in the city centre. There is to be a new rail service to Dunboyne in the short term and ultimately to Navan.

New Luas projects will serve the Docklands, Citywest, Cherrywood, Bray, Lucan and the proposed Dublin Institute of Technology campus at Grangegorman. A cross-city line will link the existing two Luas lines.

The number of bus passengers should increase by 80,000 each day by 2015 while the number of quality bus corridors will at least double. A network of park-and-ride sites will be provided on the main approach roads to the city.

In all, the strategic transport plan envisages the number of public transport users rising from the current level of about 200 million a year to 375 million a year.

The plan will also see the completion of the current National Roads Programme with priority given to the inter-urban motorways between Dublin and the regional cities and the Border.

A western "Atlantic road corridor" linking Co Donegal with Sligo, Galway, Limerick and Waterford is also included.

At a press briefing yesterday, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said the roads programme would be completed by 2013.

The reopening of the western railway line will happen in phases, the first between Ennis, Co Clare, and Athenry, Co Galway; a second phase between Athenry and Tuam, Co Galway, and a third between Tuam and Claremorris, Co Mayo. The remaining section between Claremorris and Coolooney is to be fenced and protected pending a decision on its reopening at a later date.

Commuter services will also be provided between Athenry and Galway city.

In Cork, additional commuter railway stations are proposed for Blarney, Dunkettle and Kilbarry while the Midleton line is to be reopened.

Passenger rail services are also to be improved with new trains providing an hourly service between Dublin and Cork. There will be hourly peak services between Dublin-Galway and Dublin- Limerick, reducing to one service every two hours at off peak.

There will be trains every two hours from Dublin to Sligo, Dublin to Tralee and Dublin to Waterford. Four trains a day will operate from Dublin to Westport and Ballina, Co Mayo, and Rosslare, Co Wexford.

Mr Cullen laid out an ambitious timetable for the improvements. He said linking the two existing Luas lines in Dublin city centre would be completed by 2008 as would the extensions to the Docklands and Citywest, the latter subject to development contributions.

The Docklands rail station and the spur to Dunboyne are to open by 2009 when Athenry to Galway commuter services will begin. By 2010, phase one of the orbital metro will be open between Tallaght and Clondalkin and the inter-urban motorways will be completed. By 2011 the metro will be completed to Lucan and the western rail corridor will be completed as far as Tuam.

The metro to Swords via the airport is to be completed by 2012 and will be joined by the orbital metro at Ballymun by 2012. The interconnector between Heuston and Connolly stations will be completed by 2015 as will the reopening of the Navan line, the electrification of suburban routes around Dublin and the Luas extension to Bray.

Down the line . . . to reopen the western rail corridor
2 November 2005
Irish Independent

ANOTHER ambitious commitment is to tackle the vexed issue of the Western Rail Corridor.

Once again there are no immediate solutions. The plan is to be undertaken in stages over a 10-year period.

It will reinstate the line between Ennis and Claremorris and will preserve the remaining alignment as far as Collooney. It says the "Transport 21" plan will complete the implementation of the railway safety programme.

It promises to complete the renewal of the railway infrastructure in line with safety priorities and to substantially improve safety management systems.

Transport Minister Martin Cullen said: "We will [deliver] 187 carriages and railcars between 2005 and 2008. This is in addition to the 36 railcars which will be coming into service before the end of the year on the Dublin suburban and Sligo services."

The 187 vehicles, he said, would permit a phased improvement of service frequencies, with:

* A service each hour on the Dublin-Cork route;

* A service every hour at peak and every two hours off-peak on the Galway and Limerick routes;

* Services every two hours on the Sligo, Tralee and Waterford routes;

* At least four services a day on other intercity routes including Westport, Ballina and Rosslare.

Also planned is the introduction of a new commuter rail service from Athenry to Galway and the upgrading of the suburban rail service in Cork. This will involve re-opening the Midleton line and providing three new stations on the Mallow/Cork City/ Cobh line at Blarney, Dunkettle and Kilbarry.

It also promises to upgrade urban bus services in the provincial cities and support the further development of Quality Bus Corridors and Green Routes, and park and ride in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. It also says it will upgrade regional and local bus services.

In parallel with the investment programme, it commits itself to putting the Rural Transport Initiative on a permanent footing from the end of the pilot phase in 2006.

This year, the Government will spend €4.5million on the Rural Transport Initiative.

It says the cash funding available for this "successful and innovative" programme will be doubled in 2007 "and then increased steadily, ultimately to a cash level about four times what it is this year"

The Government says it will also complete the feasibility study of the Shannon rail link to Limerick and Galway.

That is totally AWESOME!!!!!

Why cant Sydney,a city much bigger with the money,invest in its underfunded transport system like you guys have.

Great project!

Sprawling city centre needs 425 extra buses
28 March 2006
Irish Independent

DUBLIN Bus urgently needs 425 extra buses for new cross-city services to cater for 57,000 new homes in the rapidly-expanding commuter belt.

The company does not have the resources to deploy the existing fleet and needs hundreds of extra new buses if it's to cope with demand, according to a major review of bus services. There was "no argument" to delay further the accelerated roll-out of enhanced, extended and new Quality Bus Corridors (QBCs) as fast as possible, it said.

"To be successful these schemes will need to be complemented by, as a minimum, a substantial increase in the quantity and quality of bus service."

If it gets the buses at a cost of €150m and gridlock is tacked, commuters would be able to "discard timetables" and look forward to buses every 10 minutes.

The Government failed to honour a promise to provide hundreds of extra buses in the National Development Plan 2000-2006. Not one extra bus was given for five years.

According to the Dublin Bus Network Review, there is a severe lack of capacity on many parts of the bus network. This is due to the spread of the city and people living longer distances from the capital.

New areas are also being developed with 57,000 houses planned over the next five years.

Satellite towns such as Blanchardstown and Swords had a growing demand for local bus services.

The report recommends the introduction of more than 200 additional buses to cater for new developments, which need to be served prior to any rail investment.

This must be accompanied by improved and expanded QBCs and a substantial increase in cross-city services.

The report also called for:

* Self-contained bus networks in some of the larger towns.

* Limited stop/express services from outside the M50.

* A number of high-frequency orbital services.

An additional 225 buses will be needed between 2008-2011 in a second wave of investment in the public transport service.

Expansion of the bus fleet would require at least two additional depots, which should be located outside the M50 to give easy access to the major commuter belt towns such as Blanchardstown, Clondalkin and Lucan.

The amount of infrastructure being put in place in Ireland at the moment is incredible. There are motorways being planned left, right and centre.

The amount of infrastructure being put in place in Ireland at the moment is incredible. There are motorways being planned left, right and centre.

Dublin and Ireland population and transport needs are growing faster than infraestuctures...

When I was in Dublin last month, I saw that the southern Luas line began at the end of a pedestrian-only street. Would they extend the line through that street?

20 billion in 10 years!!!WOW

When I was in Dublin last month, I saw that the southern Luas line began at the end of a pedestrian-only street. Would they extend the line through that street?
Was it at the end of Grafton Street by this building next to St. Stephen's Green?

http://www.globalphotos.org/dublin/DSCN4939.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/dublin/DSCN4951.jpg

I took this picture of the end of the line right next to it :

http://www.globalphotos.org/dublin/DSCN4947.jpg

These are incredible news!!!!!! :eek2: :master: My Goodness, Dublin, who could ever have thought... :eek: :bow:

The investments are HUGE and the plans look absolutely beautiful!!!!!

Does anybody know how long the future Dublin Metro network will be?

Congrats to Dublin!!!!

I envy you blokes, if only Stockholm could do the same for its infrastructure- and soon. :(

At the moment there are only 2 luas lines built but there are 6 in the pipeline on top of the airport-city link that's due to be built. If all this gets built Dublin's tram network will be pretty extensive. How long this will take, who knows.

When I was in Dublin last month, I saw that the southern Luas line began at the end of a pedestrian-only street. Would they extend the line through that street?

This end is Grafton Street. I think that the possible extension of the line should be underground from this point to the Trinity College. In this area there is no too may space and streets are too narrow.

"Was it at the end of Grafton Street by this building next to St. Stephen's Green?"

Yeah, thats it. I noticed that the track just sort of ended. There were platforms on both sides, but one side isnt used, as it would elad to nowehere.

It looks like it could be extended, so I was wondering if they planned on just running it down Grafton , as the street is pretty wide. How it would work with so many people (it was packed) I dont know. Underground is possible, but I didnt see much space for an incline.

Great news! That's a lot of projects all at once!

Great news! That's a lot of projects all at once!
Yeah it's great if it gets delivered. Two Metro lines are being built, the one from the city centre to the airport and Swords, Metro North, has announced the three possible routes it will take[/url]. The Dublin Metro will be very similar to the Porto Metro so we'll see the likes of [url=http://spz.logout.cz/gif2003/porto_met.jpg]this (http://www.rpa.ie/metro/about_us/route_maps) in a few years time. A major concern about the infrastructure projects is that two separate companies are in control of the trains and DART network (CIÉ) and the Metro and Luas (RPA), and they don't seem to like each other very much. Integration is crucial to this transport plan and the government should really force them to work together.

Also the rail projects, while clearly the best solution, won't come on stream till 2009 at earliest, and Dublin Bus needs to be given funding to pick up the slack in the short-term.

One of the most crucial projects is the Interconnector tunnel, which will make the rail lines join up in an X-shape, e.g. Northwest(Maynooth)-South(Greystones), Southwest(Hazelhatch)-North(Balbriggan). This tunnel will be suitable only for electric trains so it requires the DART network to be expanded, which is great news for where I live, and intelligently when CIÉ upgraded the train stations a few years back they designed all the bridges to be high enough to allow electrification. The problem is though that that won't happen until 2015.

There are plans to extend the Stephen's Green Luas line to connect with the red line in the docklands, but none of the proposed routes go along Grafton St (and they shouldn't IMO, it's the most important retail district in the city). Also the Luas network will be expanded to Lucan and Bray - it's a bit far to get a tram into the city centre from there especially in the case of Bray where they already have the DART but the route is important to connect with the Metro lines.

The official schematic is here (http://www.transport.ie/upload/general/7048-5.pdf), the one shown already is from a report from 5 years ago and the Metro North line on it is unlikely to be the one chosen. It's not very detailed unfortunately.

We have seen a lot of new motorway projects and more are in the pipeline, but most of these were badly needed to bring Ireland up to the level of other western countries, and the great thing about this plan is its emphasis on public transport, because as any LA citizen will tell you building new motorways does not necessarily decrease traffic congestion.

I am sure Stockholm has much better public transport than us btw, we are playing catchup with the rest of Europe. Even some of the new EU countries have better transport networks than us.

Fantastic Dublin, just fantastic. I'll add you to my list of idols. :)

Dublin to get airport metro by 2012

DUBLIN, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - Dublin is to have a metro rail service connecting the city centre to the airport by 2012, Transport Minister Martin Cullen said Tuesday.

The Metro North, which will be about 18 kilometres (11 miles) long and run partly overground, will carry 80,000 people a day and remove 41,000 cars from Dublin's streets.

A transport ministry spokesman would not speculate on the cost of developing the metro.

"That will come at the procurement stage," he told AFP.

The spokesman added the ministry was confident that there were sufficient funds for the metro included in Transport 21, the official nation-wide transport development plan for the next 10 years, that it is estimated will cost 34.4 billion euros (40.9 billion dollars).

Ground investigation work is to begin on the metro within weeks, Cullen said at the launch of the plan.

"We need and deserve a first class transport system," he said, "We are one of the few European cities without a rail link (to the airport)".

The metro would cut the journey time to and from the airport to 17 minutes -- half what it is at present.

It will have an initial frequency of four to five minutes, growing to every 90 seconds once demand builds.

Planning, design and procurement would be finished by 2009, while construction would take until 2012.

There is no underground rail system in Dublin and the metro will be one of the biggest infrastructural projects ever undertaken by the state.

Ireland's booming economy in recent years has led to huge increases in car sales.

As a result, severe traffic congestion is clogging up the city and causing lengthy delays.

does DART stand for Dublin Area Rapid Transit? or maybe Rail Transit?
lol i find it funny bc here in San Francisco we have BART, or Bay Area Rapid Transit :lol:

cheers to my irish friends from a croat :okay:

:cheers2:

The amount of infrastructure being put in place in Ireland at the moment is incredible. There are motorways being planned left, right and centre.


They'll just have to be carefull that they don't cover the entire island in infrastructure and houses as that would spoil that beautifull country.

What I'm really hoping for is a revamp of the rail network sometime in the future. Right now it's shit compared to other places, isn't extensive at all, and is rediculously overpriced. BTW I've heard rumours about a proposal for a tram here in Cork. If that were to happen I'd be very happy :D.
Cork used to have trams before but they were dismantled

does DART stand for Dublin Area Rapid Transit? or maybe Rail Transit?
lol i find it funny bc here in San Francisco we have BART, or Bay Area Rapid Transit :lol:

cheers to my irish friends from a croat :okay:

:cheers2:

The R stands for rapid as you surmise. Dublin Area rapid transit originally built in the 1980s.

For your information LUAS is the native Irish language word for Speed.

Ireland finally opens much-delayed Dublin tunnel

DUBLIN, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Ireland opened its largest ever engineering project on Wednesday -- a tunnel diverting commercial traffic out of the clogged streets of Dublin -- following years of delays and controversy.

The 750 million euro ($992 million) Dublin Port Tunnel, a flagship project in efforts to bring Ireland's infrastructure up to speed with its economy, was approved in 1999 with an initial estimated cost of 204 million Irish pounds ($262 million at the time) but was first mooted more than a decade ago.

The longest urban road tunnel in Europe, its opening has suffered repeated setbacks -- from leaks, to objections from residents, to criticism from hauliers, who say the 4.5 km (2.8 miles) long tunnel is too small for modern "supertrucks".

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern formally opened the tunnel to traffic, acknowledging there had been problems with some of the country's other big transport projects, such as the M50 motorway ring road around Dublin that is often choked with traffic.

Noting traffic would be much worse without the M50, Ahern made reference to Ireland's changing society in a speech.

"Irish people used to emigrate to Britain and the United States ... to work on great construction projects, from the London Underground to the trans-continental railway lines of North America, the Sydney Opera House or the Motorways of England," Ahern said.

Once one of the poorest countries in Europe, Ireland has undergone an economic boom in the past decade and now has one of the fastest growing economies in the region.

"Today, as we face into the twenty-first century, we are building twenty-first century infrastructure, and world class infrastructure at that, in our own country, for our own people, with our own resources," Ahern said.

Thousands of immigrants now flood into the country each year for work, many of them in the construction industry, as Ireland races to build roads, railways and housing to meet the needs of a growing, and increasingly wealthy, population.

The Dublin Port Tunnel will carry thousands of vehicles a day on twin-lane routes between Dublin docks and the city's M50 motorway network. Large trucks will be banned from Dublin city streets from February next year.

At last, B1 Line is going ahead. And C1. And probably A1 in the end of the year... The only thing missing is the Bx, to connect Line A and Line B... But it will arrive...