The transportation review and short-term action plan, published by the Dublin Transportation Office in September, contains information on the growth in demand for transport in the greater Dublin area. In response to the recommendations of that plan, I have given the go-ahead for the doubling of the rail line between Clonsilla and Maynooth and new signalling to cater for improved services on that line; the purchase of 150 additional buses by Dublin Bus; the purchase of 16 additional DART carriages to the ten already on order; the acquisition of 20 extra suburban railcars in addition to 27 new carriages already on order and the extension of DART and suburban station platforms to cater for longer trains.
This investment was made possible by the reallocation of the Luas EU aid and by the provision for the first time of direct Exchequer capital funding for bus and rail projects. The purchase of 100 buses is being fully financed by the Exchequer, as is the non-EU balance of the funding for the other projects.
As part of the Luas reallocation, an additional £24 million is also being provided for mainline rail renewal.
At my request, CIE has prepared a comprehensive series of reviews of medium term investment requirements for bus and rail. These reviews were taken into account by my Department in making its submission to the Department of Finance on the post-1999 round of Structural and Cohesion Fund assistance.
