Vol. 537 No. 5
184 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the position with the railway line from Roscommon to Westport, particularly the stretch in County Mayo; the number of miles of railway line which have been upgraded to date; the number of miles which have still to be upgraded; if there is a likelihood of cutbacks in funding; if so, if the line in County Mayo will be finished; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17151/01]
Iarnród Éireann has informed me that work on upgrading the Dublin to Ballina and Westport line is proceeding on target. Approximately £10 million has been invested in track renewal on this line from 1997 to 2000. A total of 14 miles of track were completed in 2000. A further 23 miles are programmed for 2001 at a cost of about £10 million. The line to Ballina will be finished by end 2002 and the branch to Westport by end 2004.
Journey times will be reduced by about 20 minutes when all the work is completed.
