I propose to take Questions Nos. 92, 130, 133 and 141 to 143, inclusive, together.
Very substantial progress has been made on Transport 21 and the National Development Plan: the five major inter-urban motorways (totalling over 740 kilometres) will be completed this year, as will the M50 upgrade; the Irish Rail inter-city fleet has been renewed with the delivery and entry into service of 244 carriages and railcars; the Midleton rail line opened for service in 2009 and the first phase of the Western Rail Corridor will open at the end of this month and the first phase of the Navan line will open later in the year; the Kildare railway line has been upgraded and a number of new stations have opened on the Dublin suburban network; the Luas extension to Docklands opened last December, the Cherrywood extension will open at the end of this year and Citywest early next year. All the trams on the Tallaght line have been extended to 40 metres and new trams have been purchased; and over 500 new and replacement buses have been purchased.
In the light of the changed economic circumstances, it has been necessary to review investment priorities across all Government Departments. The results of this review are reflected in the Renewed Programme for Government and my Department's Transport 21 priorities for the coming years are as follows. For national roads, the priorities are the completion by end 2010 of the five major inter-urban motorways and the M50 upgrade and the progression of the Atlantic Road Corridor. For public transport, the priority is to deliver significantly increased long term capacity to the network through: the construction of Metro North; the construction of DART Underground and the implementation of the associated electrification, signalling and rolling stock investments; and investment in buses, bus priority and real time passenger information, subject to the implementation of the recent cost efficiency reviews and the availability of subvention. It is also a priority that we continue planning other projects to enable their earliest possible delivery when the economic situation improves.
Funding for the period ahead will be decided by the Government having regard to the capital review carried out by the Department of Finance.
It is unlikely that all of the projects originally identified in Transport 21 will be completed by 2015. However, no projects have been cancelled and Transport 21 continues to provide the strategic framework for capital spending on transport infrastructure into the future.
Projects will be released by construction having regard to the priorities in the Renewed Programme for Government and the availability of funding.