On 4 December 2013 in Brussels, I met with Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas and later with officials from DG MOVE and the TEN-T Executive Agency, who confirmed their positive views towards DART Underground.
DART Underground has been included in the new Ten-T Core Network and is part of one of the nine Core Corridors crossing the EU. This means that if DART Underground or elements of the overall programme are funded by the Exchequer they will be eligible for some co-funding under Ten-T in the period 2014-2020.
The EIB had also indicated a keen interest in supporting DART Underground and this interest was confirmed to me at a meeting with the EIB Management Board including President Werner Hoyer and Secretary General Alfonso Querejeta on 29 April last. I expect to have a further meeting with senior EIB officials next month when access to funding for transport projects will be further discussed.
DART Underground remains a key element of the overall public transport integration strategy as it would deliver a quantum improvement in rail accessibility to the city centre with benefits for each of the four rail corridors radiating from the city centre. The National Transport Authority (NTA) which has statutory responsibility for planning and developing public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area has included DART Underground as a key project in their "Draft Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2011-2030".
Apart from some limited work related to supporting projects there is no funding for the overall DART Underground programme in the current capital plan to 2016. Advance work on preparations for the capital plan post-2016 has commenced and projects will be prioritised arising from that work taking account of their costs and benefits and the funding available.
The overall cost of DART Underground was estimated at just over €4 billion in 2010. Over €2.6 billion is the estimated cost of the Tunnel with associated works such as electrification, re-signalling and rolling-stock accounting for the balance.
