Vol. 445 No. 9
216 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the reason the sole route of light rail proposed for the northside of Dublin appears to have been dropped by Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1494/94]
The basic light rail network recommended by the Dublin Transportation Initiative is for lines to Tallaght, Cabinteely (via the Harcourt Street line) and Ballymun and would cost approximately £300 million to implement. Possibilities for further extensions to the basic network will also be reported on in the final report of the DTI which will be published shortly. However, the basic network cannot be constructed within the EU and other resources totalling £200 million set out in the National Development Plan. Moreover, a longer time frame than that of the Plan, which covers the period from 1994 to 1999, will be needed to complete the basic network. The National Development Plan proposals for light rail were framed on that basis; some press reports have wrongly implied that the reduction in overall EU funding which emerged after publication of the Plan resulted in a scaling back of the original light rail proposals.
The Government's objective is to have two priority phases of the Dublin light rail network constructed during the period of the National Development Plan at an estimated cost of £200 million. In this context my Department in conjunction with a high level Project team in CIE have for some time been engaged in detailed planning and preparatory work to advise on the optimum combination of light rail links recommended by DTI to be constructed during the period of the National Development Plan on the basis of a number of criteria, including financial performance, congestion alleviation, environmental impact and ease of construction. All the bodies involved in the planning and provision of transportation in the Dublin area are co-operating in this work.
The Government's decision in due course on the two priority phases to be constructed during the Plan period will not imply any abandonment of the remaining phases of the basic network.
