Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 27 Jan 1999

Vol. 499 No. 1

Written Answers. - Dublin Transportation Initiative.

Ivan Yates

Ceist:

218 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she met the Transport Users Support Group in Dublin which has set out a detailed national transport plan to establish a circle rail route around the city adjacent to the M50 and an underground rail link from Heuston Station to the city centre utilising a tunnel; if her Department has given any appraisal or carried out any feasibility study into these proposals; the response, if any, she has given on the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1454/99]

Minister for Public Enterprise (Mrs. O'Rourke)

I met with representatives of the Transport Users Support Group in November 1997 to discuss their alternative transport plan for Dublin. I stressed that the strategy recommended in the DTI final report provided the general policy framework for the development of the transports system in the Greater Dublin Area and that the Government was committed to its implementation. That strategy did not include either an M50 circle rail route or an underground rail link between Heuston Station and the city centre.

The DTI strategy is at present being updated and it is open to interested parties to make submissions to the Dublin Transportation Office in relation to the content of the updated strategy for the period 2000 to 2016.