Vol. 516 No. 6
185 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the allocation of funds to CIE for the acquisition of additional rail rolling stock and extra buses for Bus Átha Cliath; the additional capacity the additional stock will allow; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8681/00]
Proposals for investment in public transport for the period 2000-06 are set out in detail in the national development plan. A provision of £185 million is being made for a short-term suburban rail development programme which includes provision for the phased purchase of an additional 46 DART cars and 58 diesel railcars. The estimated cost of these carriages is £134 million. The combination of infrastructural improvements and the additional rolling stock will increase DART capacity by almost 7,400 places and suburban rail capacity by 7,800 seats.
The plan also provides for an investment of £220 million in the development of the bus network by both Bus Átha Cliath and Bus Éireann through the purchase of additional buses, ongoing fleet replacement and equipment renewal. This investment programme includes the purchase of 275 additional buses which will increase the capacity by 22,000 extra seats.
In addition, a number of options for the future development of the suburban rail network are being evaluated from a feasibility and cost perspective. A contingency provision of £500 million has been included in the plan for the implementation of this programme and the underground element of Luas.
The principal funding sources for the investment programme, as set out in the national development plan, are the Exchequer, EU, PPPs and CIE internal resources. The level of Exchequer funding will be determined annually as part of the Estimates process. The Estimates provision for 2000 is £236 million, comprising £100 million for railway safety, £90 million for Luas and £46 million for other public transport investment.
The capital investment outlined above is additional to the annual Exchequer subvention to CIE, which in 2000 amounted to £115 million.
