Mr. Hugh Creegan:

Yes. I do not want to misrepresent the situation. The tunnel will be a great addition but we do not need it to get most of the benefits from the overall project. The Deputy is correct that there are signalling constraints through the city centre. A couple of years ago, the number of trains that could cross from Connolly Station to Tara Street via the Loopline Bridge was restricted to 12 per hour in each direction. Following on from the re-signalling work carried out, this has increased to 17 or 18 per hour in each direction. There are changes that we would have to make to the city centre rail system to make this work. For example, we will have to reorientate parts of Connolly Station to make it function more efficiently and as the Docklands Station is not in the most useful of locations we will have to relocate it to a better place, in respect of which we have a location in mind. There are other changes that will need to be carried out at the rail junctions along the line to make the lines operate more efficiently. We have done sufficient work to be confident that we can get the majority of the benefits out of the system much earlier by proceeding with the bi-mode fleet, including a diesel-electric fleet, electrification and changes to the signalling. We can then follow with the tunnel. We do not need to wait for the tunnel to reap the benefits of this project.