Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

A programme of car park expansions is being finalised by larnród Éireann and will provide the basis for a programme of car park extensions in the Dublin area and throughout the country. Major projects such as the Kildare route project also include the provision of increased car parking spaces at new stations.

Funding will be provided in 2007 for the purchase of additional and replacement buses by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. All of the 100 additional buses being purchased by Dublin Bus will enter into service in the early part of 2007. Some of the 160 new buses to be purchased by Bus Éireann in 2007 will be deployed in the Dublin area. There will also, as outlined last night, be further major investment in bus priority and traffic management measures, with priority being given to pinch points that are reducing bus speeds.

In addition, planning and design work on the Clonsilla-Dunboyne rail link and the interconnector and electrification project will continue. The position on the Clonsilla-Dunboyne project is that larnród Éireann has been given approval to begin detailed design work and bring the project to railway order stage. It is expected that the company will submit its railway order application in mid-2007. Iarnród Éireann and Meath County Council have developed terms of reference for a scoping study for phase 2, the extension to Navan, work on which is also to commence in 2007.

Much of the discussion last night focused on bus services. Buses are and will remain the workhorse of the public transport system in Dublin. They are carrying nearly 150 million passengers per annum, an increase from 137 million in 1997. Quality bus corridors, QBCs, have assisted in this growth. According to DTO data, the number of bus passengers on QBCs increased by nearly 50% between 1997 and 2004. Recent DTO reports indicate that bus and other forms of public transport account for around 21% of work trips in the Dublin area compared to about 55% for cars and about 13% for walking, with cycling and mixed modes accounting for the balance. The Government is committed and providing the capital and current funding to extend and upgrade bus services.

Concerns were expressed by some Deputies about the impact of major projects such as the M50 upgrade on traffic flows. I appreciate these concerns but it must also be acknowledged that good efforts are being made to minimise these impacts and that the experience gained from other projects successfully delivered in live traffic conditions such as the Naas Road upgrade has helped the NRA and its contractors to ensure major necessary improvement projects can be undertaken on roads that are in use while maintaining traffic flow.

The Railway Procurement Agency is making good progress on the roll-out of the Luas and metro projects provided for in Transport 21. Projects for early delivery include the extension of the trams on the Luas red — Tallaght — line from 30 to 40 metres which will provide an additional 40% capacity. The first 40 metre trams will be delivered early in 2007 and all tram extensions will be completed by 2008. Additional trams will be purchased to increase capacity on both Luas lines.

It is important to demonstrate to the House that Transport 21 contains short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions, all of which will transform completely the travelling public's experience, both in Dublin and throughout the country, on a myriad of transport modes.

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