Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

Transport 21 provides for a significant growth in capacity in rail services in the greater Dublin area, including the electrification of the northern line as far as Balbriggan. This will essentially allow for DART-style services on the northern line to Balbriggan, serving stations beyond Malahide at Donabate, Rush and Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan. This project also involves the acquisition of new rolling stock on the lines.

The project forms part of larger Transport 21 projects involving the construction of the interconnector linking Heuston Station to Connolly Station, quadrupling the Kildare line and the electrification of the Maynooth and Navan lines. This will quadruple existing rail capacity from 25 million to 100 million passengers per annum in the greater Dublin area.

Under Transport 21, the overall project is due to be completed by 2015. However, in line with the programme for Government, I will be asking Iarnród Éireann to examine options for the possible advancement or phased advancement of the electrification northwards. No decision has yet been taken in that regard. There are no plans to extend the metro from Swords to Donabate.

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