Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

Significant progress has been made in the delivery of the ambitious programme of works to upgrade our public transport system set out in Transport 21.

A number of public transport projects have already been completed. The new Docklands railway station has opened and Irish Rail has completely modernised its intercity rolling stock. The new Portlaoise traincare depot is open and operational and new stations have also been provided at Parkwest-Cherry Orchard, Clondalkin-Fonthill and Hazelhatch-Celbridge. All of the Luas trams on the Tallaght line were lengthened by 10 m, increasing the capacity of that line by 40%.

Further major works are also in progress on other public transport projects, some of which will be completed this year. These are the Cork to Midleton rail line, phase 1 of the western rail corridor and the Luas extension to the Docklands. Apart from six that were damaged in transit, the remainder of the new intercity railcars will also enter service on the national rail network this year. Work is progressing on the Luas extensions to Cherrywood and Citywest, phase 1 of the Kildare route project and phase 1 of the Navan rail line project. All of these will complete construction within 18 months.

Funding for an automatic vehicle location system, AVLS, and real-time passenger information, RTPI, has also been made available and these projects will be rolled out over the next 18 months. The integrated ticketing project is also well advanced and the single smartcard for the GDA will be introduced on a phased basis over the period to early 2011. Major investment in Iarnród Éireann's railway safety programme is ongoing. Progress is also continuing on the delivery of bus priority measures in Dublin and the provincial cities. By the end of this year, more than €2.5 billion will have been invested in new public transport infrastructure under Transport 21.

Regarding projects not yet at construction, I have stated a number of times that the provision of increased capacity will continue to be a key consideration in determining investment priorities for public transport. Given their potential to increase capacity on the public transport network, metro north and the DART underground are key projects. Continued investment in increased bus capacity and bus priority measures are also priorities. The bus-related investment will be guided by the Deloitte cost and efficiency review of the CIE bus companies and the availability of current funding for public service obligations. The selection of projects and programmes will also be guided by the overarching priorities of strengthening the productive capacity of the economy and sustaining employment.

The planning of the other major public transport capital projects identified in Transport 21 is continuing and they will be released for construction as soon as they are through statutory procedures and subject to the funding available during the current difficult economic climate.

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