Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Davitt for raising this very important issue. I mean that genuinely. It is quite striking that since the extension of the Luas in early December, everybody wants a bit of it. It is a big success story, and I am not claiming credit for that on behalf of the Government or anybody else. The Opposition supports the project. We would like to be able to extend the Luas much further because it is working and is a particularly successful and modern way of travelling. It is obviously part of the Government strategy and is probably supported by the Opposition. It should be one of the ways of getting people out of their cars and into public transport. It is a successful part of that plan.

The idea behind this Commencement Matter is to co-ordinate the Luas with metro north, which is a very fine aspiration but may present some difficulties, certainly in the short term. That does not mean that the campaign to which the Senator referred should be discouraged. I do not think it should be and it is welcome that more people want the Luas in their area or a short distance away and want to extend it to their area or co-ordinate and integrate it with the rest of the public transport network. I welcome the fact that the group was set up. Although I cannot satisfy it immediately, I will endeavour to hear what it has to say and will go to its website.

As the Senator is aware, investment in the public transport network is a key priority and the Government has worked tirelessly in budget 2018 to secure an enhanced four-year capital envelope of €2.7 billion for public transport over the period 2018 to 2021. This funding will progress key capital programmes that will help address congestion and emerging capacity constraints on our public transport system such as additional capacity for the Luas green line, BusConnects, the DART expansion programme and the new metro north, as well as other programmes to fund active travel through walking and cycling investments. A commitment to protect investment has already been made in respect of our rail network.

With the permission of the House, I would like to spend just a little time explaining the benefits that each of these major projects will bring for the commuting public. The recently opened Luas cross city will add an estimated 10 million extra journeys every year on the Luas network. In addition, the green line capacity enhancement project recently approved by the Government will address current capacity limits at peak hours on the Luas green line and cater for future demands along the line. The success of the latest Luas cross city this week has been quite staggering and has presented almost immediate problems because so many people want to use it. In the next two weeks we will introduce new and extended trams to cater for the increased demand. It is a tremendous thing to be a victim of one's own success.

The four-year capital plan provides for investment of more than €770 million to progress the BusConnects programme launched last summer by the National Transport Authority, NTA. BusConnects will completely overhaul our bus system to help address growing congestion in the Dublin region in the short to medium term. In addition to providing a considerable improvement in bus infrastructure, it also includes cycling and walking facilities along the key corridors. Work is ongoing on proposals for the redesign of the bus services network and infrastructure proposals for core bus corridors. I am pleased to inform the Senator that I expect the public consultation processes to begin on these new proposals in April and May. That will have a great deal of appeal to those citizens who live in the neighbourhood to which Senator Davitt referred. Funding of €230 million over the period 2018 to 2021 is allocated for mainline rail projects, including the city centre resignalling project, the national train control centre and DART expansion. The funding will initially provide additional fleet to enhance capacity, and allow substantial progress on electrification of the northern rail line as far as Balbriggan that is expected to be delivered in 2022.

Lastly, funding of over €460 million has been allocated to continue planning and design to allow construction of the new metro north to commence in 2021, with passenger services starting in 2027. Design and planning work is already under way. I expect that the public consultation process on the emerging preferred route will commence in a few weeks' time.

All these transport schemes are being delivered under the National Transport Authority's transport strategy for the greater Dublin area 2016-2035, to which the Senator referred. This provides a framework for the planning and delivery of transport infrastructure and services in the GDA over the next two decades. The delivery of these projects is obviously subject to a number of influencing factors, including funding availability. The strategy also includes a number of proposals to further develop the light rail and metro network in the GDA. While this includes the extension of Luas cross city from its terminus at Broombridge to the north of Finglas to provide a high capacity radial service from this large suburb into the city centre, it does not foresee a direct connection with metro north.

Having said that, the programmes I have set out will serve the significant levels of forecast travel demand from this corridor to the city, and deliver a transport network that will provide high quality passenger interchange points, which facilitate convenient transfer between efficient and integrated public transport services. All these initiatives combined will add greatly to the choice and experience of the travelling public and ease congestion in the greater Dublin area.