Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the steps he proposes to take to expedite the interconnector project. [17904/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Transport 21 provides a completion date for the construction of the Interconnector of 2015. This project is an important part of a programme to extend and reconfigure the DART and suburban rail services in the Greater Dublin Area so as to provide higher capacities, additional frequencies and a more integrated network of services.

Irish Rail are currently carrying out a number of feasibility studies in relation to the alignment, timescale and cost of project. There are also a number of projects currently under way that are necessary to prepare for the development of the Interconnector, including the Kildare Route Project and the electrification of the Maynooth line. In addition, Irish Rail and the Railway Procurement Agency are working well together to ensure that planning for both the Interconnector and the Metro is properly integrated. The Programme for Government entails a commitment to immediately investigating ways of expediting this project and I will be pursuing this with Iarnrod Éireann.