Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for Transport the amount of money that has been spent on public transport projects in Counties Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim, respectively, under Transport 21 since its launch. [20196/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Transport 21 programme substantial funding has been provided to these counties for the various projects.

Kerry

Accessibility improvements have been made to Tralee Bus Station at a cost of €915,000.

67 New InterCity trains, which entered service for the Dublin-Cork line, are providing more services to Mallow for connection with Kerry line (Mallow-Tralee) trains.

Iarnród Éireann has expanded the services on the Kerry line, to approximately every two hours each way.

To facilitate the introduction of modern rolling stock and to improve accessibility for mobility-impaired passengers, station improvements have been carried out including raising and lengthening the current platforms at Banteer, Rathmore and Killarney.

To date, €189,000 has been spent under Transport 21 on improvements to Kerry Airport out of the total allocation of €17.7million.

Limerick

There has been a total investment of €2.284 million in bus priority and Park and Ride projects.

The refuelling and maintenance facilities at Limerick Depot have been upgraded at a cost of €1.75 million.

Speed restrictions on the Limerick-Dublin line have been removed at a cost of €16 million to date.

Upgrade works on the rail system in Limerick and improvement works on the Limerick-Ballybrophy line which included track renewal, signal upgrading, level crossings, structures and fencing, have been undertaken as part of the Railway Safety Programme.

Clare

Accessibility improvements to Ennis Bus Station have been completed at a cost of €860,000.

Ennis railway station car park was upgraded from 30 car spaces to 170 car spaces.

Galway

There has been a total investment of €1.335 million in bus priority and Park and Ride projects.

To date €735,000 has been spent on improvements to Galway Airport, out of a total allocation of €6.3million.

Mayo

A €14 million programme of investment in automating level crossings on the Dublin — Mayo rail route is in progress.

€27.9 million has been invested in resignalling the Mayo line, upgrading from mechanical semaphore signalling to a computerised system. This will yield safety and efficiency benefits.

Platform extension work has been undertaken to facilitate the new fleet.

To date €1.123 million has been spent on improvements to Knock Airport, out of a total allocation of €27 million.

Sligo

€9.35m has been invested on automation of level crossings on the Sligo rail line.

To date €304,000 has been spent on improvements to Sligo Airport, out of a total allocation of €8.5million.

In addition to the projects listed above €402 million is being spent on 183 high-specification Intercity railcars to serve the national Intercity network. These railcars entered service on the Dublin — Sligo line last year and on the Limerick — Dublin and the Westport — Dublin routes this year. They will enter service on the Dublin to Galway line in July 2008 and on the Dublin to Tralee line at a later date.

Phase 1 of the Western Rail Corridor, which runs from Ennis to Athenry, was commenced in 2007 and is due to be completed in 2009. This will facilitate the introduction of a rail service from Limerick to Galway. The introduction of a commuter service from Galway to Athenry is also due for completion in 2009. My Department has allocated €106.5m to meet expenditure on the project and has paid €9.849m to Iarnród Éireann towards the cost of the project to date.