Written answers
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
Light Rail Project
Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide a detailed timeframe for the various stages of the development of the Luas BXD line and the estimated cost breakdown of these works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42826/12]
Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Following the establishment of the National Transport Authority (NTA) on 1st December 2009, the provision of infrastructure projects in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), such as LUAS BXD, now comes under the remit of the NTA. LUAS BXD to Broombridge was designed to be a key element in an overall integrated transport network for Dublin. It will create a LUAS network by joining the LUAS Red and Green Lines and will also link with rail services from Maynooth and Dunboyne and with existing Quality Bus schemes which enter or cross Dublin City Centre. It will also in time interchange with future key projects such as Dart Underground and Metro North.
The project has been prioritised under the Governments's 5-year capital plan - Infrastructure & Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 - Medium Term Exchequer Framework - which was published in November 2011.
An Bórd Pleanála gave approval to the project on 2nd August 2012 and following the statutory 8-week appeal period the railway order (RO) is now operational. I understand that the business case for the project is now being updated by the Railway Procurement Agency having regard to conditions attached to the RO and other information updates.
Funding has been included in my Department's capital allocation to 2016 to cover the cost of commencing the main construction works in 2015 and for pre-construction enabling works in 2013 and 2014. Construction is expected to take 4 years. The overall cost of the project is anticipated to be in the region of €368 million. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the various elements of the scheme at this stage.
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