Over half of €54 billion economic spend to go towards transport

OVER than half of the €54.7 billion being spent on economic infrastructure will go towards transport.

Approximately €32.9 billion will be pumped into the road and rail networks, the sea and airports, and public transport services.

Much of this projected spend was previously announced when the Government unveiled its ambitious €34.4 billion Transport 21 project in November 2005.

That was a 10-year master plan to overhaul the country’s transport infrastructure.

Yesterday’s package revisited many of the proposals outlined in Transport 21.

The difference is that the NDP is a seven-year plan, hence the slightly smaller budget than Transport 21.

The €32.9bn spend will be divided into four sub-sections: roads, public transport, air transport, and ports.

The roads programme will account for €17.6 billion of the total, €13.3 billion of which will be invested in national roads and the remainder in non-national roads.

Under the programme, the Government hopes to complete the major inter-urban routes linking Dublin with Belfast, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford by 2010.

It also hopes to complete the upgrade of the M50 by the same date.

It says road links between the gateways outlined in the National Spatial Strategy will be improved, and that work will continue on the so-called “Atlantic Corridor” running from Donegal to Waterford via Sligo, Limerick and Cork. Road links to Northern Ireland will also be improved.

The public transport programme will account for €13 billion of the total. The bulk of the investment will be in the greater Dublin area, which the Government admitted was suffering “bad congestion at peak times”. The Government envisages the construction of the Metro North line to ferry passengers to the city centre from Dublin Airport and vice versa. The Luas network will be enhanced and extended, while the Dublin to Navan rail link will be reopened. There will be “significant expansion” of the bus fleet, and the long-delayed integrated ticketing system will be introduced, allowing travellers to use one ticket for different modes of public transport.

A total of €1.9 billion will be invested in the airport programme under the plan. Capacity will be increased and infrastructure improved at the three State-owned airports — Dublin, Cork and Shannon. The Government said it would also seek to assist the country’s six privately-owned regional airports.

Finally, €481m will go on the ports, which handle around 99% of the country’s imports and exports.