KENNY WELCOMES INCLUSION OF AIRPORT LINK IN DART UNDERGROUND PLANS

Posted on August 7, 2013 11:31 AM   |   Permanent Link   

Dublin Bay North Labour TD and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport Sean Kenny has said the inclusion of a link to the Dublin Airport in the DART Underground plans would be very welcome.

"Irish Rail is hoping to develop an integrated rail network which would allow rail passengers to travel from the airport into the city centre, and on to Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo and Belfast. It was previously proposed that the project would only cater for the tunnel under the city centre, but Iarnrod Eireann plans to lobby to have the Dublin Airport link included. The project was deferred in 2010 but is due to be re-examined by 2015 when the Government announces the next capital investment programme."

"I have seen reports that there may be EU funding of up to €780m or a maximum of 30 per cent of the cost of the project available to build DART Underground, resulting in a far lower bill for the taxpayer, which would be welcome as it would make the project more likely to proceed, and I have also heard that the DART Underground project could be in line for the money because it is a priority transport project."

"Planning permission is already in place for the tunnel, which would run underneath the city, connecting the northern and Kildare lines, with underground stations at Spencer Dock, Pearse, St Stephen's Green, Christchurch, Heuston Station and a surface DART station at Inchicore. The DART Airport link would cost in the region of €200m, and would provide a link from Howth Junction to the airport."

"It is a very large project altogether and would cost around €4Bn. Some €1bn would be provided by the public purse, another €400m by way of a loan from the European Investment Bank. EU funding could provide another €780m, with the remainder being sourced from the private sector, which would be repaid back over time, and I understand the Departmant of Transport are talking about a one-off special allocation from the Exchequer to allow the project to be re-started. The project could be running in ten years if the money becomes available."