CIE is to proceed "immediately" with an £8 million plan to transform two Dublin mainline railway stations, Heuston and Connolly, into "flagship passenger terminals" for the 21st century.
At Heuston, passengers will enter from the front of the original building, which dates from 1844, rather than through the side as at present. The new concourse area, mostly under a glazed roof, is to be surrounded by shops, bars and restaurants.
The plan for Connolly Station involves opening a new entrance at ground floor level from Amiens Street, reorganising access from the drive up ramp, re roofing an enlarged concourse in a dramatic, tented structure, and building an office block at the rear to pay for it all.
Announcing the scheme yesterday, the Minister for Transport described it as "an act of faith in the future of rail travel in Ireland", which would turn "cold, forbidding, cheerless and unfriendly" stations into places where people would want to spend time.
Mr Lowry emphasised that the redevelopment plan was being implemented as "a fully commercial proposition, funded entirely, from within CIE's own resources".
The Minister said that the transformation of the stations would complement the current £275 million railway investment programme, partially EU funded, which would mean faster, more frequent and more comfortable trains on most mainline routes.
Ms Tras Hnan, deputy chairwoman of CIE, said she had long believed that people who travelled by bus or train "should have the same standard of comfort as people who use our airports" - a view shared by the CIE group chief executive, Mr Michael McDonnell.
In the past, Mr McDonnell said, CIE had been "starved of the necessary investment to provide adequate, let alone first class, facilities" for its customers.
Mr John Clancy, CIE's chief architect, said that the plans for the stations would also "give something back to the city". Heuston would have a hard landscaped piazza in front of it, marking (along with Dr Steevens's Hospital) "the entrance to Dublin from the west".
He pointed out that the plan for Heuston would preserve the original mid 19th century train hall. As for Connolly, building an office block at the rear would not detract from the prominence of its Italianate tower.
It is understood that tenders for this office block, containing some 40,000 square feet of space, will be advertised in the coming weeks. It is expected to generate a great deal of interest because of its location within the Custom House Docks tax designated area.
The major refurbishment planned for Heuston will be financed by franchising a large number of retail units in the station concourse.
