Iarnrod Eireann: expansion plans outlined
Five-year "envelope funding" similar to the multi-annual budgeting given to the National Roads Authority was promised to Iarnród Éireann at the last Budget.
The promise has allowed the company to engage in detailed planning over the short, medium and longer term, details of which were outlined by the managing director of Iarnród Éireann, Mr Joe Meagher, yesterday.
Short-term plans already under way include:
a new station at Spencer Dock;
eight-carriage DART trains;
four tracks on the Kildare line;
additional rolling stock; and
a signalling upgrade.
In the medium term, from about 2008 onwards, the company proposes its most radical shake-up of capacity in the central Dublin area, offering huge potential to expand services into the provinces. Measures include:
a five-stop interconnector tunnel in Dublin City which the company says could be built by 2012 - or 2010 at a push - at a cost of €1.3 billion;
further electrification of the suburban railway around Dublin;
further development of four-track routes, particularly the Maynooth line;
improvement of longer-distance services;
additional rolling stock;
In the longer term, Iarnród Éireann plans for:
a 33 per cent increase in DART traffic;
new Northern, Maynooth and Kildare services;
extra services to an outer commuter belt; and
up to 10 new commuter stations.