PLANS for Dublin's first light metro line and a city centre commuter rail link have been shelved under the Irish government's capital spending cutbacks for 2012, which were announced today.
Dart Underground, an 8.6km connection between Dublin's northern and western commuter rail routes will not now be funded until 2015 at the earliest.
Both projects survived a government spending review last August, but this was soon followed by Ireland's Euros 100bn bailout by International Monetary Fund which came with strict conditions for reigning in government spending. The government has wiped Euros 775m off its Euros 4bn capital budget for next year as it seeks to focus depleted resources on "critical infrastructure gaps in areas such as health, education and water services."
The Luas light rail connection between the Red and Green lines, together with the branch from O'Connell Street to Grangegorman and Broombridge have escaped the cull and will continue to be funded by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
Announcing the budget today, prime minister Mr Enda Kenny said: "It is not correct to say that we are abandoning whole transport projects. They are being deferred until the economic situation allows them to proceed. It is worth remembering that some transport projects have been long planned with little progress. Metro North was first agreed by the government 11 years ago yet even during the years of plenty the previous government failed to deliver it. It would be dishonest to continue with the planning of these projects in the knowledge the finance is not available to build them. But they will resume when the country is back on a firm financial footing."
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