Cullen to meet Cowen over transport plan

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen is to meet Finance Minister Brian Cowen in the coming weeks to try and break the deadlock over the much awaited 10 year Strategic Transport Plan.

The plan was first announced by Mr Cullen last November with the publication of the Budget Estimates. Details were to have been announced "within weeks".

As reported in The Irish Times last July, however, senior officials in the Department of Finance had reservations over aspects of the plan, particularly the expensive new rail links in Dublin.

While the Department of Finance has committed about €10 billion to finish the State's inter-urban motorway programme over the next five years, it is the second five years and the investment of a further €10 billion in public transport which is presenting difficulty for finance officials.

The department is understood to be concerned about starting the Dublin airport metro and running into final costs vastly ahead of those which had initially been expected, as happened with the motorway programme, the Dublin Port Tunnel and Luas. Junior Transport Minister Ivor Callely has been told by major international metro builders that a standard metro could be built for as little as €80 million per kilometre including land costs, putting the total cost of the Dublin airport metro under €1½ billion.

But there is scepticism of this in official circles and while even the Taoiseach is supportive of the public transport package, the uncertainty over costs has been the major cause of delay.

However, despite a delay of almost a year, the Department of Transport remained optimistic yesterday that the plan was "close to finalisation".

"The Ministers will meet shortly to work towards finalisation and it will then be published," said Dan Pender, Mr Cullen's press spokesman.

Much of what is in the plan has already been revealed. In the roads section candidates for inclusion include the new orbital motorway around Dublin, in which the Taoiseach has expressed interest, and the Eastern bypass of Dublin.

In public transport terms there are existing commitments to reopening lines and expanding commuter services around Cork city; linking up the two Luas lines in Dublin; extensions of Luas to Citywest, the docklands, Cherrywood and Swords and the development of the airport metro. The plan is understood to include the Irish Rail plan for an interconnector between Dublin's Heuston and Connolly Stations; a new station in the docklands and an underground in the south city between Pearse Station and Heuston.

Other elements vying for inclusion include an extension of the Ennis to Limerick line to serve Shannon Airport, reopening of passenger services between Limerick and Galway and remaining elements of the Western Rail Corridor between Galway and Sligo.

Last night sources in the Department of Finance pointed out that the annual budget of the Department of Transport was over €2 billion, almost €1.5 billion of which is committed to the National Roads Programme over the next five years.

Sources maintained the scale of the plan was too ambitious for the remaining budget.