Cuts put brakes on roads authority, regional airports and Dublin Bus fleet

TRANSPORT:KEY REGIONAL roads, regional airports and the Dublin Bus fleet were the big losers in the Department of Transport allocation, which shrinks by €160 million to €3,613 million in 2009.

The largest single cut applies to the National Roads Authority, which is to see capital funding reduced by €154 million to €1.4 billion, affecting a number of key regional routes. The major inter-urban roads and the upgrade of the M50, which are all under construction and scheduled to be completed by 2010, are not affected by the reduction.

Capital expenditure of more than €900 million has been allocated to public transport infrastructure - including progressing Metro North.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey insisted all Transport 21 projects would go ahead, but some rescheduling of projects might be required. Projects under construction in 2009 will include extensions to Citywest, Docklands and Cherrywood. The public transport allocation also covers completion of the Cork to Midleton commuter rail service and phase one of the Western Rail Corridor from Ennis to Athenry.

It also covers construction work on the Kildare Route Project, phase one of the Navan rail line, and the Dublin city centre resignalling project. Planning will continue on the Dublin interconnector, otherwise known as Dart underground.

Progress on the Atlantic Corridor will be delayed by the decision to reschedule the N18 Oranmore to Gort section of that route, with implications for access between Galway and Shannon Airport.

But the Government is to spend €13.5 million towards planning for the dual carriageway road within Northern Ireland, part of moves to open up access to the northwest of the island. The overall commitment to this route is €400 million.

Funding for regional airports is to be reduced by €13 million to €11 million in 2009. The move reflects a reduction in building programmes at the regional airports, according to Mr Dempsey.

The Minister has also made provision for the new Marlborough Street public transport bridge in Dublin. But he said the Budget made no special provision for the acquisition by Dublin Bus of new buses for the fleet.

Mr Dempsey said he had initiated a review of the usage of the fleet and did not want to pre-empt that by buying new buses which were at risk of being idle.

The Minister said he would co-fund a number of initiatives in the area of sustainable transport which are to be announced by the Minister for Environment today.

He also said he intended to create a National Transport Authority into which the Dublin Transport Authority and the national taxi regulator would be subsumed.

In relation to Metro North, the Minister confirmed it was going ahead and that its overall cost would be spread over the 30-year lifespan of the PPP contract. He said tenders for the contract were due in by February 6th. Work on the route is scheduled to begin in 2010 under Transport 21.

Deferred projects

THE MINISTER for Transport has listed six road projects that have been deferred for at least a year. He said it had been hoped that the Arklow to Rathnew road in Co Wicklow would start at the end of next year but it would now be 2010 - "and that is not absolute".

The other projects he said would be "rescheduled" were:

• the N5 bypass of Longford;

• the N21 road at Castleisland in Co Kerry;

• the N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton road in Co Cork;

• the N18 Gort to Oranmore road;

• the reconstruction of Newlands Cross in south Dublin.

There is no provision for:

• significant numbers of new buses for Dublin Bus;

• the Leinster outer orbital motorway.

Measures to help tackle congestion in Dublin include:

• a tax-exempt benefit-in-kind for employees of up to €1,000 every five years, where the money is deducted from salary and is used to buy a bicycle;

• a €200 levy payable by employees on car-parking spaces provided by employers.