Government criticised for shelving Dart underground plan

The Government's decision not to proceed with an underground Dart project for a number of years has been criticised, with Fianna Fáil describing the move as "extremely short-sighted".

Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe made the announcement on Tuesday. He said the tunnel element of Dart underground as currently planned would have cost €3billion and that the proposal been drawn up a decade ago when the country was in a very different position regarding growth projections and travel patterns.

The project was considered to be very important and would go ahead at some point in the future, he added.

Fianna Fáil transport spokesman Timmy Dooley said the decision was a “major setback for the greater Dublin area and the economy.”

“This project would yield huge economic benefits for the country and transform our public transport network for commuters,” he said.

“The Minister’s decision today puts Dart Underground off the radar until sometime beyond 2020. In thinking he is saving the public money by putting this project back out for review the Minister could instead be storing up millions of euro in new costs and exposing the future of the project to significant construction inflation in the years ahead.”

Mr Dooley said the moved amounted to the Government "making policy on the hoof" and that Irish Rail €40m of public money had been spent on Dart Underground to date.

“Fundamentally, this decision is extremely short-sighted,” he said, adding that officials in Mr Donohoe’s department and at the National Transport Authority (NTA) had continually described the project as “the missing link” required to connect the existing rail lines in Dublin.

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said it was regrettable that some €40 million had been spent on a “vital” transport project that was now being pushed off into the next decade.

“Surely the urgency of a decent transport infrastructure for an international capital city and its environs should be prioritised,” Ms Murphy said. “Only last week we had traffic chaos which almost brought the city to a standstill following a fire in the Port Tunnel because we have an overdependence on private cars.”

The Green Party accused the Government of having no vision for the future of Dublin or the country and said the move was a “body blow” for a rail system “already on its knees”.

“The decision will have an adverse effect on housing as well as transport plans,” Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said. “Rather than concentrating new development along rail lines, the city will continue to sprawl along the road network. This is going to have a huge social, economic as well as environmental cost.”

He said that by bringing together the four regional rail corridors “the underground link could have transformed the entire commuter belt on the east coast”.

“It would also have allowed a train run directly from Belfast to Cork and from Wexford to Westport. That opportunity is now lost.”

Mr Donohoe did announce a move to extend the Dart line in Dublin to Balbriggan by 2022 and also said the Government’s capital plan would provide money for work to be carried out on electrifying other rail lines into Dublin.

Irish Rail said it welcomed the focus on upgrading existing Dart lines.

“While the current tunnel aspect of the Dart expansion programme will not proceed under the existing Railway Order, we welcome the support at government and National Transport Authority level that the Dart expansion programme is crucial for national economic development and addressing traffic congestion in the Greater Dublin area and beyond,” the company said.