€20bn transport plan to include reopening part of west rail lin

The reopening of parts of the western rail corridor and the development of new commuter services in the south will form key elements of the Government's €20 billion transport investment plan to be unveiled today.

It is expected that the plan will contain provision for the development of new commuter rail services on the old western corridor between Limerick and Galway via Ennis.

It is also believed there will be provision to extend this service, on a phased basis, to Claremorris in Co Mayo. This would provide a link between the western line and the existing Dublin to Ballina route.

The final stage of the western rail corridor from Claremorris to Collooney in Co Sligo is expected to be seen as a longer term objective in the plan. However, there was speculation last night that the Government may announce that the old alignment is to be cleared and fenced.

In recent years the Government has come under pressure from campaigners in the west to have the former western rail corridor reopened.

Campaigners have pointed out that Government spending under the National Development Plan in the Border Midlands and Western region was well behind that in the southern and eastern region.

Leading figures in the campaign for the reopening of rail services in the west have been invited to the launch of the Government's new transport investment plan by Minister for Transport Martin Cullen in Dublin Castle today.

The transport plan is also expected to contain funding for the expansion of rail services on the Cork/Mallow route and the development of a commuter line from Cork to Midleton.

The plan is also expected to contain provision for the first phase of the reopening of some rail services in Co Meath.

This will involve a spur from the Maynooth line to Dunboyne. There may also be a commitment to examine the extension of this service to Navan at a later date.

There will also be funding for the quadrupling of the Kildare rail line as far as Hazelhatch.

The transport plan will also allow for the completion of the inter-urban motorway programme and the improvement of other inter-regional roads, particularly in the west.

Informed sources said last night the plan would also contain some provision for preparatory work to get underway on a new orbital motorway around Dublin. This is likely to be developed as a public private partnership but is not expected to be completed in the ten-year period.

The route, which would be developed in phases, would run from Drogheda, through Navan, Trim and Kilcock to Naas. It is not expected to continue across the Wicklow mountains to the east coast.

In Dublin the new plan will concentrate heavily on the development of new rail services. The plan will include provision for the development of the metro to Dublin airport. This route will start at the current terminus of the Luas line at St Stephen's Green and will run underground via the Mater hospital and Dublin City University.

It is expected the Government will announce that the metro line will run on to Swords in north Dublin. It is believed that construction is likely to start in the city centre, allowing for the opening of the airport link before the development of the route to Swords.

It is expected that the bill for the metro will be estimated at €3.5 billion and that the project will be developed as a public/private partnership.

The plan will commit the Government to continue work on the possible connection of the two Luas lines overground in Dublin city centre even as the metro is developed underground.

The plan will also see the development of a new Dublin docklands rail station and the construction of an inter-connector tunnel to allow trains from the northern line to run underground via Pearse and Heuston stations and on to the Kildare route.