The North's public transport authority, Translink, is to submit proposals to upgrade radically the Dublin-Belfast rail link.
Under its plan the Belfast-Dublin Enterprise service will be upgraded to a high-speed rail service with departures every hour and a 90-minute non-stop journey time. It would mean an end to all Dublin-Belfast trains stopping at Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry, Portadown and Lisburn.
Northern Ireland's Strategic Investment Board, which targets infrastructure needs, has indicated a will to make this a reality.
Translink is also working with Irish Rail to expand the Newry-Dundalk local cross-Border services to reflect the growth of these areas.
These future plans are subject to government approval and funding both North and south.
Translink has also confirmed a new train station for Newry to support the line service. Subject to planning permission, the work is scheduledto start by the end of this year.
The company has also confirmed a new roll-out of 12 Quality Bus Corridors along all the main arterial routes in Belfast in the manner of similar projects in Dublin.
Bus transport in the city was overhauled and rebranded last year.
The new so-called Metro bus services have brought about a 10 per cent rise in public transport usage in the city. However further development of the service has been hindered by traffic congestion and by the fact that bus lanes are incomplete and in operation only at restricted hours.
Capital projects worth some £180 million (€260 million) have already been delivered in 2005-6. The bulk of this spending was on new buses for the Metro service and Ulsterbus, and rolling stock for Northern Ireland Railways.
The SDLP last night welcomed the proposals but warned transport authorities not toshy away from major projects.
Party deputy leader and south Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell said Translink should "think big" on rapid transit systems to beat growing congestion in Belfast.
Translink should not settle for "compromise trolley-bus solutions," he said. "The whole infrastructure on the island of Ireland is facing its biggest shake-up in centuries and this is the time to think big."
