A new rail link from Dublin city centre to the airport and Swords – most probably a metro service – will be the centrepiece of the announcement.
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RTE reports that a review of the plans will be carried out in 2017, while there are also set to be new rules for public and private partnerships.
The specification for Metro North has been revised significantly to bring the total cost down to an estimated €2.4bn (excluding VAT).
However, under the new capital plan, Donohoe says the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport will be allocated almost €10bn between 2016 and 2022 to “restore transport investment to comparable worldwide levels by 2020”.
“It will be underground in parts of city centre above round after Ballymun”, she added. “It is expected that construction of the project would commence in 2021 with a view to delivery by 2026/27”, he said.
About 8.5km of the route will run in a tunnel from St Stephen’s Green to Griffith Avenue and there will also be a tunnel under the Dublin Airport campus.
It’ll take 19 minutes to get from O’Connell Street to the Airport, and 31 minutes from O’Connell Street to Swords Estuary.
While additional funding over the final three years of the plan will see the new Metro North and DART expansion programme going ahead.
He goes on: “A rail link to the city centre is an essential element of Dublin Airport’s long-term growth plans and we welcome the fact that the new Metro service will be underground at the airport as this will allow an efficient transfer of passengers from the Metro to the terminals and vice versa”.
“We will not be in a position to deliver all of this immediately, we simply do not have the resources to do this now” Donohoe says.
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The Government’s plan for capital investment will be announced this afternoon.
