€100M additional Irish road and rail investment announced

The Irish Government has announced an additional €100M investment in Transport, Tourism and Sport, €60M of which will be spent on public transport.

The funding sees the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport’s overall capital spend for the year to €1.07Bn. The additional funding will provide support for the public transport system and allow overdue maintenance of the road network to take place.

The breakdown of the funds are as follows:

A total of €60M will address the under investment caused by the economic crisis in public transport. This will be made up of €29M providing maintenance on rail rolling stock required for the provision of services, which is expected to improve reliability and punctuality across all rail fleets. €9M will fund the Rail Safety programme to improve journey times on the Dublin to Cork rail line. €20M will also be spent to replace and expand the state bus fleet to meet a growing demand, and a further €2M will be invested in Dublin bikes expansion to Grangegorman and cycling safety measures.

Critical remedial works, maintenance and strengthening of the road network at national, regional and local level will see a €34M investment made. This is an area where funding has been severely reduced since the financial crisis began. This spend will be spread over a wide geographic area and it is hoped its positive economic effects will be far reaching.

Of the €34M, €10M of it will be spent on pavement works on the national road network, including specific upgrades which are viewed by the Irish government as fundamental to improving the economy. €24M will go towards regional and local roads, which will see 350km of below-standard road pavement to be upgraded to a high standard across 27 Local Authority areas.

A further €1M will be used to improve road safety, including investment in drug testing equipment and other road safety related measures.

€4.2M will be allocated to tourism related projects, including further development of Ireland’s Ancient East corridor and the Wild Atlantic Way.

The National Indoor Arena will receive €800k, in addition to the funding already promised, to speed up completion of the accelerate the delivery of at the National Sports Campus.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD said: “This additional investment of €100 million will be used to strengthen our national, regional and local road network, making them safer and better able to support economic development. Funds are also being provided for road safety measures, including the roll-out of drug testing devices which should result in fewer deaths on our roads.

“As we build on the progress we have been making in recent years, more people are returning to work which is great news. However, it is also resulting in a rise in congestion levels in certain areas. This threatens to slow economic activity and have a negative impact on people’s living standards. Today’s announcement will see investment being provided for the renewal and expansion of our bus fleet, which will improve reliability; to enhance rail journey times, which will improve commuter experience; and to expand the bike share scheme, all of which will combat congestion and help facilitate further growth.”

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