Government Defers New Dart Plans

The Minister for Transport has on Wednesday announced the plans for a Metro North and Dart Underground service are to be delayed.

Amongst plans that include the "significant" scaling back of investment in transport infrastructure over the next five years Leo Varadkar said the Metro North & Dart Underground would be deferred until 2015.

The minister said the delay was needed to allow the Government to meet its commitments in health and education, restore our economic sovereignty, and keep taxes down.

Mr Varadkar said: “The Government is making these cutbacks in order to honour our commitments to the people and to the troika to bring the budget deficit to 3% of the GDP by 2015 so that Ireland’s economic sovereignty can be restored. It will also assist us to honour our commitments to keep income taxes down and maintain basic social welfare rates."

The Department of Transport are to instead concentrate on maintaining existing roads, railways and replacement of rolling stock & buses. Road projects will generally suspended but a very limited number will proceed, along with ongoing tourism investment & sports capital programmes.

“Overall spending on transport capital will fall by almost 50% from €1.5 billion in 2011 to €0.8 billion in 2016," the minister added. "More than 85% of transport capital will be required to restore and maintain existing roads and railways, and to purchase replacement buses and trains. The priority is therefore to make the best use, and to get maximum value, from existing infrastructure."

Mr Varadkar said that given that the Government already have a large number of "shovel-ready" projects which have been suspended until after 2016, there is little point in spending more money on planning new projects.

(DW)