4/11/07 Transport 21. Sunday Business Post

[Derek Wheeler]

Almost all Transport 21 plans delayed

04 November 2007 By Pat Leahy, Political Correspondent

Almost every transport project due to be completed before 2010 under the government’s €34 billion Transport 21 plan is either already late or is expected to miss its original completion date.

Two years after the plan was announced by then transport minister Martin Cullen in 2005, documents released by the Department of Transport show that the targets for completing many projects have either not been met or are expected to be at least a year late.

At the launch of Transport 21 and for some time afterwards, the government’s catchphrase was ‘‘on time and on budget’’. However, while the true cost of the plan cannot yet be assessed, it is clear that the various elements of the plan will not be completed on time.

Revised schedules -many of which officials concede will be postponed again in the future - show that most projects scheduled to be completed this year are not expected to be finished until next year. Projects once expected to be completed in 2008 are now being given 2009 and 2010 completion dates.

The Department of Transport has also conceded that there is no operable date for a joining of the two Luas lines in Dublin city centre, following concerns expressed by Dublin Bus about the impact on bus traffic. The link-up was due to be finished next year.

Other projects which have slipped off the list of expected completions next year include Luas extensions to the Docklands and to Citywest in Dublin, and the Cork-Midleton commuter rail service.

The completion dates for many phases of the proposed Metro lines are being revised, although the department insists that they will all be completed by 2013 or 2014.

Most projects which have post-2010 completion dates are still expected to be on time, officials say. A statement issued by the Department of Transport explained that the original timetable was ‘‘designed to set challenging targets for the agencies’’.

‘‘Final completion dates for projects will only be determined when the planning process and contract negotiations have been concluded,” the department says.

Sadly, I am and have been of the opinion that this will only get worse.

[clonsilladart]

Heard Derek yesterday on the Last Word.... points well made.
T21 (as far as rail is concerned) is beginning to look more and more like pie in the sky.

Just one thing, i noticed Matt used the "Platform 11" name to introduce you.....

[ACustomer]

A statement issued by the Department of Transport explained that the original timetable was ‘‘designed to set challenging targets for the agencies’’.

Marvellous! A perfect example of the lying spin-doctor's black art!

[Colm Moore]

A statement issued by the Department of Transport explained that the original timetable was ‘‘designed to set challenging targets for the agencies’’.

=We put in blindly optimistic dates because there was an election coming up and matched them with some wild guesses.

[Peter FitzPatrick]

The Department of Transport has also conceded that there is no operable date for a joining of the two Luas lines in Dublin city centre, following concerns expressed by Dublin Bus about the impact on bus traffic. The link-up was due to be finished next year.

They can delay that one in to oblivion for all I care. Expensive pile of RPA nonsense.

Delays seem to be on the rail side, all interurban mortorways are either on time or ahead of schedule. Priorities.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Peter FitzPatrick

Delays seem to be on the rail side, all interurban mortorways are either on time or ahead of schedule.

Well insofar as they were all meant to be finished at the end of 2006 ....

[Brian Condron]

Originally Posted by Victor

Well insofar as they were all meant to be finished at the end of 2006 ....

Where does this 2006 figure that is thrown around come from? To the best of my knowledge, the original plan was for a series of by-passes around the country's biggest bottle necks. Then a few years ago the plan was changed to have brand new motorways/hqdcs between the major urban centres. Is the 2006 figure the one for completing all the by-passes?

Anyway, we have been building roads at a phenomenal rate in this country, I can't see how we could have built them any quicker. There are only so many road construction contractors in Europe, let alone Ireland.

[Mark Gleeson]

Well by 2006 we should have had the Metro to Dublin Airport and would be just starting to dig for the line to Navan. Kildare route project would be half done etc

Every single rail project is running late, they all started late due to planning issues which in all cases relate to the minister either not signing the order in reasonable time or the DoT demanding a scale back before committing

[Peter FitzPatrick]

Originally Posted by Victor

Well insofar as they were all meant to be finished at the end of 2006 ....

True Victor, the inter-urbans were part of the last National Development Plan. It was fairly clear early on there wasn't a chance that deadline could be met once the land acquisition process started & fairly quickly ran in to a brick wall, never mind swans & snails.

The point is we are building a national motorway network in 5 years, & despite the usual guff about delays from media etc. that is pretty damn fast.

In the mean time, on the rail side, we have two luas lines & a slow renewal of rolling stock / signalling.

It’s clear what Government policy is; pay lip service to rail, build roads like the clappers.

Even in a so called bad year, Government will turn a surplus of 6 billion euro this December; essentially they are building our infrastructure out of change in Cowen's back pocket.

Why they cannot borrow & accelerate the rail agenda with even a portion of the vigour constructing the motorway network receives is beyond me. There is no reason, financial or otherwise, why Government can't do the same for rail as they are doing for roads, both could move forward in tandem if the will was there.