Transport 21 - by 22?

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.

Sunday Business Post

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