Irish Rail and the financial crisis

[eugene]

If it really comes down to it, build the DART Interconnector before Metro North, like we always argued..

[Mickey H]

"Further targeted investment in public transport has the potential to unlock productive capacity in the economy and enhance national competitiveness. Such investment will also offer alternatives to car transport, thereby reducing emissions and enabling the transport sector to cater for the demands associated with longer term population and employment growth in a sustainable manner. Key objectives of public transport investment will be to advance public transport projects like Metro North and Dart Underground, as well as rail safety and traffic management programmes and continued planning of future priorities."

(Goverment pdf via RTE website)

This seems to me to give the impression that the projects will go ahead when there is no specific promise to do so

[Mark Gleeson]

Irish Rail will be down 5 million or so in 2011 years PSO grant which is not going to lead to serious problems.

The regional airport PSO routes are all to have funding withdrawn in 2011, this will inject a considerable number of passengers into the public transport arena and comply with EU regulations.

The change in the tax bands and rates will actually drive the taxsaver annual ticket sales as the level of savings becomes more attractive