Ireland’s new transport strategy pushes measures back by 20 years

A new strategy set out by Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) has pushed some planned measures back by 20 years and detailed an extra €25 billion over the same period.

The strategy, published for public consultation on Tuesday, postpones the development of an underground extension of Dublin’s Dart commuter rail system and installing metro lines in the south and west of the city for at least two decades.

The Greater Dublin Area’s Transport Strategy has also ballooned in cost, according to the new plans. Previously set at €10.3 billion, the new strategy places it at €25 billion over 20 years.

Among the other proposals are provisions for boosting cycling and pedestrian infrastructure and electrifying buses and trains in the capital, but the plan has drawn widespread criticism from opposition parties.

Lawmaker Paul Murphy of People Before Profit said the government had “failed at the first hurdle with regards to reaching the targets that were set out in the Climate Action Plan, which they launched just last week.”

The plan set out sector-specific goals for emissions reductions, with a 42-50% reduction target for the transport industry. “There is no time left for any delay”, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said at the plan’s launch.

Catherine Murphy of the Social Democrats said the new strategy was an “abdication of a responsibility to deliver” on climate targets and that it was “more than a disappointment”.

The extended timeline of the plans was a “grave disappointment”, added Labour lawmaker Ivana Bacik, calling for greater detail from the government on how emissions reductions targets would now be met.

(Molly Killeen | EURACTIV.com)