Transport 21-Infrastructure Development in Ireland

In recent decades Ireland has developed from a country on the brink of bankruptcy to being one of the richest nations in Europe. Economic prosperity has brought about massive changes in Ireland, but in some regards Ireland still falls behind its European neighbors. Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen aims to address these issues with a blueprint for the future development of infrastructure in Ireland, Transport 21. In the words of Martin Cullen, the plan in full will reshape Irish transport infrastructure for the decades to come.

Transport 21 is a capital investment by the Irish Government aimed at vastly improving the transport systems in Ireland which in turn will improve accessibility for everybody in Ireland, and lead to more investment in the country. The Projects for Transport 21 are too numerous to mention here. Among the biggest projects are the Metro North, Metro West, extensions to both Luas lines, rail lines to Kildare and Navan, extensive plans for a rural railway system and the upgrade of all major routes out of Dublin to motorway standard.

The Metro North will be a completely new line, running from St Stephen's Green in Dublin City Center to Swords via Dublin Airport. Dublin Airport is the only International Airport in Europe without a rail link. The Metro North will use a combination of underground, surface and elevated tracks and it is estimated that once it is finished, that it will carry more than 34 million passengers annually. The estimated travel time from St Stephen's Green to Dublin Airport is 17 minutes with trains running at intervals between 4 minutes and 90 seconds. The line will service a total of 15 stops and once completed will add greatly to the infrastructure of Dublin.

The Metro South line will travel from Tallaght in West Dublin to meet up with the North Line near Dublin Airport. The final route has not been decided yet, but it is estimated that the line will be 28 kilometers long and will run above surface in much the same manner as the Luas tram system that is already operating in Dublin.

Without doubt the Transport 21 plan is an ambitious project, and one that if brought to completion will greatly improve the infrastructure of the whole of Ireland. There have been opposition against the Transport 21 plan in Ireland, but on the whole it is a popular initiative.