Western Rail Corridor / Rail Trail Discussion

i doubt it.

"Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney confirmed that funding is available for the project, and it will be included in the National Development Plan."

"The line is in situ; there is no planning required. It will go to tender, and procurement - there are no impediments."

replicate the successful approach to Foynes reinstatement works, which effectively avoid planning, and just get on with it. Costs also very low (low 100s of millions, not high 100s of millions, or billions).

You mean the successful approach to Foynes which the C&AG found to not have been in compliance with any of the necessary procedures, with costs multiples of what was originally estimated, works expected to be completing now but no sign of that actually happening and no indication of any customers for the line?

If by the successful approach to Foynes, you mean senior officials ignoring all requirements and waving it through without any critical evaluation or basic compliance checks then yes, Canney probably is hoping to replicate that approach.

Irish Rail received 65m of funding for phase 1 in December 2022, with total project cost estimated at 150m. Yes, this was above the 100m threshold. However in March 2023, the threshold for extra levels of government oversight and approval were increased to 200m. Clearly this increase was already in works.

They're now proposing to increase that limit to 500m. Clearly they're enabling companies like Irish Rail to get on with smaller projects like this, providing they fit into wider strategic plans. Removing unnecessary planning/legal delays, public consultation, political wrangling etc. is exactly what this country desperately needs.

with costs multiples of what was originally estimated

What are you referring to? Estimated cost in 2022 were 150m. Have they ballooned to 5 or 600m?

If you have something to show that the estimated cost in 2022 were €150m then you better give it to the C&AG's office as they certainly couldn't find that when they investigated the project.

The C&AG report said "The Foynes project had an initial projected cost of €42m" and "in July 2022 proposed that financial support be provided for the phase 1 works from the land transport expenditure programme (Programme B) of Vote 31 Transport". Then "The Department’s observations were based on revised project costs submitted by Iarnród Éireann in respect of phase 1, which had increased to €104 million following receipt of tenders (i.e. around 2.5 times the previous estimate). The Department pointed out that the project had not been subject to any detailed appraisal.". In Dec 2022, the Department had to provide an additional €64m to cover Phase 1, costs increased by a factor of 2.5 in six months before work actually started.

Even Donald Trump would be embarrassed by the blatant lying (which is easily disproved) in relation to the Foynes reopening.