Rail body is 'not surprised' by Metro findings

The Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) has said it is "not disappointed and not surprised" by a Oireachtas committee's recommendation that a body other than it should oversee the mooted Metro project for Dublin.

The chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Mr Eoin Ryan TD, said an individual was needed to oversee the Metro "over and above the RPA".

However, a spokesman for the RPA last night said the agency believed the Government was satisfied with its performance overseeing the Luas light rail project.

"That's their opinion, that's politics for you," the spokesman said of the committee's recommendation on who should oversee the Metro. "We would view the report as being very positive in the sense it backed our costings of the project, and the committee supports the idea of the Metro."

In a statement, the RPA added that yesterday's report was a valuable contribution to the debate on Dublin's transport systems.

"We will review the report in detail, and respond to the committee in due course. However, we welcome the report's main conclusions that the benefits of the Metro outweigh the costs, and that the cost of doing nothing is considerable in respect of benefits not achieved and of traffic congestion."

Mr Ryan said his committee had "essentially given the green light for the Metro, and clearly shown that it is a viable option".

"In morning rush-hour the Metro could handle around 48,000 passengers. That's five times as many as Luas and buses combined, so we must proceed."

The committee concluded the proposed Metro system between St Stephen's Green and Dublin Airport would "provide benefits in excess of costs and is, therefore, viable". It also accepted that the population of Swords would double, and recommended the Metro be extended to Swords.