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The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, has laboured mightily on a strategic review of the State's railway system and brought forth something of a mouse. When all the grandiose language and political aspirations are stripped away, the short term result will be a continuation of existing rail policies, with investment levels remaining largely unchanged and the focus of development fixed firmly on the Dublin commuter belt.

New regional services, with the exception of a Cork commuter link, are likely to remain aspirational for at least a decade, under the 20-year strategy that was published yesterday.