Dublin tunnel set to miss revised deadline

Dublin Port Tunnel will not open to traffic by its revised deadline of next March or April, it has emerged. Minister of State for Transport Ivor Callely said yesterday he expected it to be ready by May.

Mr Callely was responding to claims by Fine Gael transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell that the tunnel would not open "until this time next year" and would cost more than €1 billion.

Addressing the Oireachtas committee on transport yesterday, Ms Mitchell said she had reliable information about the latest delay.

She said her "worst fears" that the project would cost €1 billion would now be realised. At €1 billion, it would work out at "€200 million per kilometre, the most expensive piece of infrastructure in Europe".

However Mr Callely told The Irish Times that while there would be a delay, it would not be as long or as costly as Ms Mitchell claimed.

After the transport committee meeting, he said he was determined to get the tunnel open "as soon as possible". He had been assured by the project managers that the delay to the opening date could be kept to May.

"I have been assured by the contractors that the construction work will be completed by January and after testing we could have an opening in May."

He added that the situation in relation to the cost of the tunnel was still under negotiation.

"I have certain contractual agreements and I intend to hold people to them. I fully intend to keep my foot on the pedal in relation to this, and while it is true that more time was wanted I am going to keep that to an absolute minimum."

Ms Mitchell made her remarks as she listened to a presentation from Frank Allen of the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) on the development of the proposed Dublin airport metro.

Mr Allen had warned the committee that he had been told by Spanish construction advisers that the way to save time was not to involve the public in consultation and not to have an environmental impact statement. It was, he said, advice he would reject.

However he warned the members that "we cannot deliver metro at the cost and pace that it is done in Madrid because that is a very different situation on the ground".

There would be disruption, particularly during the excavation of 250sq m "boxes" for the metro stations, even if most of the work would take place underground.

Mr Allen said the route he was working on was from the city centre to the Mater hospital area, to Ballymun and on to the airport and possibly Swords. It made no sense to build the metro to the airport alone, and the current plans should be seen as only "phase one of the metro plan".

He said the RPA expected the public consultation phase to take three years and the construction phase a further four years.

Ms Mitchell said she thought the development of the metro would "take at least 10 years".