The British government must spend £183 million over the next decade to make Northern Ireland's railway system safer, according to a report published yesterday.
The report, commissioned by the rail operator Translink, said plans must be approved to upgrade services. Northern Ireland Railways had been mainly running at adequate safety levels, but over the coming year £72 million must be spent replacing trains and £67 million relaying track, replacing six bridges and redesigning and repairing sea defences.
The document also recommended £25.5 million be spent modernising warning systems, on signalling at Castlerock and Portrush, and on the closure and upgrading of some crossings.
A further £10.8 million should be allocated to staffing, it added. The chairman of Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, which runs Translink, Ms Joan Smyth, said the improvements were "critical" for the future survival of the North's rail network.
Translink's managing director, Mr Ted Hesketh, said: "This is the most important and far-reaching report NIR has ever commissioned. We welcome the independent assessment that the railways in Northern Ireland are safe.
"However, the exercise is to look forward and ensure a safe railway in the future."
The report was given a cautious welcome by the Department of Regional Development, which announced a high-level task force to carry out its own review of the rail network.
A DRD spokesman said the task force, which will report back by the end of the July, will examine four options.
These are: whether to close down some services and change the frequency of others; how to give public transport a higher priority in public spending; finding new ways to fund public transport such as increasing the regional rate, imposing congestion charges in towns and cities or asking developers to contribute to local infrastructure; and exploring possible funding from the private sector.