The proposed DART underground project now won't happen until after 2042, the National Transport Authority has said.
It comes after the NTA today unveiled its draft transport strategy for the greater Dublin area for the next 20 years.
The long-promised MetroLink project also won't be completed until the 2030s under the €25 billion plan, meaning it won't be operational for at least 10 years.
Today's strategy represents a significant increase of the price tag for the proposed transport projects - the previous twenty-year transport strategy for the capital (published in 2016) had an estimated cost of €10.3 billion.
The new plan pledges a focus on public transport that is “proofed against the potential impacts arising from climate change”.
Extending the Luas to Bray, Finglas, Lucan and Poolbeg and the MetroLink are among the projects now listed for 2031-2042.
DART services would be extended to Kilcock, Naas and Wicklow under the plan.
However, plans for the DART underground - aimed at linking Heuston Station and Pearse Station - have been pushed back even further.
Plans for the project have been revived a number of times after previously being put in “deep freeze”.
The NTA now says the project - dubbed the DART+ Tunnel - will be needed in the future, but only the ‘planning and design’ phase is listed for 2031-2042.
The plan suggests plans for that project can be “brought forward if required by emerging transport patterns”.
Today’s MetroLink announcement confirms the news from earlier this year that plans for the metro line - aimed at connecting Swords and Dublin Airport to the city centre and Charlemont - have been pushed beyond the initial target date of 2027.
DART underground delay
Anne Graham, chief executive of the NTA, told The Pat Kenny Show the DART underground is one of the projects that didn't make the cut for the next two decades.
She explained: “If we just look at the DART underground tunnel, we are undertaking a significant extension of the DART, through the DART+ programme - and further extending it to Kilcock and Wicklow as well.
“When we assessed the DART underground tunnel, because we have the Phoenix Park tunnel… we do now have a connection between the western rail and northern/southern rail lines.
“We have estimated the additional benefit to be provided by the DART underground tunnel will not be required in the next 20 years, but will be required after that.”
Mrs Graham said MetroLink remains a “key part” of the strategy, and a lot of planning work has already happened - with hopes they’ll be able to apply for planning permission next year.
She explained: “We would have in the original plan an extension of the metro to Sandyford.
“But having reviewed that again, we’re proposing post-2042 that a new Luas line from the city centre to Sandyford via UCD would take off the future passenger congestion on the Green Line.
“It’s not required in the 20 years of this current strategy.”
The Luas extension timeline, meanwhile, will depend on whether funding is available.
Mrs Graham said the Dublin area transport strategy is reviewed every six years, following the strategy previously approved in 2016.
She said the increased €25bn price tag of this strategy is down to “updated costs” following the work done so far on the BusConnects, DART+ and MetroLink “megaprojects”.
