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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
GDA seeks ₹2,400 cr for 21 infrastructure projects
Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has submitted a list of 21 infrastructure projects to the Uttar Pradesh housing and urban planning department and sought ₹2,441.9 crore as funds for their execution, officials said Wednesday. Officials said a demand was raised to seek funds under the 16th Finance Commission. The list of projects includes demand for funds for major projects like the Metro extension from Sector 62, Noida to Sahibabad, for construction of slip roads of the Hindon elevated road; for multi-level automated parking in Raj Nagar District Centre; for redevelopment and beautification of 124 acres of city forest at Karhera; and for development of different zonal plan roads, among other facilities. 'The list of 21 projects and the funds required has been sent to state officials. The GDA has only sought the construction costs involved, and the land costs would be borne by the authority,' said GDA media coordinator Rudresh Shukla. The discussions about funds were held during a video conference on May 14, officials said. Senior UP housing board officials recently visited Ghaziabad, and sought construction of two slip roads to join the 10.3 kilometre (km) Hindon elevated road. Under the plan, the GDA has proposed to build two ramps on the Hindon Elevated Road - an entry ramp in Indirapuram on the carriageway from Raj Nagar Extension to UP Gate and an exit ramp in Vasundhara on the carriageway from UP Gate to Raj Nagar Extension. The GDA has sought ₹200 crore funds to execute the project. As regards the Metro extension, the plans have been underway since 2020, but the denial of funding by the state government has hindered the project. In January 2020, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) submitted two detailed project reports (DPRs) to GDA -- one of ₹1,517 crore for the Sector 62 to Sahibabad route, and the other of ₹1,808.22 crore for the Vaishali to Mohan Nagar route. In 2023, the authority decided to go ahead with the Sector 62 to Sahibabad route. The UP government had denied funds for the link in January 2023. Later, in May 2023, it again declined the authority's request for 50% funding for the proposed Metro Link. In January 2024, the DMRC submitted revised cost estimates of ₹1,873.31 crore for this route. The GDA in its list has now sought funds of ₹1,873.31 crore for the Metro extension. 'Since GDA has limited funds, it has sought funding for these 21 projects from the Centre's 16th Finance Commission. The authority, with a lot of effort, was able to settle its two major loans amounting to about ₹1,500 crore in April. So, we now intend to go ahead with these projects,' Shukla added.
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Dublin is the only large European capital without a metro: what would Leopold Bloom make of that?
Ireland's planning body, An Bord Pleanála, will determine later this year the fate of an ambitious proposal to build the country's first underground railway. Residents of the Irish capital won't be holding their breath, however. Since it was first proposed 25 years ago, MetroLink has been cancelled, revived and rebranded. The latest version of the plan, which involves just 18.8km of track, has been subject to delays, costs that have spiralled to five times the original estimate, and fierce opposition from homeowners, heritage bodies and businesses. A wide-awake city of tech firms, theatres and tourist attractions, Dublin is one of the EU's richest metropolitan areas; it is also the only large western European capital without a metro. No Dubliner would have been more frustrated with the situation's absurdities, and MetroLink's slow progress, than Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of James Joyce's Ulysses. Transport is never far from Bloom's thoughts as he traverses the city on 16 June 1904. His wife Molly's infidelity, the death of his friend Paddy Dignam, and fatherhood are uppermost in the advertising canvasser's mind, but he also repeatedly ruminates on a plan to build 'a tramline along the North Circular from the cattle market to the quays'. What begins as a passing observation about the scheme's likely impact on property prices near his home on Eccles Street becomes a fully fledged policy proposal by the day's end. Ulysses is a peripatetic story. For 17 or so hours, Bloom walks across Dublin, encountering friends, acquaintances and foes. From his 'sober' morning stroll down Westland Row, where he meets the disreputable CP M'Coy, to the 'parallel courses' that he and the inebriated poet Stephen Dedalus follow from Beresford Place to Eccles Street, Bloom covers nearly nine miles on foot. It is little wonder how tired he is by the time he climbs into bed next to Molly. A first-rate flâneur, Bloom is also a keen student of Dublin transport, which continually vexes him. On Westland Row, he is distracted from M'Coy's tedious talk by a white-stockinged woman leaving the Grosvenor hotel. When a 'heavy tramcar honking its gong' obscures his line of sight, Bloom curses the driver's 'noisy pugnose'. Later that evening, the adman witnesses a drunken altercation between Dedalus and his disloyal companion, Buck Mulligan, at Westland Row station. Concerned for Dedalus's safety, Bloom follows the young man to Nighttown, but the good samaritan misses his stop. By the time Bloom reaches Dublin's red-light district, Dedalus is about to have his jaw bashed in by two British soldiers. These are not the only instances in Ulysses in which the city's transport system is uncooperative. At Nelson's pillar, a hoarse-voiced timekeeper dispatches trams with great energy for Rathgar and Terenure, Sandymount Green and Palmerston Park. However, the trams soon stand motionless after a power cut. As 'Hackney cars, cabs, delivery waggons, mailvans, private broughams' and 'aerated mineral water floats' rattle by, the traffic that Bloom seeks to alleviate with his plan worsens. 'I can't make out why the corporation doesn't run a tramline from the parkgate to the quays. All those animals could be taken in trucks down to the boats,' suggests Bloom to his fellow mourners, as Dignam's funeral cortege crawls to Glasnevin cemetery. The tramline should be extended there, Bloom adds, to run 'municipal funeral trams like they have in Milan'. Bloom's passion for public works is longstanding and not surprising for a character who in his youth had considered standing for parliament and who in Joyce's imagination subscribed to 'the collective and national economic programmes' of radical Irish nationalists. Although Bloom's political fervour has waned, he remains a nationalist. To him, nationalism is not about the Irish language, which he doesn't speak, or political violence, which he abhors. It is about the opportunity to govern Ireland for the better, starting with infrastructure. In pre-independence Ireland, British power is ever present in Dublin on 16 June 1904. It is also palpably decaying. The viceregal cavalcade carrying the king's representative in Ireland through the city goes 'unsaluted' by a resident pondering whether it is quicker to get to Phibsborough 'by a triple change of tram or by hailing a car or on foot'. Here again, Dublin's system of public transport is found wanting, but the viceroy is neither interested nor empowered to act. In Nighttown, Bloom experiences a frightening phantasmagoria in which he is suddenly appointed lord mayor of Dublin. His immediate suggestion that the city builds a tramline 'from the cattlemarket to the river' provokes vigorous nods from the assembled aldermen, but the crowd soon threaten Bloom with boiling oil. Back home in Eccles Street, Bloom gives free rein to his political imagination as part of a bedtime ritual which produces 'sound repose and renovated vitality'. However, his train of thought soon circles back to what has by now become a detailed policy prospectus for the new tramline. The scheme will be funded, he suggests, by 'graziers' fees' and guaranteed by 'eminent financiers'. Ulysses's fixation with transport minutiae doesn't just provide colour and comic relief. It carries Joyce's own hopes for a new Ireland that realises its potential. Through his increasingly intricate tram scheme, Bloom symbolises the sort of progressive reformer that the writer believes can cure the country's political paralysis. Molly Bloom, in contrast, embodies Joyce's simultaneous fear that Irish politics will forever be all talk. Her husband's sermons about Sinn Féin are no more than 'trash and nonsense', she suggests. Public investment and technology have transformed Dublin for the better since 1904, but Leopold Bloom would still recognise its transport system's many deficiencies. Its cost. Its patchy coverage. Its occasional power cuts. Recent studies suggest that the Irish capital is one of the most congested cities in the world and that its public transport is among the least affordable in Europe. From London's Crossrail to the Grand Paris Express, European cities are upgrading their public transport systems, but Ireland's notoriously centralised governing structures have left its capital with limited say over its own development. An elected mayor would help, but this idea is no closer to reality than during Bloom's fevered visit to Nighttown. After 25 years of talk, MetroLink needs to see light at the end of the tunnel soon. However frustrated Bloom would have been over the project's delays, he would have nodded vigorously at its proposed route, especially the section from Glasnevin to Mater station on his own Eccles Street. Now, if only the planners insisted on livestock wagons and funeral cars, Dublin would have a scheme worthy of its most famous fictional resident and the 'world's greatest reformer'. Dermot Hodson is professor of political economy at Loughborough University and the author of Circle of Stars: A History of the EU – and the People Who Made It
The Journal
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Construction of MetroLink project may not begin until 2028, transport committee to hear
CONSTRUCTION OF THE MetroLink underground rail project in Dublin may begin as late as 2028, the National Transport Authority will tell the Oireachtas committee on transport today. The government is expected to include the MetroLink in its National Development Plan (NDP), which is being revised at the moment by Minister for Public Expenditure and NDP Delivery Jack Chambers. The committee will be told that tendering for the construction work may commence next year, as long as An Bord Pleanála approves the project and there are no delays caused by judicial reviews. Once the tendering process is complete, construction would commence 18 months later, the NTA will tell the committee. The project's director Sean Sweeney said last week that he expects some public opposition to the route and the disruption that construction will cause to traffic. He said that in the age of social media, 'two people can run a campaign' against something. Advertisement Sweeney also noted that there were riots in the streets of Amsterdam before the metro was opened there, only for it to be broadly welcomed within days of coming online. Overall though, Sweeney said he has never worked on a project with such potential benefit to the public. 'The benefits are off the scale in my view,' he said. As for the cost of the massive infrastructure project, Sweeney said it is being 'recalibrated' following delays in the planning process. In 2021, the Metrolink was estimated to cost between €7 billion and €12 billion. 'The number is going to change,' said Sweeney. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Irish Sun
26-05-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Dubliners are fed up with long commutes – Luas extension is practical solution to traffic, so stop delays & build it
WHILE the long-delayed MetroLink project connecting Dublin Airport to the city centre is now estimated to cost over €23billion, not all transport solutions have to break the bank. The 3 A Luas extension in rapidly developed Poolbeg will greatly reduce the car traffic Credit: Alamy 3 The new extension will provide a link with the red line at the Aviva Stadium Credit: Getty Images - Getty The The planning application is currently before An Bord Pleanala. The rapid development of Poolbeg, with 500 READ MORE ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT Writing in DUBLINERS are fed up with endless delays, long commutes, and half-baked plans that go nowhere. We don't need more glossy reports or vague promises. We need action, and we need it now. One obvious place to start? Extend the Luas to Poolbeg. Most read in The Irish Sun Phase 2 of the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan kicks in today. It will change how Moment TD in near-miss with Luas When I was Lord Mayor of Dublin, Phase 1 launched. People were sceptical at first, and that's fair. Big changes always make people nervous. But it worked. Journey times for public transport fell by 20 per cent. Public transport use went up by 11 per cent. Footfall in city centre businesses increased. Car traffic dropped by 60 per cent in just a month. That's proof. A less car-heavy city can work — and actually work better. But plans like this are only part of the picture. If we want to build a city that works for people, we have to make sure they have real alternatives to the LUAS LINE EXTENDED PROPOSAL That's why I've been pushing hard for the Luas line to be extended from the Point to Poolbeg, through Ringsend and Irishtown. This isn't just another big idea for a press release. It's something we can actually do quickly and affordably. Here's what's happening. As part of the Dublin Port expansion, a new bridge is being built across the Liffey. The Dublin Port Company is paying for it. Crucially, they've confirmed the bridge can take a Luas line. This is what people mean when they talk about joined-up thinking. The bridge is being built anyway. The Luas line is going to be extended eventually. Why not do both at the same time? If we delay this, we'll end up tearing up the same ground twice. We'll waste money, waste time, and make the job more difficult. It's like renovating a kitchen but deciding to leave out the sink, only to come back years later to install it. 'HUGE MERIT' Minister of State at the The National Transport Authority has already asked Transport Infrastructure Ireland to get going on early-stage planning. And the Port Company's application is currently with An Bord Pleanála. If we move quickly, construction could begin within two to three years. The timing couldn't be more critical. The glass bottle site in Ringsend will soon be home to nearly 10,000 new residents. That's on top of the people already living in the area. The local population is set to double. So why wait until they're stuck in traffic and on overcrowded buses to start thinking about transport? We already know we can build Luas extensions quickly and relatively cheaply. The Luas Cross City project, longer and far more complicated than this one, was built in under four years at a cost of about €61million per kilometre. It now carries around 10million passengers a year. People said it would be too expensive. But once it opened, it proved its value. Compare that to the Don't get me wrong, the Metro is vital. But not every project has to be a megaproject. Sometimes the smaller wins are just as important. BENEFITS FOR DUBLINERS Extending the Luas to Poolbeg will have an immediate impact. It will link the red line to the It will bring more people into the city centre to work, shop, and enjoy what Dublin has to offer. It will connect families and young people to the new Children's Hospital, Heuston Station and the This is the kind of practical, common-sense investment that makes a city better to live in for everyone. It also sends the right message to the people of Dublin and to the companies building this infrastructure. It shows that the government is serious about delivering. And when the government provides a steady pipeline of projects, it drives competition and reduces costs. Builders know what's coming and can plan ahead. That saves the taxpayer money. As a Government TD and This is not a time for indecision. The Luas to Poolbeg makes sense on every level. Let's get on with building it. 3 Poolbeg's population is set to double as housing units are rapidly being built Credit: Getty Images - Getty
Irish Times
25-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on infrastructure: stop making the same mistakes
The news that the official opening of the National Children's Hospital will be further delayed will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been observing the tortuous progress of this elephantine project. Completion of the hospital, a vital piece of the State's health infrastructure, has been delayed again until at least September, with patients now not expected to be treated there until June 2026 at the earliest. The facility has become emblematic of the apparent impossibility of delivering major capital projects on time and on budget. Concern is intensified by the fact that the Government is committed to the most extensive programme of infrastructure investment in the State's newly-appointed director of MetroLink, Sean Sweeney, has already said the underground rail line from Dublin Airport to the south-central city could cost 20 per cent more than its projected budget of ¤9.5 billion. Sweeney brings a welcome international perspective to the question of why large projects appear doomed to suffer cost overruns, delays or both. He has bluntly said MetroLink's planned completion date of 2035 will probably not be met and that there will be 'grievous' disruption to people's lives during its construction. READ MORE Such frankness is welcome. Stories such as that of the truncated HSS train line in the UK, the aborted high-speed rail link between Los Angeles and San Francisco or the decades it took to complete Berlin's Brandenburg airport, have all given fuel to accusations that the modern administrative state, and democratic systems generally, are mired in over-regulation, excessive litigation and a failure of public administration. Whether fair or not, these critiques carry a particular resonance in Ireland, where a combination of decades of under-investment and a sharp rise in population is already putting intolerable pressure on creaking infrastructure. It remains to be seen whether the reform of planning legislation introduced by the last government will improve the situation, although many observers are sceptical. A report on infrastructure last week from Ibec, the business lobby, had a range of sensible recommendations on speeding up delivery, as well as calling for a review to ensure the wider public good takes priority in planning. And planning is not the only issue. The chair of the new Oireachtas Committee on Infrastructure has said it will examine the practice of 'lowballing' on public capital projects, where estimates of cost are pitched low but the price escalates afterwards. With the benefit of Apple's tax payment and significant resources in the exchequer, the Government has an opportunity to make progress on transformational investments. But it can't just continue doing the same things and hoping for a different result.
