Hard to believe things will be different this time around as Dublin Metro gets another round on the promotional route

Remarkably, Treasury Secretary Paschal Donohoe this afternoon launched the subway project for the second time in five years.

In 2015, as Minister of Transport, he announced the Metro Nord project. At the time, cost estimates were just €2.4 billion, while the route was intended to connect St Stephen’s Green and Swords via Dublin Airport.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan today insisted that the “main reason” the subway has not yet materialized was the financial crash and the ensuing restrictions on borrowing.

The finance minister had his own list of excuses: the crash, Brexit (remember?), the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine.

“That’s how long it takes to prepare for projects of this magnitude,” said Mr. Donohoe.

“Since that moment in 2015 we have endured another major economic shock with the pandemic, we have endured the impact of Brexit on our economy and we have endured the early effects of war.”

The Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has heard in recent months that €250 million has already been spent on the subway without a single shovel going into the ground.

“I know there have been policy changes and commitments, but at some point we should take a good look at the whole project from start to finish to see what lessons can be learned from it,” said Socialist Deputy Leader Catherine Murphy. the committee.

The subway is a great example of a series of governments failing to provide a vital piece of public infrastructure. The capital urgently needs a subway.

Embarrassingly, Dublin Airport is the only major European airport without a train connection. Tourists land at the airport not knowing where to go next and rely on Google Maps to get on the right Dublin bus into the city.

The cabinet is far from giving the project the green light. Ministers approved the preliminary business plan yesterday. The subway will approach the government twice more before a decision is made on “whether” to award a contract.

Ministers are now promising that work will start in 2025 and the first trains will be operational in 2034.

Eamon Ryan’s promise of the new driverless subway system, which will run trains every three minutes, is a pipe dream. A subway line was long overdue when it was announced in 2005.

But he’s not done yet. After the tube is built, it will be extended south-west and then replicated in all other major Irish cities – Cork, Waterford, Galway and Limerick – he says.

While successive governments – with several different transport ministers promising a tube – have still not delivered, the current transport minister is now promising tubes in five major Irish cities.

After 17 years and a quarter billion euros in promises for Dublin, the mere idea of ​​subways in other cities would make your head spin.