By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — The Irish government has approved a £4.3 million metro rail line system for Dublin.
Public Enterprise Minister Mary O’Rourke said last week that the line would be developed as a public/private partnership and should be completed in 2016.
There will be about 70 kilometers of rail line, with about 14 kilometers underground.
The first step will be three light railway systems, called LUAS, approved in May 1998.
Work on LUAS is due to begin in September and be completed in 2003. All three lines will eventually be integrated into the new metro system.
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When completed, the metro would connect the center of the city with the airport, Swords, Tallaght, Blanchardstown and Bray.
"I think Dublin is about the only capital city that I know of throughout the advanced world that hasn’t got a properly researched and resourced public transport system," O’Rourke said.
Peak hour trips in the city grew by 78,000, or 45 percent, between 1991 and 1997, according to the Public Enterprise department. Private car commuting accounted for 71,000 of those trips.
By 2016 total peak hour trips are forecast to be 488,000, a 95 percent increase on the 1997 level.
The metro is forecast to carry 56,000 passengers per hour, compared to 5,000 on buses and 6,500 on the light rail system