TRANSPORT MINISTER EAMON Ryan has said that a planning decision on the DART Plus West upgrade was due “any day soon” but that the service also needed to be introduced in other cities – mentioning Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway.

He made the comments at an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the DART service.

Ryan said people loved the quality of the DART system and that it should be provided in other cities in Ireland.

“Dublin will grow if Cork grows too, and it’s an investment into the future,” he said, arguing it would provide “balanced regional development”.

Asked about the transport plan for Dublin, Ryan said it was needed to “make the city work for everyone”.

“It will take a period of time to introduce all the measures, that will allow buses to get through the city really quickly and make the public transport system work for everyone,” he said.

“So we’re waiting to see what Dublin City Council say but I’m hopeful it will be able to proceed with the plan. It is a pathfinder project which was designed to show we can do things quickly, a delay would not serve the people of Dublin.

“I know the council have already expressed that view, but we hope to get a decision from the city manager as well and that we will go ahead in August as planned.”

He made the comments at an event to mark 40 years of the DART service in operation, which he said provided a reason to “celebrate public transport”.

Ryan said he remembered when it was first introduced, people criticised it as a “Rolls-Royce service that the city wouldn’t be able to afford”.

He said that, “we couldn’t afford not to have it now,” and that people in Dublin “really respect this service”.