Ireland Transport in 2026 – Where €24.3 Billion is Being Invested

Ireland’s transport system is receiving the largest investment in the history of the State. The Government’s Sectoral Investment Plan for Transport commits €24.3 billion between 2026 and 2030 – covering metro construction, rail electrification, bus network redesign, motorway upgrades, greenways and walking and cycling infrastructure. At the same time, public transport ridership has hit a record 363.5 million journeys, road deaths are at their highest level in over a decade and the transport sector has blown through its first carbon budget ceiling.

This article breaks down the numbers behind Ireland’s transport investment, tracks what is actually being delivered and examines whether the money is moving fast enough to close the gap between ambition and reality. For a detailed overview of how Ireland’s transport network is structured and how it developed over time, see our pillar guide to transport infrastructure in Ireland.

💰 The €24.3 Billion Plan – Where the Money is Going

The 2026-2030 Sectoral Investment Plan, published in November 2025, allocates €22.3 billion across public transport, active travel, roads, maritime and aviation. An additional €2 billion from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund is ring-fenced specifically for MetroLink, bringing the total to €24.3 billion.

The split between public transport and roads has shifted compared to earlier plans. When the Green Party was in government, the ratio was approximately 2:1 in favour of public transport. The current plan is closer to even, reflecting the influence of the Independent group of TDs in the coalition. Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien has argued that the plan still represents the largest number of public transport projects ever being delivered in a five-year period, while recognising that roads remain critical for connectivity, safety and economic development outside the major cities.

🚇 The Mega-Projects – MetroLink, DART+ and BusConnects

Three programmes dominate the public transport investment pipeline. Together they will reshape how people move in and between Irish cities – if they are delivered on time.

MetroLink is the single most significant project. The 18.8-kilometre automated metro line will run from Swords through Dublin Airport to Charlemont in south Dublin, with 16 stations. The Railway Order was granted in late 2025 and procurement for the major civil infrastructure contracts (M401 and M402) began in February 2026. Two tunnel boring machines will excavate through glacial tills and alluvial soils to depths of 30 metres. TII has assembled a delivery team led by Turner and Townsend and WSP, with construction expected to start in late 2027 and services in the mid-2030s.

DART+ will expand and electrify Dublin’s commuter rail across multiple routes – westward to Maynooth (DART+ West), southward on the Kildare line (DART+ Southwest) and northward toward Drogheda (DART+ Coastal North). Railway Orders have been received for all three. The programme includes a new Spencer Dock station, a new depot and replacement of the entire DART train fleet, with new hybrid battery-electric trains expected on the northern line from Q2 2027.

BusConnects is redesigning bus networks across all five cities. In Dublin, all 12 Core Bus Corridor schemes have planning approval, delivering 230 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes and over 200 kilometres of cycle tracks. Construction on the first corridor (Ballymun/Finglas to city centre) is planned for Q3 2026. Cork’s new network launches in 2026 with a 50% increase in service levels. Galway, Limerick and Waterford are at earlier stages. For a detailed breakdown of these projects, see our guide to public transport in Ireland.

🚋 Luas and Regional Rail

The Luas tram system carried 55 million passengers in 2025 across its 67 stops and 42.5 kilometres of track. Luas Finglas – the next extension – received planning permission in October 2025 and will add 3.9 kilometres and four new stops, serving approximately 56,000 people. TII’s Luas 2050 vision proposes further extensions to Bray, Lucan and Poolbeg, plus two circular lines around Dublin’s outskirts. A Luas-style system for Cork was re-announced in April 2025.

Outside Dublin, the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme is targeting Phase 1 completion by Q4 2026, with Phase 2 from 2029. The Western Rail Corridor (Athenry to Claremorris) is expected to begin construction in 2028. Station upgrades at Galway Ceannt Station and Waterford Plunkett Station are underway, and the Navan rail line is progressing through planning.

🛣️ Roads – €1.5 Billion in 2026 Alone

The Government allocated over €1.5 billion for roads in Ireland in 2026 – a 13% increase on 2025. Approximately €800 million covers the national road network through TII, while €718 million funds regional and local roads, enabling approximately 2,800 kilometres to be maintained and 2,330 kilometres to be improved.

Major road projects currently under construction include the Adare Bypass, the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge and the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy. The motorway network at 916 kilometres is largely complete for Dublin-to-cities connections, but significant gaps remain in the northwest. The Donegal TEN-T Project, the Slane Bypass and the Galway City Bypass are all in the pipeline for 2026-2030, alongside €9.7 billion total for roads over the five-year period.

🚶 Active Travel – €360 Million Per Year

Active travel funding has grown from approximately €45 million in 2019 to €360 million in 2026 – an eightfold increase in seven years. This is now locked in at €360 million annually through to 2030. The 2026 allocation splits into €290 million for NTA-managed urban projects (almost 1,000 schemes), €62 million for greenways through TII and €8 million for behavioural change programmes. Over 1,000 kilometres of infrastructure have been delivered in five years, with 200 kilometres targeted for 2026.

📈 363.5 Million Journeys – Record Public Transport Ridership

Public transport usage hit a new all-time high in 2025. Preliminary NTA figures show 363.5 million passenger journeys across all publicly supported services – up 6% on 2024’s then-record 343.6 million. Usage now comfortably exceeds pre-pandemic levels across every operator.

In Dublin, 58.3% of all morning rush hour commuters entering the city centre now use public transport – the highest proportion ever recorded. Private car use for city centre commutes has fallen to just 25.3%, down from nearly 40% in 2010. When walking and cycling are included, 74% of all city centre journeys are made by sustainable modes.

The TFI 90-minute fare was used 29.8 million times by bus passengers in 2024, demonstrating the impact of free transfers between bus, DART and Luas. Three new demand-responsive TFI Anseo pilot services launched in Achill, Killarney and Limerick, bringing app-based flexible transport to areas with no fixed routes. Across the wider network, 37 new and enhanced services were introduced under the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan.

✈️ Aviation and Maritime

Just under 41 million passengers used the five main Irish airports in 2024, a 5% rise on the previous year. Dublin Airport handles approximately 84% of all commercial flights, with Cork and Shannon serving regional and transatlantic traffic. The Sectoral Investment Plan commits €44.6 million under a new Regional Airports Programme 2026-2030, covering safety, security and sustainability at regional airports including Ireland West Knock, Kerry and Donegal.

Maritime investment focuses on the €145 million Coast Guard building programme and replacement of the ILV Granuaile. Dublin Port handles the majority of freight and passenger traffic, with Rosslare serving UK and continental routes.

🌍 The Emissions Crisis – Transport Has Blown Its Carbon Budget

Despite record ridership and growing investment, the transport sector remains Ireland’s most stubborn emissions problem. The Climate Change Advisory Council’s 2025 Annual Review found that Ireland overshot its 2021-2025 national carbon budget of 295 million tonnes by approximately 10 million tonnes. Transport and agriculture, which collectively account for around 55% of Irish emissions, are where progress has been slowest.

The transport sector’s own emissions ceiling for 2021-2025 was exceeded by an estimated 4 million tonnes. SEAI data shows that since September 2025, the transport sector has effectively been emitting against its future allocations in the 2026-2030 budget. That second budget has a ceiling of just 200 million tonnes – and the excess from the first period carries forward, making it even harder to meet.

The consequences of failure are not abstract. The Climate Change Advisory Council estimates that non-compliance costs could range from €8 billion to €26 billion. Fossil fuel subsidies in Ireland totalled €4.7 billion in 2024. The renewable energy share in transport was just 7.6% in 2023, against a 2030 EU target of 29%. Carbon tax on auto fuels increased to €71 per tonne in Budget 2026, with a legislated trajectory to €100 per tonne by 2030.

Transport emissions in the first half of 2025 were 2% lower than the same period in 2024, driven partly by record biofuel blending and growing EV numbers. But the EPA projects that even with full implementation of current policies, the transport sector will achieve only a 35% emissions reduction over 2021-2030 – well short of the 50% target set in the sectoral emissions ceiling.

⚠️ Road Safety – Moving in the Wrong Direction

Road safety is the other area where the trend line is deeply concerning. A total of 185 people lost their lives on Irish public roads in 2025 – up 8% from 171 in 2024 and the highest figure in over a decade. Pedestrians accounted for 22% of fatalities, motorcyclists 16% and cyclists 8%. The number of cyclists killed was the highest since 2017 and motorcyclist fatalities the worst since 2007. Almost three in four road deaths between 2020 and 2024 occurred on rural roads with speed limits of 80 km/h or higher.

Ireland’s Road Safety Strategy targets halving fatalities by 2030 under the Vision Zero framework, but Phase 1 (2021-2024) saw deaths rise rather than fall. The planned national default of 30 km/h in urban areas has been watered down from a mandatory standard to an optional system where councils vote on adoption. The 2026 road funding allocation includes €14 million for 280 low-cost safety projects targeting vulnerable road users.

🏗️ The Delivery Challenge

The biggest risk to Ireland’s transport ambitions is not funding – it is execution. Planning timelines remain lengthy despite reforms through the Planning and Development Act 2024. Major projects routinely spend years in consultation, environmental assessment and judicial review before construction starts.

Labour shortages are acute. MetroLink, DART+, BusConnects, the Western Rail Corridor and multiple road projects will all compete for the same pool of engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and construction workers. The KPMG Infrastructure Outlook for 2026 noted that complex programmes increasingly require earlier supply-chain engagement and more sophisticated commercial risk allocation.

Cost escalation is a persistent threat. Department of Transport officials have acknowledged that the 2026 budget did not allow enough for new public transport services, and the tension between capital investment in new infrastructure and revenue funding for ongoing operations remains unresolved.

The Government’s Moving Together strategy, published in March 2026, sets out a collaborative cross-government approach to reducing congestion – estimated to cost approximately €330 million per year in Dublin alone, projected to rise to €1.5 billion per year by 2040. Congestion in Cork and Galway costs approximately €100 million per year each.

Ireland’s population is projected to reach 6.1 million by 2040 under the revised National Planning Framework. The transport network must grow to match. With €24.3 billion committed across every mode, the question is no longer ambition – it is whether the system can convert funding into finished infrastructure fast enough to make a difference.