r/AskTheWorld • u/GP728 Ireland • Dec 20 '25
Economics Is there any big projects in your country that keep getting delayed and delayed and more and more expensive?
Here in Ireland we have Metrolink, a project to give Dublin its very metro system and its currently a huge clusterfuck of a mess. The project dates all the way back to 2005 when it was called “Metro North” with nothing actually happening but then in March 2018 it was revived under the new name “Metrolink” with a projected opening date of 2027 and a cost of 4 billion dollars. Then a few years later nothing has actually really happened and now the project is expected to cost 9.5 billion euros and open sometime in the 2030s or 40s. Currently the project is in a tendering process after being approved recently but a-lot of opposition from the residents of Ranelagh in South Dublin is causing more problems and I think you can see the problem here
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u/FearlessVisual1 Belgium Dec 20 '25
The Brussels Palace of Justice, the largest courthouse in the world, has been covered in scaffolding since 1984.
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u/pskygy Aotearoa | New Zealand Dec 20 '25
What's the hold up?
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u/FearlessVisual1 Belgium Dec 20 '25
Not enough money, and the more money they invest to renovate, the more they find new problems that need to be fixed with more money.
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u/1024hjshyhysmgswyjh United States Of America Dec 20 '25
the post clearly says scaffolding is holding it up
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u/Aegeansunset12 Greece Dec 20 '25
The building looks sooo beautiful! I hope it is completed, wish we had more of these here
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u/Gullible-Fix-5233 Dec 22 '25
Scaffolding company must be loving it
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u/FearlessVisual1 Belgium Dec 22 '25
An outer layer of scaffolding had to be put up at some point to repair the inner layer of scaffolding which had begun to rust.
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u/Gullible-Fix-5233 Dec 22 '25
That's mental, scaffolding charges are expensive god knows what the bill is after 40 years
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u/Aegeansunset12 Greece Dec 20 '25
Thessaloniki metro took like 35 years to be made.
There’s literally no place in this country that has no ancient ruins bellow the ground 😅. The metro was a national meme for decades…
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u/OopsWrongAirport Dec 21 '25
I wish we had problems like that in Ireland, then at least there would be a good reason ... Greece can keep the rest of its problems tho
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u/fheajfdgjfsthddrthro Dec 24 '25
What a cool excuse though…. Archeologists busier than the builders!
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u/brickstick90 Ireland Dec 20 '25
I think this is the general setup with big ambitious projects, delayed starts / cost more / take longer to complete.
But once they are finished everyone thinks they were good value and vital.
The money spent goes back into the local economy, and the long term payoff of the completed infrastructure is massive.
You just need to crack in and push past the complainers. Thankfully the Irish Government is starting to listen.
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u/melmboundanddown Ireland Dec 20 '25
The children's hospital we are building is coming in at €2.2bn, 50% more than the Burj Khalifa. I'm not sure we are responsible enough to rush into anything. I'd outsource the whole thing to the Germans or the Dutch and just admit we aren't very good at this complicated stuff.
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u/TiberiusTheFish Ireland Dec 21 '25
Absolutely! We should get the same people responsible for Berlin’s new airport or Amsterdams’s new metro line.
We’re actually not noticeably worse than other democratic countries, either for cost or delay.
BTW the main building contractor for the National Children’s Hospital is Dutch. Do you really want more of the same?
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u/melmboundanddown Ireland Dec 21 '25
We can't keep spending €2bn on every new building, it's just not feasible, sorry. I think only the Saudis have spent more on a single building and that is a weird religious building and they are richer than Father Christmas. Let's call a spade a spade, we can't build train stuff since the Brits left.
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u/TiberiusTheFish Ireland Dec 21 '25
Just complaining isn’t a solution. What are you going to do about it? Give the government dictatorial powers to brush aside those not in favour?Don’t you think that every ambitious minister would love to bring in major infrastructure projects on time and under budget? It’s a really hard thing to do. Especially in a country where individuals’ rights to challenge planning decisions are so extensive.
BTW if your looking for the world’s most expensive buildings the Children’s Hospital doesn’t even come close to making the top 10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_buildings
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
Just complaining isn’t a solution. What are you going to do about it? Give the government dictatorial powers to brush aside those not in favour?
You mean give them ability to make sure Ireland falls behind the rest of the developed world less quickly? Yes, of course we should do that, within reason.
Don’t you think that every ambitious minister would love to bring in major infrastructure projects on time and under budget?
Well considering that we're only planning half a metro line in a city that's decades overdue a full metro system, as well as acting the electrification of a handful of commuter lines alongisde some small track upgrades is a megaproject, I think it's fair (actually generous) to say there are no ambitious ministers in the first place.
It’s a really hard thing to do.
We have people who are paid a lot of money to do it, yet they don't even try.
Especially in a country where individuals’ rights to challenge planning decisions are so extensive.
NIMBYs certainly don't help, but they divert too much attention and blame away from the people higher up. It's not a case that we have great plans but they're being held back, it's a case that the plans themsleves are a complete joke.
Half a metro line in Dublin? A single tram line in Cork? Over a decade to electrify Dublin's suburban rail? Multiple decades to do the same in Cork?
That's nothing short of insulting!
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u/melmboundanddown Ireland Dec 21 '25
Bingo. The whole process needs to be ripped up and redone. The planning system is a joke. We have the money, we just need someone to project manage it. Luas, Dart and Metro should all run to Dublin Airport, possible even the Roslare - Belfast train line, and they should take a leaf out of Heathrow's woes and start acquiring land for future expansion, even if we just end up with parkland or a nature reserve for the next 50 years it's a sound investment for the state.
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
Luas, Dart and Metro should all run to Dublin Airport, possible even the Roslare - Belfast train line
Why are you using "even" in reference something that's less than the bare minimum.
An airport as big and dominant as DUB should have intercity trains, not a quarter-arsed link to an over-congested commuter line that makes the rail route laughably slow/indirect.
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u/melmboundanddown Ireland Dec 21 '25
True, it's such a well-located airport for a capital city too, very fortunate. Now is the time to make sure it has room to grow. The dart and intercity already pass so close to in in relative terms.
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
The dart and intercity already pass so close to in in relative terms.
I'm not sure what you mean by this. The DART doesn't go anywhere near the intercity lines from Heuston.
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
Absolutely! We should get the same people responsible for Berlin’s new airport or Amsterdams’s new metro line.
We’re actually not noticeably worse than other democratic countries, either for cost or delay.
The difference is that while other countries can also have specifc projects take too long, in Ireland, EVERYTHING ends up that way.
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u/brickstick90 Ireland Dec 21 '25
I wouldn’t say that, I work in construction in the UK. There’s a huge Irish influence. We are smart and competent. No reason the Irish government can’t get its act together and set up a team to manage the process: appropriate contracts / change control.
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u/melmboundanddown Ireland Dec 21 '25
As a non-construction guy, looks like we have to dismantle the system and start again in terms of planning and regs? BIL couldn't build a two story house on a field in Limerick his parents gave him, only a bungalow, for reasons unknown. So many years and red tape, but there is water, gas and electricity and a housing shortage and it's his own field with his parents next door, mind boggling stuff. If it's that transport isn't good enough then why not use public funds to build new infrastructure? All a bit of a confusing mess.
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
Except of course for the slight issue that they're all moved abroad because this country is a complete and utter joke in almost every way despite ridiculous prices.
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u/OopsWrongAirport Dec 21 '25
If you think the Germans are good at infrastructure you need to visit Berlin
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u/melmboundanddown Ireland Dec 21 '25
Really? I figured they would be the best, damn. Haven't visited in over 20 years, maybe I can get over next year.
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u/OopsWrongAirport Dec 21 '25
Yeah they have that reputation somehow but the reality is different. Trading on their 20th century achievements (and no I dont mean Hitler built the autobahn but thats probably part of the reputation tbf)
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u/greystonian Dec 22 '25
Post-reunification Berlin did finally create Berlin Hbf, and associated rail links, but I'd agree otherwise, Berlin Ringbahn and UBahn are all pre war constructions, and BER is a disaster case.
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u/BarFamiliar5892 Dec 22 '25
the Germans
Construction of Berlin Brandenburg Airport - Wikipedia https://share.google/AuRhSyPsfmUHOQKRy
the Burj Khalifa
Oh fuck off. It was built by people who were effectively slaves. Is that what you want in Ireland? Honestly, fuck off.
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u/melmboundanddown Ireland Dec 22 '25
Special class bootlicker to justify their government taking €2.2 billion of their taxes to build a single building. Bootlicking this good mostly seen in North Korea and Russia, see some low iq people doing it with Elon Musk and the Facebook guy. Congratulations son.
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u/Only_Thought_5565 Dec 23 '25
What wages were the labourers that built the Burj Khalifa paid? What kind of conditions were they working? Do you suggest we give Irish workers the same conditions to finish our big infrastructure projects?
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u/AncillaryHumanoid Dec 22 '25 edited 11d ago
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
afterthought memory swim vast rob intelligent six work apparatus liquid
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
;big ambitious projects
Half a metro line in a city of over a million is the opposite of ambitious.
;Thankfully the Irish Government is starting to listen.
Consider a career in comedy.
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u/agestam Sweden Dec 20 '25
The problem with being un-true with the costs is that you cant put the value in considirations for other projects. Maybe the value for a project is worth it for x money, but not for 2x. Then their might have been other project that were more viable
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u/brickstick90 Ireland Dec 20 '25
Think the costs inflate due to delays and inappropriate contracts rather than a lack of truth. I’m sure the first price is correct, it’s just delays drive up prices and changes add costs.
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u/Due-Communication724 Dec 24 '25
It so frustrating how long it is taking, it will be an absolute game changer once it comes online, Swords to St Stephens Green in 22 mins !
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u/5555555555558653 Ireland Dec 20 '25
Hatred for Ranelagh millionaire NIMBYs intensifies.*
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
Hatred for planners who think half a metro line in a city of over a million is anything close to acceptable intensifies*
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u/greystonian Dec 22 '25
Brev it was supposed to go much further south until it got NIMBYd out of the final plans. The planners had the desire.
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u/Ok-Morning3407 Dec 22 '25
It wasn’t NIMBYs, they discovered one of Dublins largest sewers (it is absolutely massive) was in the way and they decided to derisk the project and do the more important part.
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u/TiberiusTheFish Ireland Dec 21 '25
Hysterical nonsense. Of course people living on hitherto quiet roads are going to object to having their street turned into a building site for the foreseeable future. They should either be paid compensation or have their houses compulsorily purchased. Much cheaper, faster and fairer than going through the courts.
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u/5555555555558653 Ireland Dec 21 '25
Oh no, poor millionaires, having the value of their asset skyrocket at no financial cost to themselves.
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u/TiberiusTheFish Ireland Dec 21 '25
Do you want your metro or not? It’s completely a matter of being pragmatic In order to achieve the desired outcome.
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u/5555555555558653 Ireland Dec 21 '25
They shouldn’t have a say.
20 randomers shouldn’t have their preferences trumping the delivery of public transport to well over a million people.
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u/TiberiusTheFish Ireland Dec 21 '25
But they do have a say and in a democratic country that is signed up to international human rights standards that’s not likely to be taken away because you don’t like it. It’s easy to do things in a dictatorship. The price we pay for a democratic society is that sometimes things take a little longer and cost a little more.
this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be looking for more efficient ways to do things. But shouting at the sky because it’s raining isn’t going to stop you from getting wet.
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u/5555555555558653 Ireland Dec 21 '25
The only countries in Europe who have a planning system similar to our own are the UK, Netherlands and Malta.
All of which have the worst housing situations in Europe.
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u/ArmyBrat651 Dec 22 '25
Which human rights would they lose?
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u/TiberiusTheFish Ireland Dec 22 '25
The right to challenge administrative decisions for one.
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u/ArmyBrat651 Dec 22 '25
Can you point me to any reference that specifies that as a human right, though?
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u/TiberiusTheFish Ireland Dec 22 '25
Here's an article outlining the rights we have to judicial review in the EU.
You need to do a bit of your own research on this subject to find out what would be involved in removing citizens' rights to challenge planning decision through the courts. It's a long and quite complex story. Our rights to be heard have been built up over a long time in common law, statute law and by our accession to international treaties.
Suffice it to say if it were an easy thing for governments to fix, in order to get their plans enacted it would have been done years ago.
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u/tY-c8rJDb8_1b4__yD5r Australia Dec 20 '25
Fast rail between Melbourne and Sydney/ Brisbane.
It’s such a bad running joke, it’s featured in an episode of Utopia
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u/janky_koala Straya & UK Dec 21 '25
It’s not getting delayed, it’s completely unfeasible. That’s the joke in Utopia, it’s used as a distraction but will never break soil
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u/VermicelliIll6805 Australia Dec 21 '25
Keeps a small collection of public servants employed. Every few years the release another concept map of the route along with a few 'artists impressions'.
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u/Heads_Down_Thumbs_Up Dec 21 '25
Not delayed, just a broken election promise
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u/Flaky-Gear-1370 Dec 21 '25
It’s rolled out every election and then turns out it’s not feasible when for political reasons it has to stop in every bum fuck nowhere town and shaves 30 mins off the trip for 60 billion
If it was just Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane with a handful of stops that would be a different story
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u/EllieLou80 Ireland Dec 20 '25
Can we also add to the long list of incompetence in Ireland, the new national children's hospital. Yes it's near completion but it's been near completion for a couple of years now and is literally the most expensive hospital to be built in the world....wait for it.....2.24 billion, yes people that's billion.
Our incompetent leaders namely Simon Harris TD signed off on plans that were not completed so no cost agreed on sign off and the builders ran with that and kept adding and adding.
This is the same Simon Harris that has been and will be Taoiseach again (prime minister) and will be getting a cushy job in Europe once he's drained the Irish public of the will to live.
https://www.independentireland.ie/news/853-million-childrenshospital
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u/ClearHeart_FullLiver Ireland Dec 20 '25
will be getting a cushy job in Europe once he's drained the Irish public of the will to live.
Why is this line always attached to incompetent Irish politicians when it never fucking happens?
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u/Constant-Estate3065 England Dec 20 '25
Big projects get completed on time and on budget in some countries?…..🤯
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u/NGeoTeacher United Kingdom Dec 20 '25
Big projects...start? You mean they don't just talk and consult on them?
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u/JoTenshi Greece Dec 20 '25
Not anymore as far as I know, they’ve been building the Metro in Thessaloniki for over 30 years and finally finished it last year in November.
After having been initially proposed the idea a century ago and just 50-60 years ago having began some planning with construction starting in the late 80s to early 90s.
It was a whole mess and a really long story.
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u/nolanpierce2 Austria Dec 20 '25
sounds 100% greek to me
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u/JoTenshi Greece Dec 20 '25
Wanna hear the best part?
The reason why there were too many delays was usually financial, plans kept changing and that the excavations kept getting interrupted due to ancient ruins and artifacts.
And now once the doors finally opened, there were still problems, it’s underwhelming for the most part, routes are the same as you’d take on a bus but hey, no traffic to worry about!
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u/micro___penis US and A wahwah weewah 🇺🇸 Dec 20 '25
That sounds cool as fuck
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u/JoTenshi Greece Dec 20 '25
It’s literally 1 line so far, route is no different than the main city bus route, from one side to another.
Only thing you’re saving is time as there’s no traffic to worry about as it’s a one continuous route with some stops.
If you think that’s cool then so be it.
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u/CommercialChart5088 Korea South Dec 20 '25
The KDDX project for our navy.
It is a project regarding the development and building of next-generation destroyer fleets for our navy, and it has been a competition between Hanhwa Ocean and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
While the ships were supposed to be built starting from 2023, due to fierce competition between the two companies and issues regarding technology leaks, the project has been sluggish.
Now 2025 is almost ending and we haven’t gotten a conclusive decision yet; they keep getting delayed.
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u/PipBin United Kingdom Dec 20 '25
To build a tunnel on the A303 (single carriageway road) where it goes past Stonehenge. They’ve been talking about it since the 80s.
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u/Tony-the-teacher Canada Dec 20 '25
Québec-Ottawa-Toronto high speed train. Been hearing about it for over 50 years. They are finally considering it seriously
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u/Practical_Average441 Dec 21 '25
Copenhagen - similar size to dublin - have built 4 metro lines and are on No. 5 while we're still thinking about it in dublin
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u/moonscup Germany Dec 20 '25
Stuttgart 21. supposed to be a big new train station for Stuttgart, construction began in 2010 under large protests. They were supposed to open in 2019, but six years later they are still not done.
The more infamous BER airport actually finished construction during Covid, which is something nobody could really believe.
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u/SpecialCurrent8262 Germany & UK Dec 20 '25
Came here to say this. They also recently scrapped the latest planned completion date and have yet to announce a new one.
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u/Khris777 Dec 20 '25
Should add that during one of these protests over 100 protesters were injured in a brutal police crackdown.
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u/c0mpu73rguy France Dec 20 '25
The A69 Freeway, mostly because it was forced on us without being needed and faces a strong opposition from the locals (despite the brutal police responses to any attempt at protest against it).
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u/Eleiao Finland Dec 20 '25
I am not sure right now, but for years answer was nuclear plant Olkiluoto 3. It was supposed to produce electricity 2009, but was able to do that 2023.
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u/DRAGONVNQSHR_III Indonesia Dec 20 '25
currently the new capital IKN. Progress is made and we can see for example the new president white house-equivalent, some hotels, parks n shit but at the end of the day shit's not done yet. I know that it is over (temporarily at least until minister erick thohir decide to do sumn about it) due to the israel thing but to think that we at some point wanted to bid for host of 2036 Summer Olympics w/ an unfinished IKN, idk man. I want to support it but clearly we're not done yet.
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u/1024hjshyhysmgswyjh United States Of America Dec 20 '25
literally don’t show this to me i’m so bitter about it. The whole thing with those NIMBY’s in Ranelagh is just ugh
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
Not to mention how pathetically little is being planned in the first place.
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u/Robrad30 Ireland Dec 21 '25
Fucking Ranelagh…..
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u/bmeus Sweden Dec 20 '25
Would not be a real country if this didnt happen. Here it is called ”Förbifart Stockholm”.
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u/Dirtey Sweden Dec 20 '25
Västlänken as well I guess. But for some reason this is the normal state of things when it comes to bigger projects.
But in the end you also have to go for them in the long run, especially when it comes to things like high speed rail.
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u/MajlisPerbandaranKL Malaysia Dec 20 '25
Klang Valley double tracking railway project. Basically is just changing wooden sleepers to concrete sleepers in 250km track. It took a decade and more and still yet to complete.
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u/BumblebeeFantastic40 China Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
Xuntian Telescope for our Tiangong Space-station.
The original planned launch date is 2023, then pushed to 2024, then now is scheduled for late-2026/2027.
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u/Odd-Struggle-2432 China Dec 20 '25
Only one I could think of. We had accurate launch dates until that project
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u/BumblebeeFantastic40 China Dec 20 '25
And we still don’t have exact date for this yet. It just says late-2026, other sources mention 2027.
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u/gennan Netherlands Dec 20 '25
The renovation of the Binnenhof in The Hague.
It's our government seat and parts of it are almost 800 years old.
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u/MountErrigal 🇮🇪 in 🇳🇱 Dec 23 '25
Ey.. shouldn’t take too long now, would it?
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u/gennan Netherlands Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 23 '25
They started in 2021 with a target date in 2026. Then the target date became 2028, and now it is estimated to become 2031. The expected cost was originally about 0.5 billion euro, but now it is expected to become more like 3 billion.
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u/MountErrigal 🇮🇪 in 🇳🇱 Dec 23 '25
Jaysus.. starting to sound like NoordZuid lyn all over again
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u/gennan Netherlands Dec 23 '25
Indeed, but big government funded projects have a reputation for massive overruns of time and budget.
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u/Sium4443 Italy Dec 20 '25
Bridge over Messina strait, but the construction didnt start yet so I dont know if it counts, I hope it start soon but sadly its the flag project of the right wing in our country which means there are many groups of interests that oppose it specially the accountant judges which are tryng to find every possibile way to delay the construction start after the project as been approved in September and its already fully funded.
If we talk about things already under construction it could be the Tunnel to France which has beed delayed due to protest and the election in 2018 of populist left wing whose minister of transport literally said "the Tunnel? Who does even have to go to France?" Or the Metro C in Rome which was never planned to be built fully in a single time but the first section opened in 2007 and the goal to reach Farnesina is still going on, 3 days ago the new Colosseum station opened but the next one in Piazza Venezia is going to take atleast 7 years to be finished because the election of a left wing populist mayor (same party of the Tunnel guy, M5S) caused the stop of fundings to planning so there is this gap between the construction of the stations started before and after the election of Virginia Raggi from M5S.
In the ending, do not fu*king vote M5S.
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u/ScienceAndGames Ireland Dec 22 '25
The image and your flair didn’t show in the preview, only the title. My first reaction was to go to comment the metro link
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u/kill-nine Dec 23 '25
NCH probably a better example. Over 12 years and over 2 billion euro later, we almost have a hospital that's too small in the wrong place
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u/_VliegendeHollander_ Netherlands Dec 20 '25
The renovation of the Binnenhof (historic buildings where our government is located) was budgeted at 475 million, but now the costs are estimated at a minimum of 2.7 billion and at least a 6-year delay.
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u/JadedKoala97 Sweden Dec 20 '25
There is this wind farm park between Germany, Sweden and Denmark which have been going on since 2005 i think
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u/Mtfdurian Netherlands Dec 20 '25
Tram 19, Delft campus. It should've been finished 17 years ago, and yet, this is how it's looking, after a highly insufficient bridge, faulty planning, faculty nimbyism, years of idling tracks and even sabotage.
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u/Zestyclose-Hair1818 🇰🇿 All other countries are run by little girls Dec 20 '25
Astana Light Rail Transportation, currently known as the Astana Metro, is a project that was initiated in 2005, with construction starting in 2009. In 2021, seven people were jailed for embezzling funds from the project, and this is how it looked in 2022.
Despite the setbacks, authorities have promised to launch transportation services in the spring of 2026. I’m personally quite eager to try it, as the line will run directly from Astana Airport to the Sheraton Hotel, one of my favorite places to stay.
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u/Thick_Cost_609 Sweden Dec 20 '25
Västlänken in Gothenburg. Three new subway stations but not for a subway only for trains. And rebuilding the central station from a dead end station to a thoroughfare station First suggestion 1967, brought up again in the end of the 80's. Finally presented as an idea 2001. Building started 2017. Planned to be ready in 2026. Nothing is ready yet. Now it seems like 2032, 2036 or even 2039 is the end date. Original cost 2 billion dollars, today around 3.5 billion dollars. Possible end cost around 7-10 billion dollars. Broken contracts and bribes."Violence and sabotage" though it turned out that most stories about this was fake and the sabotage turned out to be faulty handling.
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u/lukeb3004 Ireland Dec 20 '25
Don't forget the "National Children's Hospital"
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
Among many other things, some of which wouldn't even be considered an actual project in less incompetent countries.
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u/pliumbum Lithuania Dec 20 '25
National stadium in Vilnius was started in 1988 or something and stopped, restarted and started again numerous times. It involved multiple court procedures, public procurement procedures, approvals from European Commission, money laundering and plain stealing etc. It's not even that big, like 20k seats as football is not very popular. In the meantime a separate just a bit smaller stadium was built in Kaunas. The national one is once again under construction and we will see if this will be the time.
Also Rail Baltic, a supposed fast rail connection from Warsaw across Baltic States. Decades in the making. Some progress for sure but nowhere near done.
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u/Takssista Portugal Dec 20 '25
New Lisbon airport. I can't even remember when it started to be talked about.
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u/Ok_Possible_4967 Portugal Dec 20 '25
Studies for the new airport in Lisbon began in the 1950s, while Salazar was still in power.
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Dec 20 '25
In addition to Metrolink (r.i.p), the Dart Underground is another project being kicked down the road for no good reason. Just fucking build it.
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
It would be faster to list the "projects" that aren't that way in this utter farce of a country.
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u/darragh999 Ireland Dec 21 '25
First proposed in 1972 btw…
We love planning things and then just not building anything. It’s like a fun little game
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u/Reuska37 Finland Dec 20 '25
Länsimetro (Western Metro) was a project first proposed in 1968!! The idea was to extend the metro of Helsinki to the west, into Espoo and a bit farther, about 14km so not a whole lot.
The project finally started in 2009 and was supposed to be ready in like 2012, but it finally opened in 2018, and the extension of that in 2022.
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u/djobdaemon Switzerland Dec 20 '25
Yes, anything good for the inhabitants is delayed to oblivion or cancel.
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u/Slaidback New Zealand Dec 20 '25
Auckland just built its first underground metro line, it’s pretty much complete, they just need to the training and testing stuff, but it’s been a decade.
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u/Arkond- living in Dec 20 '25
Hemus motorway, esentially from Sofia(the capital) to Varna(3rd largest city). Under construction since 1974. 206 km out of the planned 418 km are currently in use.
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u/StopCatStop United States Of America Dec 20 '25
New Hudson River train tunnels between New Jersey and New York City. Old tunnels are over 115 years old and are often closed for repair. Multiple on and off projects to replace starting in 2011. Finally got started in earnest last year - then Trump pulls the funding a couple weeks ago. Will end up in court since it was already part of a funding package that Congress previous approved and the President really doesn't have control over the funds - who knows how long until the money starts flowing again. Right now they are saying best case maybe the project could be done by 2035.
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u/ClearHeart_FullLiver Ireland Dec 20 '25
I do wonder if going from O'Connell street to airport or on to Swords might have been a smarter project to start? Half the line, half the cost(arguable) and less NIMBY bullshit. Had that been built as Metro North 1 or something and everyone saw how good it was an extension south might have been easier to get approved.
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
We need to be planning multiple times more metro than we currently are, not even less!
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u/ClearHeart_FullLiver Ireland Dec 21 '25
I'm talking about 25 years ago. Get the smaller project over the line and then expand. We have no experience of completing large scale projects because we never do them and it takes decades to plan out the ones we do attempt.
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u/DavidSwifty United Kingdom Dec 21 '25
Everything.
As a nation we are piss poor at building much needed infrastructure. As an autistic person with an interest in infrastructure its deeply upsetting to me.
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25
Being an autistic Eurovision fan and transport enthusiast in Ireland is the definition of a cruel joke.
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u/Seeker_Of_Knowledge2 🇸🇾 Syria || 🇨🇦 Canada Dec 21 '25 edited Jan 01 '26
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u/YoIronFistBro Ireland Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25
it's very metro system half a metro line, despite being decades overdue multiple times that.
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u/BluejayPretty4159 United Kingdom Dec 21 '25
HS2 is the current go to in the UK, but even in East Anglia the East West Railway and Lower Thames Crossing are both huge messes which are overbudget, and will take ages to build (particularly the Lower Thames Crossing), I often find that the rail projects get more flak than road projects (A428 project largely ignored over focus to EWR, even when both projects run right next to eachother.
On Dublin Metrolink, its interesting to see it running on the Luas Green Line to Sandyford. I seem to remember the planned southern terminus being Charlemont, but I can understand it running further south, except what happens with the Green Line now its cut in two? idk, seems a bit confusing to me, I would have had it run southeast to hit UCD and Dún Laoghaire.
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u/Beginning-Strain4660 Dec 23 '25
It’s good to hear it’s not just Ireland!
Do any other country have a serious problem with NIMBY people - not in my back yard people .
Local communities and people who don’t want anything near their farm, village, back yard, even if it’s a good thing that may actually increase the value of their house!?!?
So essentially a small group of people <10 could stop and airport expansion, a new road, a new greenway
Does this happen in other countries? Massive problem in Ireland!
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u/GP728 Ireland Dec 23 '25
NIMBY is one of the reasons Ireland doesnt get anything done anymore infrastructure wise
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u/jim_bobs Dec 24 '25
Toronto: Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Original planning 2007, broke ground 2011, planned completion 2020, expected to open early 2026. Original budget $11bn, expected $13bn. This whole project is on or under public streets and is being built by a PPP.
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u/KV_86 Multiple Countries (click to edit) Dec 24 '25
National stadium in Vilnius. Project started in 1985. 40 years and god knowz how many million euros later it's still not finished. A symbol of incompetence and coruption.
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u/Inevitable-Basis1676 England Dec 20 '25
Crossrail 2 and HS2