THE Government has decided to allocate £100 million for the first phase of Dublin's proposed Luas light rail transit (LRT) system, linking Tallaght with Dundrum via the city centre.
This was announced yesterday by the Minister for Transport, Mr Dukes, after he received CIE's formal application for a light rail order, and a mammoth environmental impact statement on the £229 million project.
The Minister also announced that the Government has given approval for planning and design work to start immediately on an extension of the light rail route from Dundrum to Sandyford Industrial Estate, at an additional cost of £14 million.
The Government also approved matching Exchequer funding along with EU finance, for the design - costing £10 million of a light rail line from Ballymun to the city centre.
"Today marks a very significant step in the Government's ongoing programme of improvement to Dublin's transport infrastructure," Mr Dukes said. He added that the suggestion of putting light rail underground in the city centre "isn't an option".
Initially, he said, he had an open mind on the idea. But an oral report which he commissioned from Mr Maurice Doyle, former governor of the Central Bank, had helped to "clarify" his thinking.
He accused Fianna Fail of "trying to ride two horses" by calling, on the one hand, for Luas to proceed and, on the other, for yet another study of the underground option.
"This would stop the project dead in its tracks - not just parts of it, but the whole project," he warned.
It would require a completely new EIS and the delay involved could jeopardise EU funding for the project. "The people of Dublin have a very definite choice - either action from the Government on the present proposal or paralysis from Fianna Fail," he declared.
The Minister said the cost of putting Luas underground in the city centre would he "very substantially more" than the available budget, to which he stressed CIE must adhere.
He said all of the issues could be raised at the mandatory public inquiry into the project, which could start in July. He would be appointing a "very suitable person" to chair this inquiry. In the meantime, there would be a two month public consultation, starting next week.
Dr Ray Byrne, CIE's head of projects, said the Government's approval of £100 million in funding for Luas was a "massive vote of confidence in the development of public transport in Dublin, in the light rail project itself and in CIE and its management and staff."
He said the question of an underground rail system had been "looked at repeatedly in Dublin and ruled out for a variety of reasons. These reasons which were not confined to the cost were still valid. "We don't consider it an option," he declared.
"Other cities in Europe and North America are going for on street LRT systems. Bordeaux in France, a city of comparable size to Dublin, has just opted for a 45km on street light rail system and abandoned the whole idea of going underground," Dr Byrne said.
Asked about the likely disruption attending the installation of Luas lines on the streets he pledged that there would be a very structured and controlled construction process, overseen by consultants with extensive experience of implementing light rail systems across Europe."
He said a CIE project team was also working with Aer Rianta examining options for a rail link between Dublin Airport and the city centre. This is likely to be heavy rail, rather than light rail, and will probably involve a DART spur from Malahide, via Swords.
No firm costing is available for the proposed Ballymun line because a route has yet to be finalised. It could either run northwards from O'Connell Street via Dorset Street and Drumcondra Road, or follow the alignment of the former Broadstone railway line.
Dr Byrne said that assuming approval was granted after the complex legal process Luas still had to go through, CIE was planning to start construction on the Tallaght Dundrum line early next year and to have the new service fully operational by March or April 2001.
Asked whether Luas was still justified, given the huge increase in car ownership in the Dublin area, Mr Dukes said: "If anything, this makes it more urgent to get on with the project as fast as we can because it will be providing people with a viable alternative to using their cars."
Ms Eithne Fitzgerald, Minister of State for Labour Affairs, who also attended yesterday's press conference, said she warmly welcomed the Government's decision to support the light rail project, adding that she looked forward to travelling by Luas to the Dail from Sandyford.
Dr Byrne said the proposed extension from Dundrum to Sandyford Industrial Estate, where there would be room for an extensive "park and ride" facility, was "very straightforward. However, it would require another EIS and a separate public inquiry."
