LUAS trams are likely to be running through the centre of Dublin in 2002 if, as expected, the Government sanctions CIE's £227 million light rail project at a Cabinet meeting this morning.
Ministers are scheduled to get a presentation from representatives of W.S. Atkins, the British consultants commissioned last autumn to examine the option of running Luas underground in the city centre, before they make a decision on the project.
It is understood that the consultants' report, on balance, favours the on-street system proposed by CIE, though it does express concern about the level of disruption likely during construction.
It is also understood that the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, has endorsed the Atkins recommendation and will be arguing that no further time should be wasted in proceeding with the Luas project, now two years behind schedule.
However, some Ministers might want the decision deferred for a week, as they will have received copies of the 200-page report only yesterday or even this morning. The public inquiry into CIE's application for a light rail order is to reopen on June 2nd, under the chairmanship of Judge Sean O'Leary. Having heard all the evidence, he is expected to make a report to Ms O'Rourke in September.
Assuming that she does not delay in granting the order, and even allowing for the possibility of objectors seeking a judicial review, construction should start next January on the old Harcourt Street railway line, closed in 1959.
The fact that the independent consultancy study has favoured the on-street solution will come as a blow to the underground lobby which has, in effect, lost the argument.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the Unified Proposal group - which favours going underground - warned that the city centre would "never recover" from the disruption caused by building Luas. He described the green light for Luas as "a sad day for Dublin".
But Mr Tom Coffey, director of the City Centre Business Association, which has enthusiastically backed the project, said the short-term disruption would be worth it because Luas would ultimately result in people getting into town 20 per cent faster.
Ms Patricia McKenna, the Green Party MEP for Dublin, welcomed reports that Luas would finally get the go-ahead "following considerable delays which put EU funding at risk". The EU has pledged a total of £114 million towards the project.
