Opinion
19 Dec 03

Luas Talk

This was the year that a lot of frustration boiled over, steaming and fuming and effing to high heaven. A major target was the LUAS, Dublin’s answer to a question that’s out of date and wasn’t being asked anyway, a white elephant generated by people who were besotted with the idea that trams are, to quote Frank McDonald of the Irish Times, ‘civilising’.

Maybe it will be, but not now. It has caused disruption on a colossal scale in Dublin. Furthermore, most economists are agreed that it won’t meet the needs of commuters. It hasn’t the capacity. It’s a multi-billion euro theme park ride.
It also emerged this year that the lines are being built to different standards. LUAS was supposed to be built to a uniform spec, with the Sandyford line being upgraded to metro some time in the future. But now it’s being built as a metro line. So, while the tracks are the same width, the Sandyford trams won’t be able to go on the Tallaght line – being shorter and lighter.
But it’s the continual disruption that really gets everyone’s goat. And if you live outside Dublin, you really have to se it to believe it. Incredible. Enterprises have closed because of the LUAS works. Streets have been dug up and have stayed dug up for months. And as we enter the most frenzied shopping season, what do we find? It’s worse!
Meanwhile, many people who were fundamentally sympathetic to LUAS have been re-evaluating their position after the visit of Professor Manuel Melis Maynor of the Madrid Metro (he’s the president). El Professor met the cabinet infrastructure group and also made some presentations regarding a possible metro system for Dublin.
He said the Dublin metro could be built for much less than had been costed for. Madrileños went for a can-do approach, he said, and built 54km of track for E1.45 billion. Some of the cost-saving measures were very simple. Amongst them were standard stations.
Suddenly, the Rail Procurement Agency dropped its projected price by a staggering 1.3 billion which caused ‘bemusement’ in Govt circles and beyond. Makes you worry about the cost of the LUAS.