Light rail team to go steaming ahead

THE 30 members of CIE's Dublin light rail project team were understandably surprised and disappointed by the defeat of the Bill which would have given them the power to proceed with their plans.

But they have put a brave face on it, insisting that it is only a minor setback.

Mr Donal Mangan, the Luas project director, briefed the team on Wednesday morning and explained that the £220 million project was still on track. "I told them that we were steaming ahead and reassured them that the Minister Mr Lowry was four square behind the project," he said.

If the amended Bill was tabled within the next week or so, it could still get through the Oireachtas before the summer recess, according to Mr Mangan. "Even if we have to wait until, say, the end of October, it still would not have a significant effect on the timetable," he added.

CIE cannot apply to Mr Lowry for an order to start building the system until consultants complete a review ordered by the European Commission of the priority assigned to building a line to Dundrum rather than Ballymun this study is to be submitted by mid September. After that comes the mandatory public inquiry a central requirement of the light rail legislation and, presumably, final ministerial approval before a start is made on constructing the system later next year. If it were delayed much longer there would be doubt about the promised EU funding.

The Dail defeat does have some effect in terms of public perception as a public relations consultant would put it, the "optics" are not good. It seems to suggest that there is some doubt about whether the project will proceed, and that the arguments over which routes it should take may be academic.

At public meetings and there have been over 120 so far, involving residents' associations, community groups and other interests people will have to be assured that it is not "on the rocks". At the latest meeting in Tallaght on Wednesday, people were told that the Leinster House vote was a "fluke".

The one vote defeat resulted from a "political foul up", as one Luas source put it, rather than any principled opposition to light rail.

Nonetheless, those involved in the project are frankly aghast that Government TDs failed to show up to ensure that the second stage of the Bill was passed.

"It's unbelievable," said one source. "Whatever about TDs from the country not turning up, there's no excuse for Dublin TDs, especially when some of them have been loudly complaining about how the city `gets nothing'. This was their opportunity to deliver for Dublin and they flunked it." Questions are also posed about the opposition of Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats. Fianna Fail was in Government in 1994 when the light rail project was included in the National Development Plan, while the PDs were even earlier in their advocacy of this form of public transport.

HOWEVER, the vigorous line taken by Mr Lowry in media interviews, and his alacrity in reintroducing the legislation, may convince even those who oppose the current plan that there is a determination to deal with Dublin's deteriorating traffic problems by offering a real alternative to private cars.

The Minister made this clear last week at a meeting with Ms Mary Finan, president of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and Mr Noel Carroll, its chief executive. Dismissing such alternatives as going underground, he told them that the city was getting a modern tramway system, running on the streets.

The chamber, which had been highly sceptical about the benefits, is now "in the process of turning the tanker around and all they need is the elbow room to do it," according to one Luas source. Indeed, the chances are that the chamber will end up taking a neutral stance, instead of actively opposing it.

"People are fed up with the congestion, the noise and the pollution," Mr Mangan said. "Whatever about complaints from some quarters about particular aspects of the scheme (such as the proposed demolition of Arran Quay Terrace, off Smithfield) there is overwhelming public support for light rail." Another Luas source emphasised the need for "visionary" political leadership by prominent Dublin TDs. "They should be looking at the example of Catherine Trautmann, the mayor of Strasbourg, who made that city's light rail project her own and saw her popularity soaring as a result," he said.