Business backs `appropriate' light rail plan

Dublin city business interests support the on-street Tallaght to Middle Abbey Street line, the light rail inquiry was told yesterday.

Mr Fergal MacCabe, a town planner representing the Dublin City Centre Business Association, said light rail, quality bus corridors, and the port tunnel would help provide a balanced transport system.

Mr MacCabe said he had examined the environmental impact assessment associated with the application for a Light Railway Order, on behalf of the DCCBA, and had found it "generally appropriate and reasonable".

He asked that sections relating to safe access for pedestrians be addressed and added that the "need for access for all businesses during the construction and implementation of the LRT is vital to the economic survival of jobs and businesses in the areas in question and in the city centre".

Mr MacCabe said the DCCBA wanted a civil claims procedure to deal with compensation claims by businesses fearing lost revenue during the construction phase. The light rail transit system was welcome and he urged the Minister for Public Enterprise to "commission it as soon as possible".

The Dublin Chamber of Commerce also welcomed the proposed LRT system. A spokesman, Mr Ciaran Conlon, told the inquiry the completed system would integrate Luas, DART and Arrow services, "giving commuters and other travellers real options when they come to the city". The chamber had identified this as a problem in the original Luas proposal, he said.

The inquiry continues tomorrow.