Transport head and Government at odds over congestion toll

The director of the Dublin Transportation Office, John Henry, is at odds with the Government over the mooted introduction of a congestion charge in Dublin.

According to Mr Henry, charges for vehicles using Dublin city centre are inevitable and are likely to be introduced over the next few years, possibly linked to the introduction of tolls along the M50. In remarks published yesterday, Mr Henry said car usage on the M50 and in the city had to be curtailed and "the only way to do this is to use tolls".

However, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen ruled out city congestion charges at least in the medium term. Mr Cullen said that "only when substantial progress has been made on the implementation of the major programme of improvements in the Greater Dublin Area, then and only then will congestion charges be considered".

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern went even further and said congestion charges "can only be considered for Dublin when we have fully implemented the myriad of transport projects and traffic schemes currently under way."

Writing in the AA members' magazine AA Motoring, Mr Ahern said a decision would be made on charges only after major enhancements to suburban rail, Luas services and the M50.

Mr Ahern said that would not be until "the Port Tunnel is absorbing thousands of trucks and cars each day, the Dart and suburban rail is operating at greatly enhanced capacity, and the number of Quality Bus Corridors in the city and county have been at least trebled from the present nine QBCs. If, when all that is in place, the growth in car numbers continues to congest areas of the city then it will be time to face up to reality and decide if we want to take decisive action along the lines of what London did."

While the M50 enhancements are due to be completed by 2011 and a report on possible demand management measures is to be undertaken within three years of that, the timescale outlined by the Taoiseach would be in the order of a decade.

Congestion charges are also opposed by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and the AA.