Sir, - The Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr Lowry, criticises objections raised by Dublin Chamber of Commerce to the Department of Transport's contribution to a solution to Dublin's avalanching road crowding problem. This contribution is said to be based on the long drawn report by planners, Dublin Transportation Initiative, which proposes two short tram routes on a continental guage of track - hence incompatible with the Irish rail system - from Dundrum to O'Connell Street, and from Tallaght centre to O'Connell Street (with most travellers not seated but standing).
Now, few of the torrents of car commuters who approach and leave the metropolis daily are likely to leave their cars at Tallaght or Dundrum, shuffling onwards to their workplace by the sweet little trams so attractively pictured in the LUAS publicity (which first broke upon us in December).
On my calculations only 7,000 will travel daily citywards all the way from Tallaght, and only 9,000 from Dundrum. That will not make a whit of difference to the mounting toll of motorised traffic entering Dublin every day, as nearly all of those will have been bus travellers who have been catered for already.
The proper way to go, and it is a solution I have canvassed since the mid 1980s, is by the all out development of the four main lines that already enter Dublin plus, and it is very important plus, the restoration, as a conventional rail system, of Harcourt Street (Albert Place) to Shanganhagh, and hence on to Greystones (where the tunnels would pose no obstacle as they would to a DART system). Such a venture should "hoover" into and out of Dublin 200,000 commuters' daily counting those already catered for by DART, while a four mile spur, passing Kinsealy and Swords to the airport, would add to that, thousands more. Properly dedicated and enforced bus routes would take up the slack between termini, and to Tallaght and Ballymun; the entire costing a great deal under the £200 million set aside for, the tram system.
The Chamber of Commerce is quite correct on the score of long term street disruption. Picture what the laying of twin tracks will cause on the west side of St Stephen's Green, past the clubs, down Dawson Street, Nassau and Westmoreland Streets. Anyone who recalls what disruption laying a sewer down the length of George's Street caused will understand what I mean; it killed it.
The chamber is right, yet we cannot stand still. Nor should we be roused by the Minister's strange invocation, "get on with the job". It will be no good getting on with the job if it is the wrong job. Look at European cities, where floods of commuters arrive daily by mainline trains, and not by trams; but mainline trains will not suffice entirely. We need the connecting dedicated bus services. - Yours, etc.,
Marlborough Road,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.