National Transport Authority hoping to reinstate Luas stop on Dawson Street

The National Transport Authority hopes to reinstate a northbound stop on Dawson Street for the Luas Cross City line if a consensus can be reached among traders in the area on where it should be located.

The NTA is to hold a meeting tomorrow with representatives of relevant interests such as Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the City Centre Business Association, the local Business Improvement District organisation to look at the options.

In its decision to approve a railway order for the Luas Cross City line, An Bord Pleanála omitted the northbound stop on Dawson Street after hearing objections from local traders, but there is now a groundswell of opinion in favour of reinstating it.

Among the businesses on Dawson Street calling for the stop to be reinstated are Cafe en Seine, Carluccio’s and James Herren as well as nine retailers on South Anne Street, two on Duke Street, two on Molesworth Street and seven on Royal Hibernian Way.

Varadkar agrees
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar agreed with them on the basis that the distance between the existing stop on St Stephen's Green and the planned stop on Westmoreland Street would be too long and he asked the Railway Procurement Agency to look into it.

“We have taken it upon ourselves to re-examine the potential for a northbound stop,” a spokeswoman for the NTA said. “A southbound stop was approved [by An Bord Pleanála], so that’s not a problem. The problem is to do with the [omitted] northbound stop.”

'Appetite for a stop'
She said the NTA's technical consultants, Jacobs Engineering, would be present at tomorrow's meeting to outline the options. "There's an appetite on the street for a stop – it's just that the proposed location didn't suit certain people, but we're hoping to solve this."

The spokeswoman said the NTA was “hoping to have an emerging preferred option for the location of a stop within a month or so, and certainly by the end of May” prior to the start of preparatory works for the Luas Cross City Line, which is estimated to cost €370 million.

However, she emphasised that there was no question of going ahead with a northbound stop on Dawson Street and retrospectively applying for permission to retain it. Instead, a revised plan would be submitted to An Bord Pleanála while the preparatory works are under way.