A river bus on the Liffey to run between Dublin city centre and the Point Depot could be in service next year. The Dublin Docklands Development Authority has ordered construction of a 54-seater vessel.
The river bus is currently being built in Sweden for delivery next spring, when there will be several months of trials before it is formally commissioned. Initially, it will be used to transport tourists, but the authority's aim is to run it as a taxi service. It may also be used for corporate entertainment.
The river bus is part of the DDDA's River Liffey regeneration strategy, which also allows for the introduction of a fast commuter ferry service between the docklands and the coast - initially Dún Laoghaire. That strategy, published three years ago, proposed a cross-river ferry between City Quay and the Irish Financial Services Centre II among a series of initiatives to revive practical use of the waterway.
It is understood that the DDDA has held discussions with several operators in relation to contracting out the operation of the services. A private ferry was run for several years on the Liffey from Tara Street down to the Point Depot by Wicklow-based Capt Michael Reynolds.
However, navigation of the river's 15 bridges, specifically the upper reaches between the Ha'penny Bridge and Heuston Station, has always been restricted by tidal factors and the low headroom on fixed structures.
The new Millennium Bridge and the Talbot Memorial Bridge are particularly problematic at high tide and the riverbed rises above the Ha'penny Bridge, which causes a difficulty at low water.
However, the planned new bridge at Macken Street - linking the north and south quays east of the Talbot Memorial Bridge - will have sufficient headroom, according to the DDDA, and has been designed to pivot open for larger craft.
The DDDA estimates that almost 70,000 people will be working in the docklands by 2012 and that a third of Dublin's three million annual tourists will visit the area. Last year, tests on a new Danish-designed craft were carried out at high tide, in conjunction with marine surveyors.
It is envisaged that water bus stops could be located at Tara Street to link up with the DART, at the IFSC I and II, Forbes Street, Britain Quay, the Point Depot and the ferry terminal at Alexandra Basin.
Meanwhile, the superstructure for the new Macken Street Bridge is currently being built in Poland and will be carried up on pontoons to its location next December. Last week it was reported that rising costs of the complex steel structure might force a review of the project which was originally opposed by local residents.