Luas faces delay until 2005 – Offical
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I heard too there were once plans to level the entire city centre including concreting over the river Liffey making one huge road et car park for all. The City Fathers aka Frank Feely and Co nearly had their dream materialized at one stage too!
As for the Liffey idea – what about this idea…
The easiest method of constructing an INTEGRATED transport system would involve a circular line , mirroring that of the Circular Roads. Cheapest method of construction would involve building underneath both the Royal and Grand Canals. Offshoots to various hideous suburbs.
Also, it is possible to build underneath the liffey. Perhaps offering another means to solving the underground problem without digging up the streets…
Simple ideas are often the best – the Luas is a complicated mess.
The idiocy of the two lines not joining at the centre is baffling. I heard of the arguments that the Stephens Green Line would not join owing to a possible underground connection – its nonsense.
Also, the idea that Abbey Street to Connolly Stn. is Line ‘C’ is another joke – its less than a km long!!!!!
Could people please read the article, the comments are attributed to the head of the RPA, i.e the people RESPONSIBLE.
Ah yes – but how did the letter become public… spin, spin, spin. Who is interested in – ahem – ‘derailing’ the project – yes the car lobby. Do not underestimate the power of PR
The car park on the liffey idea first materialsed in the 1930s and was to run between O’Connell and Gratten Bridges.
The only people who have made a mess of Luas are the govenrment – through their procrastination and general arsing about with the plan we could have had an integrated system up and running 6 years ago. They probably would have started 3 or 4 new lines of it by now. What this country needs is an infrastructure ministry and someone who will take full responsibility for a project. Not the fall guys in the RPA
Spot on Rory, of course it’s the goverment’s (FFs) fault that’s where the book stops. Remember those LUAS trams sitting on concrete blocks outside the Dail many years ago !!…………. coming in 2003 then after that every 10 mins !!
Originally posted by Papworth
Spot on Rory, of course it’s the goverment’s (FFs) fault that’s where the book stops. Remember those LUAS trams sitting on concrete blocks outside the Dail many years ago !!…………. coming in 2003 then after that every 10 mins !!I remember it well. I went up to take photos in the rain with my boss and he held his umbrella over me while I did so. The days of the Celtic Tiger when bosses did that to retain staff!
Listen, let’s not get away from the facts, it is seriously over budget and not on time. That is not the government’s fault. The Light rail order was made in 1998/1999.. it is nearly 2004. The RPA were given the task of recruiting and supervising contractors and selecting an operator- not the government!
99% of people in Dublin want Luas to succeed. people are terribly frustrated with how the RPA and the conhtractors have organised it and the way they are going about it…
What has been happening since 1998? Who coordinated this mess???? The RPA!
People what happened before 1998 with the government was a mistake but please stop making excuses.
got a leaflet in my door last night from the RPA ( live on a luas line ) again stating that all construction work on both lines would be completed by Christmas 2003 …
A couple of points need clarification I think.
The light rail orders were not completed until 2001. This was because of the odd decision by the Government to break the system into two separate lines and the rejection by the inquiry judge of the first proposals for Connolly ( which is why the ramp is being demolished as there was nowhere else left to go )
The Government in the form of the Dept of Transport selected the operator, not the RPA, although the RPA has to manage the contract with Connex.
The contractors were selected and the contracts signed by CIE even before the RPA as an organisation existed.
All roadworks in the city have to be agreed with the City Council in advance and the LUAS contractors are bound by any restrictions place by the council.
I have to say though that the RPA should be much more pro-active in terms of running the contract and informing the public. The web site is a joke. Gabriels updates ( whens the next one ? ) are a better indication of whats gong on.
JJ
I was at the Luas presentation as part of the DTI report when it was pretty much a done deal in terms of the lines planning
The year 1990
Completion 1995 at the latest
The delay – procrastination on the part of the government.
For particular attention – Mary O’Rourke
The government can move fast when it wants to – see the Albert Reynolds/Larry Goodman affair. If the will to do it was there it would be done.
Are more lines being planned right now?
If further expansion of Luas is happening should the trams etc not be ordered now?Much of the critisism of Luas at the moment is about traffic problems because of road works – for goodness sake this was absolutely inevitable – the reporting in the media has been laughable – showing sensationalist shots of traffic down Harcourt St, Oh no – they’ve wrecked the city centre – look at all the gaping wounds in the roadways – this mess will never be cleaned up – when Luas is finished the traffic is always going to be like this – etc etc.
Wait till it’s finished!
My contact in the RPA says that the design of the extension from Sandyford to Cherrywood was completed nearly a year ago but has been held up because of the Dunloe Ewart problems. They are funding half the cost on the basis of planning gain at Cherrywood. Now that Liam Carroll is involved discussions have started again.
Also the design of the extension to Point Depot is under way as well as a line out to Finglas and Lucan.
The RPA have also been discussing additional mid sections for the shorter trams rather than additional trams for the moment. Alstom the supplier are in big trouble so its possible the next set of trams could be supplied by someone else.
Also hearing strong rumours about staffing difficulties and union issues with Connex.
Seems ltheres lots happening but as I said above the RPA are very closed about their activities.
JJ
If you also notice a lot of the stories are eminating from the Sunday Business Post – address 80 Harcourt Street
The RPA have a nice new public foyer to their offices on Parkgate Street. It’s right beside my apartment, so I think I’ll drop in every evening on my way home from work and ask “is it finished yet? is it finished yet? is it…”.
If the RPA sorted out their PR, which is a disaster, do they employ anyone??? Sorted out their website updates which are laughable, what’s wrong with a bit more info and a few pics?
That would help…………
An interesting study of the Washington Metropolitan area found this interesting results:
WASHINGTON (September 8, 2003) – Metropolitan areas with more compact growth, a wide mix of land uses, plentiful transportation options, and which were mostly developed prior to the use of the automobile are generally less expensive places to live, in terms of the combined costs for housing and transportation, according to an analysis of consumer expenditures by the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
The analysis, conducted by ULI Senior Resident Transportation Fellow Robert Dunphy, involved consumer expenses in 28 metropolitan areas during 2001, according to spending data released earlier this year by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not surprisingly, housing accounted for one-third of spending by U.S. households in 2001, twice the amount spent in 1972, reflecting “higher homeownership and larger and lavish homes,†Dunphy said. However, transportation costs ranked a close second to housing, at 19 percent of the average household budget, more than food and clothing combined. The average household spent more than $7,600 annually on transportation, of which $7,200 was for buying and maintaining cars and trucks. In comparison, an average of $400 was spent on public transportation, which included expenditures for air fares.
Power Cables threaten to strangle St Patrick’s Festival
I think this story in the Indo this morning is hilarious. It amazing nobody thought about this when the line was being designed. Aparently dehooking the lines for the festival would be too much and there is no way the parade can be rerouted to miss O’Connell St. It will be interesting to find out what solutionis proposed.
I also took a walk along the city centre length of the Tallaght line. It looks very impressive when its finished…especially down near Collins Barracks. You can also see a number of stops almost complete (apart from furniture) at Collins and Chancery.
agreed yeah, i love the way it cuts through the bottom of Smithfield – really gives that part of town a completely different feel to what it used be like in the old days. Good observation.
my feelings on the track through smithfield
http://www.p45blogs.net/dublin/archives/000366.htmlloved the comment from the other article in the indo about how luas would halt traffic on O’Connell street every two and a half minutes as it crosses the street.
That would be like having traffic lights on the street then…
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