Walking away from Metro North is the only way to go

ANALYSIS: Plan to link two Luas lines is the only major transport project that still makes any sense

LEO VARADKAR was being brutally realistic when he said last month that we could only afford to go ahead with just one of the three “big ticket” public transport projects in Dublin – Metro North, Dart Underground and the long-missing city centre link (known as BXD) between the two existing Luas lines.

The new Minister for Transport made it clear that times had changed since all three were included in the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrat coalition’s €34 billion Transport 21 investment programme, announced in November 2005. “We are not awash with cash anymore and our city is not growing any more,” he said.

Varadkar has been advised by his officials that cancelling Metro North – the most advanced of the three projects in planning terms – could have a “serious impact on the credibility of the Government as a counter-party for PPP deals for other major infrastructure investment projects”.

Pat Mangan, former assistant secretary at the Department of Transport, warned recently that any decision to “walk away” from Metro North would put off potential PPP investors in Dart Underground, with the result that its estimated €2.5 billion cost would “fall back on the exchequer”, making it “unaffordable”.

There is no doubt that consortiums bidding for the Metro North PPP would be deeply dismayed if the €3 billion-plus project was shelved; they are believed to have invested up to €15 million each in their bids. So would the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), which has spent some €135 million on the project so far.

But Ireland’s financial plight is very well-known internationally and this has made it increasingly difficult for prospective PPP partners to raise money in the capital markets for projects here. Instead of being shocked by a Government decision to shelve Metro North, the markets would now be more surprised if it went ahead.

Yes, there would be some “reputational damage”, but we’ve suffered plenty of that already. As one transport source put it, the case being made to avoid more is analogous to “someone who’s lost their job saying he’d still go ahead with the domestic extension he was planning in the good times, out of sympathy for the builder”.

Neither would it be unprecedented to cancel a PPP. Two weeks ago, after applying for an €80 billion “bailout” from our friends in the ECB and the IMF, Portugal’s interim government suspended plans for a high-speed rail line between Lisbon and Madrid and disbanded Rave, the country’s high-speed rail company.

The new line was to be built and operated as a PPP project, a joint venture by two Portuguese companies, working with a Spanish contractor. It will be up to the next government to decide whether it goes ahead and, meanwhile, the companies involved could claim more than €200 million in compensation for breach of contract.

We have not yet reached that stage with Metro North. Although the RPA shortlisted two consortiums – Metro Express and Celtic Metro – in June 2009 to proceed to the final stage of the PPP process, it has not yet selected a final bidder. It must also seek a new railway order from An Bord Pleanála for a relocated depot at Dardistown.

Just as Luas was conceived as a relatively modest project in the early 1990s when we were not flush with money, Metro North is a boom-time scheme – with a rationale rooted in highly optimistic population projections for Fingal that will not be realised, even in the medium term. It no longer makes any sense – and never did.

An independent review of Transport 21, commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics, called for priority to be given to the Dart Underground project because it represented better value for money and would serve a wider catchment than Metro North – the opposite of what the previous government decided.

The review, led by Prof Austin Smyth, concluded that Metro North’s limited extent – reduced to a 16km line by An Bord Pleanála – “would make its overall contribution marginal” and said that, where fiscal and financial constraints required difficult choices to be made, Dart Underground and the city centre Luas link should go ahead.

Unfortunately, the only one of the three major projects that’s “shovel ready” is Metro North. An Bord Pleanála has yet to make a decision on Dart Underground, following a 22-day oral hearing, while an inquiry into the BXD Luas line that would run from St Stephen’s Green to Broombridge, via O’Connell Street, will open next week.

Dublin is the only city in the world that was daft enough to build two free-standing light rail lines, due to a cowardly decision by the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrat coalition in May 1998. Surely common sense dictates that we should now “join the dots” between them? The cost, at some €400 million, would also be relatively affordable.

Irish Times

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Transport review may look at old plan for rail spur from Dart to airport

A REVIEW of transport investment priorities may result in 20-year plans to serve Dublin airport with a rail spur from the Dart line being revived as an alternative to the Metro North project.

A spokesman for Iarnród Éireann confirmed yesterday that it had been requested by the Department of Transport to provide further details on the proposed rail spur which would branch off the Malahide Dart line at Clongriffin.

In the Dáil on April 20th, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said a Dart extension to the airport and Swords was one of the options being “rated according to their contribution to economic and transport objectives, including employment potential”.

The other projects included in the current review are Metro North, which would run from St Stephen’s Green to Swords; Dart Underground, a tunnel linking Heuston with the Docklands; and a city centre link between the two existing Luas lines.

“Notwithstanding funding difficulties, I will seek to ensure that at least one of these projects will proceed. I will examine all realistic options for delivery, including on an incremental, phased basis if possible, with the involvement of private funding, the Minister said.

He told Dessie Ellis TD (SF) that the reason Metro North and Dart Underground were to be public-private partnership (PPP) projects was that “even during the boom no one thought it would be possible for the exchequer to spend the billions of euro needed to pay for them”.

No estimate for the 16km Metro North has been officially released, but it is likely to cost €3 billion, mainly because 10km of the line would be underground.

The estimate for Dart Underground has been put at €2 billion, although it could cost more.

“The two projects, if they are to proceed, can only do so as PPPs. If we did not have the funds for them during the boom out of taxpayers’ money, we definitely do not have the money now,” Mr Varadkar said.

However, he added that it would be possible for the city centre Luas link or a Dart extension to Dublin airport to go ahead with exchequer funds “because they are much less expensive than the other two projects”. Each has a price tag of about €400 million.

The proposed Luas link, known as BXD, would run from the current terminus at St Stephen’s Green through the city centre, via College Green, Westmoreland Street and O’Connell Street, and onwards to Broombridge, via the disused midland railway line.

The Dart spur would branch off the Malahide Dart line at Clongriffin and run to Dublin airport and onwards to Swords. The Minister accepted that plugging it into an already busy rail section could cause congestion problems.

Irish Times

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Council backs rush-hour ban on cars in city centre

DUBLIN City councillors have voted to ban cars from the capital's main thoroughfare but only during morning and evening rush hours.

Instead of imposing a 24-hour seven-day a week ban as originally proposed, members of the Transport Committee instead decided to scale back the ban and review it six months after it begins operating.

The move came because of concerns from city traders that up to 2,500 jobs could be lost in the city centre if private cars were banned from using Dame Street, College Green, Westmoreland Street and College Street.

Members of the committee voted unanimously to impose the ban which will operate Monday to Friday from 7am to 10pm and 4pm to 7pm.

But the full council has yet to vote on the proposal, meaning the first option -- a complete ban at all times -- could yet be imposed.

Debated

The full council will meet in May where the issue will be debated, but it is expected the ban will be imposed and implemented in July.

Council transport planners said that less than 6pc of cars entering the city boundary would be affected in the morning period because few travel along the affected route.

But introducing the measure would lead to improved journey times for Dublin Bus services -- 60pc of which pass through the affected area -- and which cost the company €3m because of congestion.

In a worst case scenario there would be a "low level" of impact on retail outlets, Brendan O'Brien said, adding that the move to introduce the ban at peak periods would benefit 45pc of bus services. The move would be reviewed when other public transport measures -- including construction of two bridges across the River Liffey, implementation of real-time information on bus times and integrated ticketing -- were delivered.

Fine Gael's Paddy McCartan said the move was being "rushed", and cautioned against any proposal which would reduce the number of shoppers in the city.

But Cllr Deirdre Heney (FF) said if the move wasn't done by the council, it would be imposed upon it.

"We must improve public transport," she said. "Buses are hugely cost-effective and we have to facilitate them. I think if we don't do it it will be forced upon us in the form of a congestion charge. I believe we should get on with it."

The Dail Transport Committee will today hear submissions on the issue.

Paul Melia
Irish Independent

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Buses should be allowed use Port Tunnel - report

Buses should be allowed to use the Port Tunnel in order to help tackle traffic congestion in the capital, according to a transport plan published today.

The new action plan for an efficient bus network for Dublin was published by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport.

The proposal aims to have 80 per cent of the city's commuters using the bus network by 2010, and includes expanding the quality bus corridor network, expanding the fleet by 350 buses and boosting links between the different transport systems, such as the Luas.

The committee found that there was a "lack of urgency and coordination" in tackling Dublin's congestion problems, and said there was a need for a "focused and determined approach" to delivering an efficient bus service for Dublin.

"Although there has been some progress over the last ten years the objectives set out in the short term action plan proposed by the Dublin Transport Office to the year 2000 have yet to be met," said the chairman of the Joint Committee, Frank Fahey.

"There appears to be a lack of urgency and coordination in the implementation of an action plan to tackle Dublin’s congestion problems, which need to be addressed immediately if we are serious about dealing with current traffic issues.”

The report recommended that high priority routes and cross city routes be designated to ensure reliable and efficient services, and that off peak frequency be increased using the existing fleet. It also said that buses should be allowed to use the Port Tunnel, and a bus gate - already recommended by the Dublin Transport Authority - be installed at College Green to facilitate a more free flowing bus service through the centre of the capital.

It is also seeking the construction of a temporary bridge beween Hawkins Street and Marlborough Street to speed up journey times, until a more permanent structure can be built.

“Traffic capacity of Dublin road network was reached 15 years ago. Today after unprecedented economic growth, the pressure on the network has increased by 300 per cent but little additional road capacity has been provided," said Mr Fahey.

"Therefore, it is more necessary now than ever that we encourage a greater number of Dublin’s commuters to use buses. This is especially relevant over the next five years before the light rail network is introduced throughout the city.”

Irishtimes.com

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Plans to ban motorists from city centre

MOTORISTS could be banned from driving through the heart of Dublin under radical new plans, it emerged yesterday.

Only buses and taxis would be allowed to use roads around College Green such as O'Connell Street, Westmoreland Street and Dame Street if the scheme gets government backing.

Oireachtas transport committee chairman Frank Fahey TD revealed the plan could be in place by next April. Other cities such as Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford are also likely, after that date, to make moves to ban private cars from key central arteries.

The Dublin overhaul would include 350 extra buses servicing the area every three minutes at peak times.

The proposal would see private vehicles diverted with the use of two new bridges across the Liffey.

There would be a temporary bridge at Macken Street, and another at either Hawkins Street or Marlborough Street, to keep traffic from the car-free zone.

The idea has won the backing of Dublin Chamber of Commerce. However, the capital already faces major disruption due to transport 21 projects such as extending Luas lines.

Mr Fahey said the move represented a way out of gridlock in the heart of the capital.

"This is a workable plan. We decided that reliable efficient bus transport can effectively deal with traffic congestion in the sort term in Dublin and the other four cities as well.

"We can't expect people to change to buses unless the buses have priority," Mr Fahey said.

He intends to press Transport Minister Noel Dempsey to push through the work needed.

"Too much time is taken at the moment in negotiating and consulting with a public that often times doesn't want to change," he said.

Mr Fahey said bus speeds in the centre of Dublin were now reduced to 3km per hour.

The report is to be considered by Mr Dempsey next week and the Oireachtas committee will then consider ways to ease traffic congestion in the four other cities by making their centres car-free.

Environment Minister and Green leader John Gormley would not be drawn on the plan.

"What I would like to see is a city centre that is pedestrian and cycle-friendly. You can do that by slowing down the traffic and having considerably more areas which are traffic free. My ideal would be a city similar to Copenhagen where you have it cycle and pedestrian-friendly and you have 34% of journeys to and from work by bike.

"We have increased cycling here over the past year but we could do a lot more. We are now about to introduce new legislation for the new Dublin Transport Authority," he said.

Shaun Connolly
Irish Examiner

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