Brady tracks down final Luas piece in €800m 'pain'

THE last metre of track on the Luas light rail system was laid by the Lord Mayor of Dublin yesterday.

After problems with cost projections, construction works and the Red Cow Roundabout crisis, the €800 million service is due to begin operating this summer.

"There's no gain without pain and the citizens certainly have a lot of pain from Luas. Hopefully in years to come, we'll look back and say it was worth doing," said Lord Mayor Royston Brady.

The St Stephen's Green to Sandyford line will open in June and the Tallaght to Abbey Street line will open in August. This line will also continue on to Connolly Station, which had its approach ramp controversially removed during construction works.

The original intention was to allow Luas trams to enter the station at ground level but then in the middle of the project, it was decided to run the trams as far as the Point Depot. There was then no need for the trains to enter Connolly station but the ramp had already been demolished, at an estimated cost of €15m.

Mr Brady said the incident showed the need for long-term planning.

"We seem to miss the finer points and I really hope going forward we don't just plan for five years. We need to project 15-20 years down the road."

But Fine Gael said the Lord Mayor should have been travelling to Connolly Station on the Luas by now, rather than laying tracks.

"Luas should have been up and running 18 months ago. It is way behind schedule and way over budget," said transport spokesman Denis Naughton.

He said the drawn out construction process had left a bad taste in the mouths of Dublin people and that the whole project lacked accountability.

"There has to be a complete overhaul of how these projects are managed and make them similar to how private sector projects are managed," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Brady has pledged to apologise again for describing his fellow councillors as "pathetic", "a waste of space" and "clowns". Mr Brady said the comments were made when councillors had raised questions about his wedding which was held (and paid for by Mr Brady) in the Mansion House.

"It wasn't a sweeping statement about the council and I have already apologised. But I'll retract the remarks if that's what it takes to get back to my priority, the council business," he said.