Cullen considers linking Luas lines

A proposal to connect the two Luas lines in Dublin city centre will be brought before the Government in the next few months, a senior minister confirmed today.

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said it was an important move which would ensure connectivity between the whole public transport service.

“I think they should be connected. I think it would possibly take from 18 months to two years from start to finish to finalise the planning and everything to get it done,” Mr Cullen said.

Mr Cullen said more people would make use of public transport if they were offered a well-integrated system including Dublin Bus, Irish Rail, Luas and Dublin Bus.

“I am actively looking at the whole spectrum of where Luas is,” the Waterford TD said. “An integrated ticketing system is another obvious one in terms of convenience accessing the systems.”

The proposals would take several months to prepare but it was hoped they could go to Cabinet early in the New Year.

“I just don’t want to make a snap judgment, there is a number of questions. There is possible extensions to the Luas, there is the connection of the Luas, how does that fit in and marry up with the other modes of transport?” he asked.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last week said the proposed €3.4bn Metro link from the city centre to Dublin Airport would not be built by 2007 as planned.

The figures for the Luas link were speculative but it would cost around €70m.

The Railway Procurement Agency said the consultation and planning process meant it would probably be 2006 before construction could begin.

It was always planned that the two lines would be joined but after an initial project review the link was dropped.

The track linking the two lines would be laid from St Stephen’s Green down Dawson Street and over O’Connell Bridge to join the red line at the O’Connell Street junction.

Mr Cullen said he would not agree with objections that those streets were too narrow for tram tracks.

“There are room for tram tracks and there are room for buses,” he said. The minister said other capital cities have placed an emphasis on using the city centre for public transport with great success.