Luas in profit a year ahead of schedule

The annual report and financial review of Luas for 2005 to be published this morning will announce that the tram system is moving into profit a year ahead of schedule and is unlikely to require any subsidy for 2006.

The Department of Transport did not expect Dublin's Luas system to break even until 2007 at the earliest. Provision had been made for a subsidy of €3.28 million in 2004 and €2.32 million in 2005, declining rapidly to just €161,000 in 2006.

However, this morning's report is expected to reveal passenger numbers climbing more rapidly than expected, exceeding the break-even figure of 20 million a year, and revenues significantly ahead of target.

The 2005 review will also address problems of crowding on both tram lines and detail measures such as additional trams to increase capacity.

The position makes Luas unique in the State-owned mass-transit sector, with significant annual subsidies still being paid to the CIÉ companies. These are currently €65 million to Dublin Bus, €25 million to Bus Éireann and €180 million to Iarnród Éireann. Luas is not, however, repaying its construction costs of €750 million.

The figures are good news for Minister for Transport Martin Cullen, who has continually said he expected Luas to exceed all expectations. It also means a saving on the "Luas deficit" provision of €5.761 million over the three years.

Because of the success of the tramway, however, many passengers waiting at stops close to the city are unable to board at morning peak times. Similarly, trams leaving Dublin in the evening rush are very heavily crowded. Last November, the Green Party expressed concern about the extension of the Sandyford line to Cherrywood, pointing out that this could mean trams would get full much earlier, with little or no capacity remaining by the Dundrum stop.

But this morning's report is expected to address the possibility of running additional trams in to Dublin from the Beechwood stop at Dunville Avenue in a move that would mean trams calling at stops between there and the city centre would be less crowded.

Another possibility would be to increase the frequency of trams, but this move would require an upgrade of the electricity supply if the trams were to achieve a frequency greater than every three minutes.