Luas to aid inner city renewal, says CIE

Dublin's proposed light rail service between Tallaght and Abbey Street will serve disadvantaged areas and will stimulate urban regeneration, especially in the north inner city, the project's director, Mr Donal Mangan, said yesterday.

Opening the evidence for Coras Iompair Eireann, CIE at the first day of the public inquiry into the making of a Dublin Light Railway Order, he said the planned light rail transport (LRT) system would be an integrated and attractive addition to Dublin city and suburbs.

The project will involve the construction of 14km of double track rails, tram stops, and associated structures. The trams are to be 30 metres in length initially, but they can be extended to 40 or 50-metre units. The trams, of which CIE intends to purchase an initial 20 for the Tallaght line, will also be built in such a way that the sides expand and contract to travel around corners. They will also have a partial low floor which is wheelchair-friendly.

The normal carrying capacity of a tram is 235 people with 60 of these seated. The maximum carrying capacity of the LRT system for all Dublin will be about 3,000 people every hour, per direction, per line. When the three lines to Sandyford, Ballymun and Tallaght are commissioned this will give an operational capacity of 18,000 people per hour, which the Light Rail Project Office feels is more than sufficient to meet the projected demand. However, passenger capacity can be expanded if demand increases by using longer vehicles or higher frequency.

General service frequency initially is proposed to be five-minute intervals during peak hours and 10- to 15-minute intervals outside these times. Trams will operate seven days a week from early morning to late at night, although exact starting and finishing times were not specified at the inquiry. The approximate journey time from Tallaght Town Centre to Middle Abbey Street will be about 38 minutes.

The LRT stops will have low platforms on either side of the tracks. Platforms will have a typical height of about one step above footpath level, which will ensure a level boarding movement for wheelchairs.

An overhead electricity supply to power the system will be carried on poles or suspended from the sides of existing buildings at the city end of the route. The track gauge to be used will be that which applies throughout much of Europe, which is slightly narrower than Iarnrod Eireann's.

Of the total length of 14km in the proposed Tallaght line, just four km is shared on-street space, in the area covering the approach to Heuston Station and on to Abbey Street.

The line will run through residential areas in Tallaght and industrial areas beside the M50, St James's Hospital, and Heuston Station, and through Dublin Corporation's Historic Area Rejuvenation Project in the north inner city.