Plans to run Luas via IFSC criticised

Plans by CIE to run the Luas light railway to Connolly Station via the International Financial Services Centre have been strongly criticised in the report of the public inquiry into the proposed line extension.

The findings of the inspector, Judge O Leary, Sean O'Leary, recommend approval by the Minister for Public Enterprise of the extension - known as "Line C" - from Middle Abbey Street to Store Street, subject to conditions including the provision of an alternative link to the terminus at Connolly.

But the judge said CIE's proposal for a stop at Harbourmaster Place in the IFSC would have "utterly changed" the quality of those working and living nearby. Neither Dublin Corporation nor CIE had "properly considered the adverse consequences arising from the diversion of the Connolly stop from the Connolly Station ramp to Harbourmaster Place," he said.

The report found that the estimated 20,000 passengers who would have used the IFSC stop daily - on a platform restricted to two-thirds of the normal width - would have had a "severe effect" on local tenants and residents.

It said the decision to locate the stop in Harbourmaster Place, rather than the nearby station, had been taken "late in the process" because of Dublin Corporation's stated intention to use the station ramp in a future "piazzatype" development.

"It is the view of the inquiry that the necessary information relating to this proposal has not been made in a coherent and understandable way," the inspector said.

The report, which will now be considered by the Minister, Ms O'Rourke, recommends approval of the extension from Middle Abbey Street - where the Tallaght line terminates - to Store Street, subject to 13 conditions.

The key condition is that work on the line will not begin until the Minister approves a further extension connecting Store Street to a stop "in or adjacent" to Connolly Station. This is necessary because "the economic justification for Line C is dependent on a link to Connolly Station," the report says.