The only way to go to the press conference at the launch of Transport 21 in Dublin Castle was by Luas, the newest and most popular form of public transport in the capital, writes Martin Mansergh
The seven extensions of the Luas, in part privately funded, are at the heart of the transport investment plan for Dublin. In that, Dublin is following the example of Vienna, where the tram is the flagship of that capital's public transport system, supplemented by metro and bus.
There is, rightly, no more talk of retrofitting the metro out to Sandyford. Connex is the tram operator in Dublin and Bordeaux.
In Bordeaux city centre, overheard wires are replaced by a pressure mat over an electric third rail in the middle of the street. It is entirely safe to the public and can be walked on, as it is only activated by trams. It is technically possible and desirable to keep most of the city centre free of the clutter of overhead lines.
Many elements of the plan of course are not new. What is new is that the Government has firmly adopted them, and agreed to fund them.
The size of the investment plan is a tribute to the sustained strength of the public finances. The main reason why little was done in earlier decades was lack of money. An ambitious countrywide motorway network and a first-rate public transport system only became both possible and necessary, when the Celtic Tiger started generating large current budget surpluses. Ireland does not have to look to the EU any more for major transport investment, though it was very helpful up until now. We can generate it from our own resources plus public-private partnerships, which can also get key infrastructure moving. A rail link to Dublin airport and Swords is long overdue. The public will love the plan. Some economists will hate it, much preferring private bus services. That argument has been left to one side.
Ryanair's Michael O'Leary came out to attack the plan and to launch another tasteless personalised attack on the Taoiseach, who has presided over an economy that has grown just as spectacularly as Ryanair.
Democratic governments will not be bullied by a wealthy and successful chief executive, whose stock-in-trade is o.t.t. self-publicity. No doubt, the private terminal for Ryanair was to be funded by parking charges, and the public should not be spoiled on the way. It takes far too long to travel through or around Dublin to the airport anywhere near the rush hour. If there were not the rail connections from Stansted, many fewer people would use Ryanair to go to London or East Anglia. The Paddington Express (15 minutes' journey time) has transformed access from Heathrow to London.
Far from placing him in the vanguard of progress, Michael O'Leary's dismissal of the metro as a departmental "vanity project" places him in the tradition of Jim Mitchell's comments about Knock Airport being "on a foggy and boggy hill". The metro will be more efficient, less energy wasteful, more customer and environmentally friendly, and economical of land.
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has put the National Spatial Strategy at the centre of the plan nationwide. Work on the Atlantic Corridor is already well advanced (eg, the roads from Cork to Mallow and Limerick to Ennis, including its bypass). Public pressure will push to complete the western rail corridor, and there need be little doubt that Claremorris to Sligo will be completed.
Fr Micheál Mac Gréil deserves commendation for persevering with what must have seemed a hopeless mission.
Regarding credible delivery, visible improvements are everywhere to be seen, whether it is the M1 to Ballymascanlon, north of Dundalk, the completed M50 motorway, the N11 dual carriageway that in the next stage will go beyond Gorey, or the M7 to Portlaoise, and the N8 coming up from Cork to meet it, and the Dart upgrade.
The national secondary roads round the western seaboard and across the midlands (N52, N80) will receive attention, as the motorways are completed. After that, there are many roads between busy provincial towns that badly need improvements.
Transport policy was once heavily skewed towards roads, with railways operating on a care and maintenance basis and under a perpetual financial squeeze from authorities that resented their subsidisation.
The change of emphasis over the past eight years has been astonishing, with the rail safety programme insisted on by former minister Mary O'Rourke being the turning point. Without detriment to a continuing high level of road investment, 44 per cent of the funding is earmarked for public transport to cope with further increases in commuter numbers.
The presence of Minister for Finance Brian Cowen was particularly significant. At official level, much credit goes to Julie O'Neill, secretary-general of the Department of Transport, and Mary Doyle, assistant secretary in the Taoiseach's Department, and secretary to the Cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure.
If extra choice and capacity are provided, the public will use it. Better roads provide faster journey times outside of peak hours.
The unencumbered commuter and long-distance traveller can use their time far more productively travelling by rail or Luas, where available.
CIÉ is better at providing early-morning services than late-night ones. There are almost no late-night trains for those who might want to spend an evening in the capital or other cities. More frequent, better timed and faster services are awaited.
A bolder matching transport policy in Northern Ireland is wanted, but would be easier to progress if the Executive and North-South Ministerial Council were back in operation. Intimations that a private freight company wants to use the railway are welcome, as CIÉ has run down its freight operation.
The contribution fixed track can make in alleviating delay and congestion caused by heavy vehicles is missed at present.
Ambitious plans have to be acted on. The Government has 18 months to convince a somewhat sceptical public that there will be a determined follow-through and that it will all happen. Some plans could even be brought forward.
