John Henry, Director of DTO, welcomed the participants to Dublin. He described the DTO’s responsibilities and the policy situation. The DTO is responsible for strategic transport planning in the Greater Dublin County, covering all transport modes over a large area – ¼ the total surface area of Ireland. Much of Dublin is low density housing and the Irish people have a strong affinity with car travel.

Ciaran McKeon presented Transport Planning in Greater Dublin. The key points were;

• Large parts of Dublin remain undeveloped but there has been a huge increase in the number of jobs, car ownership and demand for travel over the last 10-15 years.
• The DTO is responsible for monitoring the Quality Bus Corridors in Dublin which have been responsible for large increases in the number of people accessing Dublin city centre by bus.
• The population of Dublin is expected to increase from 1.51 million on 2001 to 1.75 million in 2016 and car ownership is expected to double from 1991 levels by 2016 (see table 1). Travel on all modes of transport is increasing rapidly and congestion on Dublin’s roads is now a serious problem. The DTO plans to address this by constructing an integrated public transport network, including the development of new light rail and metro lines, and improvements to suburban rail. It is forecast that this will achieve a significant modal shift from car to public transport.

Table 1 Growth of the Greater Dublin Area

• The strategy is based on a “walk and ride”, i.e. Citizens will be able to complete journeys by walk to public transport stops.
  
• To increase the capacity of the public transport network in Dublin, the carriages on the DART suburban rail system have been increased from 4 to 8.
  
• A metro system is proposed.
  
• In Dublin, a canal runs around the edge of the city centre, providing a useful physical barrier that the DTO uses as a cordon for vehicle counts.
  
• The Quality Bus Corridors in Dublin have been a huge success in speeding up bus journeys and attracting new passengers along key radial routes into Dublin city centre. Details of a flagship QBC, the Stillorgan QBC were given. This corridors has continuous bus lanes along most (> 80%) of route and new, high quality buses operating a high frequency service. Most bus lanes operate from 7am to 7pm. At canal cordon QBC crossing points, there has been a direct modal shift from private car to bus travel of 18% between 1997 and 2003.
  
• Dublin Bus, a public company, operates approximately 95% of the buses in Dublin and has autonomy in deciding which routes to operate and the frequency of services, subject to Department of Transport approval.
  
• Park and Ride sites along the QBCs have not been introduced as the congestion starts 10-15km outside the city – a policy of rail based Park and Ride is being pursued.
  
• The full implementation of the DTO’s plans would see a huge increase in the number people using rail (metro, light rail and heavy rail) in 2016,. It is expected that most of these new users will transfer from car travel and that to achieve such a large modal shift, some demand management measures will be required to accompany the new public transport infrastructure. Much of the new light rail (LUAS) line will be constructed on existing roads thereby transferring road space from private to public transport modes.
  
• The DTO has a powerful transport planning model which is one of the best in Europe. Details of this model were e-mailed to working group members.
  
• Quality Bus Corridors were met with strong opposition from traders initially but are now widely accepted by the public and very popular. The QBCs have been introduced and extended gradually which has helped to moderate the public opposition toward them and gain public acceptance.

Site Visit 1 – The LUAS

The working group travelled along the Green Line to Balally where development is taking place around the LUAS stop, showing good integration between land use and public transport.

LUAS is the new light rail network in Dublin and takes its name from the Gaelic word for speed. The trams are actually the same design as those observed by the working group in Barcelona last year with a 300 capacity including 88 seats. The vehicles are 80% low floor.

Line 1 is 9 km long, 1½ km of which is new track laid on existing streets. The rest of the line follows an old railway line to the South West of Dublin. For the on-street sections of the route, the tram has right of way over other vehicle traffic and signals are timed to reflect this. The route is segregated from other vehicle traffic for almost its whole length and where road space is shared with other vehicles, this is only for short sections where there is no chance of queues building up.

The total journey time of the route is 20 minutes with a frequency of 5 minutes. Park and Ride facilities (900 spaces in total) are provided at three of the outer LUAS stops.

The LUAS line has had an impact on traders with short term leases more than long term leaseholders as the disruption during construction works has affected these businesses more. Where the LUAS was thought to have a potentially negative affect on the quality of life for citizens through higher noise levels, the constructors built a sound barrier to deaden the sound of the trams. The tram has a top speed of 70km/hour which it reaches on some of the segregated sections of the route. There is cycle parking at most stops but cycles are not allowed on the LUAS vehicles due to a lack of space. Initial evidence shows that the cycle racks at LUAS stations are being well used.

Connex operates the LUAS system.

House prices are thought to have increased since the LUAS opened.

Presentation of the LUAS

Tom O’Reilly, Rail Procurement Agency

Tom O’Reilly described the detail of the LUAS scheme and the responsibilities of the Rail Procurement Agency. The key points made in the presentation were;

• The Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Bill – 2001 gave the RPA the following tasks;
  – Procure and develop LRT and Metro
  – Enter PPP arrangements
  – Develop property at stations/beside lines
  – Operate LRT and Metro systems (with private partners)
  – to provide and develop an integrated ticketing system
  
• The DTI Study of 1991 – 1994 recommended the following;
  – 3 Light Rail (Luas) lines, QBCs, integrated ticketing, road improvements
  – Light Rail Bill 1996 – 1 LUAS line Tallaght to Balally

A Government decision to consider an ‘underground section’ of the LUAS in May 1998 meant that the 2 Luas lines opened in 2004 were not joined in the city centre.
– The decision to proceed with Luas Lines A and B was taken in 1999
– The main contract was awarded in Spring 2000

LUAS Design Principles

• Serve areas of existing and new population
  
• High quality public space, materials and finishes
  
• Reduced traffic and parking-Mode transfer/P&R
  
• Increased pedestrianisation, cycling and bike parks
  
• Minimise visual and environmental impact
  
• Provide icons, public art and landmarks
  
• Accessibility and integration with other transport services
  
• Encourage Increased density of development along corridor

The RPA is responsible for developing light rail and metro schemes in Dublin, not heavy rail. They also have the power to develop property adjacent to stations and stops.

The LUAS aims to attract car users, rather than taking passengers from bus services. The construction of major engineering projects along the lines has been undertaking with a view to creating landmarks and icons.

The proposed LUAS and metro lines are shown in Figure 1 below;

Figure 1 Proposed LUAS and Metro Lines

Figure 2 shows the LUAS lines opened in 2004

Figure 2 LUAS Lines 1 and 2

LUAS Facts and Figures

Green Line (St Stephen’s Green to Sandyford)

• Green Line started 30th June 2004
  
• 5 Days Free Travel – 350,000+ Passengers (approx)
  
• Commercial operation started 5th July 2004
  
• Average Daily Patronage = 21,350
  
• Expected 2004 Total = 4,000,000 Trips

Red Line (Tallaght to Connolly Station)

• Red Line started 28th Sept 2004
  
• 6 Days Free Travel – 225,000+ Passengers (approx)
  
• Commercial operation Started 4th Oct 2004
  
• Average Daily Patronage = 23,250
  
• Expected 2004 Total = 2,000,000 Trips
  
• Total Fare Luas = 6,000,000 Trips in 2004
  
• + 575,000 during free periods

Next Phase;

• Extend Luas Network to:
  – Docklands
  – Cherrywood (South of Sandyford)
  – Cross City

Figure 3 shows the rail lines to be constructed in Dublin by 2014,

Figure 3 Dublin Light Rail and Metro Network 2014

Site Visit 2 – Stillorgan Quality Bus Corridor

The participants took a ride on a bus along the Stillorgan Quality Bus corridor which runs from the city centre out to the prosperous suburbs of South Dublin. The bus corridor is 9.2 km long and has segregated bus lanes for nearly all of its length.

Bus lanes are enforced by the Garda (Irish Police) but the fact that the bus lanes are continuous seems to make drivers less likely to drive in them. The bus lane is conspicuous throughout its length and is well used by many buses.

Site Visit 3 Dublin Docklands Development Authority

The DDDA is a regeneration body funded by the Irish Government with special planning powers to develop the 520 hectare site around the Dublin Port. Over recent years, port activities have gradually moved down the river towards the mouth of the Liffey, leaving derelict land in between the city centre and the new port area. This land is ideal for regeneration.

In 1997, a 15 year masterplan was produced which envisaged 23,000 new residents in the docklands area and 30,000 new jobs in a mixed use development. There is a well established community of about 3000 people in the densely populated western part of the docklands area.

The port of Dublin is a major generator of freight traffic which has to pass through the centre of Dublin to access the port terminal. A new Eastern bypass, of motorway standard, is planned to link the port to the M50 ring road and a tunnel is being built to enable traffic to access the port without congesting and polluting the city centre. This tunnel will be tolled at about €5 per vehicle which should deter commuter traffic. The Eastern Bypass, by joining up with the existing M50 orbital road, will create a ring road around the city centre although the exact alignment of this road has not yet been defined.

The new road development in the area is all aimed at strategic, rather than local traffic. Despite the construction of a tunnel under the congested port access roads, traffic on roads in the docklands area is still expected to increase. It was felt that a “freight only” port access road would not justify the level of funding invested and was not a popular choice amongst local politicians.

The role of public transport is key in the development of the docklands area as the existing roads are already congested so development cannot be undertaken with a view to encouraging car use. The LUAS red line terminates at Connolly station to the west of the docklands area but the DDDA wishes to extend the line into the docklands. At present, there is an International Finance centre between Connolly station and the docklands area and stakeholders in the finance centre are concerned about the disruption of building a LUAS line through past their offices. A bus alternative is also being modelled, but it is felt that a bus line would not stimulate regeneration to the same extent as a LUAS line.

There is a suburban rail line (DART) which runs on an elevated track forming a psychological barrier between the city centre and the docklands area (see Figure 3). The suburban rail network is congested at present so a DART interconnector line is planned to link the Belfast line to the north of the docklands area to the DART line south of the river (through a tunnel). There are existing freight railway lines into the docklands area. A new station is planned which would be accessible from both sides of the river in the docklands area. There is a lack of bridges east of the city centre, in the docklands area although some are planned.

There is competition for funding between LUAS and DART, both of which have major schemes planned in the docklands area.

The river has little boat traffic, but a tourist –based river taxi is planned.

South of the river, an old gasworks site which was heavily contaminated and therefore unattractive to private developers, was purchased by the DDDA and has been cleaned up and is ready for development.