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	LUAS

NATIONAL TRANSPORT AUTHORITY

M3 PARKWAY-NAVAN

In July, the National Transport Authority (NTA) advised Meath County Council "At present, a rail order [sic] is being prepared for the Navan rail line which will be submitted to the NTA for funding approval. When the proposed rail order is received, the NTA will make its determination in this regard... Given the current economic situation, it is unlikely that Navan rail line project will be delivered in the timescale of the Development Plan (2015)."

DART UNDERGROUND

Also In July, the NTA told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that the Heuston-Connolly route via the Phoenix Park tunnel was not a viable alternative to DART Underground. The NTA said that the major rail projects in the Authority's transport strategy remained key to the provision of a sustainable transport system for Dublin and surrounding counties, but it was not realistic to believe all projects in the strategy would be implemented in the short term.

ANNUAL REPORT

The NTA 2010 Annual Report noted “The Authority entered into Contracts for the provision of socially necessary but financially unviable public transport services with Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann for 5 years and with Iarnród Éireann for 10 years on 1 December 2009. These contracts reflect and comply with EU Regulation 1370/2007…”

“The Contracts set performance standards for the operators with regard to the reliability, punctuality and quality of services provided. Throughout 2010 the Authority monitored the performance of the transport operators… The operators all met the performance-related standards set out in the Contracts and the related compensation (10% of the overall level of compensation agreed) was paid.”

“In December 2010, the Minister for Transport designated the Authority as the body responsible for the enforcement in Ireland of EU Regulation 1371/2007 concerning rail passengers’ rights and obligations.”

RAILWAY PROCUREMENT AGENCY (RPA)

ANNUAL REPORT

In April, the Railway Procurement Agency published its Annual Report for 2010, the sixth full year of operation of the Luas Red and Green Lines. Luas celebrated its seventh birthday on 30 June. Since Luas brought trams back to Dublin’s streets after an absence of over half a century, three extensions have been added, Luas Docklands in December 2009 and Luas Cherrywood in October 2010. The third extension, Luas Citywest opened in July 2011. The RPA reported an 8% increase in passenger numbers on Luas from 25.4 million in 2009 to 27.5 million in 2010 and a pre-tax operating surplus on infrastructure activities of €1.1m.

Luas continues to maintain its position within the small group of successful urban public transport systems in Europe that do not require operating subventions. The underlying trend in passenger numbers for Luas is very positive. The second half of 2010 saw a very strong performance by the Red Line which serves a greater variety of destinations and users than the Green Line. RPA is very encouraged that the public continues to show confidence in the Luas service at a time when there is less congestion on the roads and when employment and retail activity have seen sharp declines. There are also strong indications that many people are using Luas Park+Ride facilities and connections to mainline rail and bus services to travel to major entertainment and social events in venues such as Croke Park, Aviva Stadium, the new Grand Canal Theatre and the O2. The new Citywest Luas extension includes a 312 space Park+Ride at Cheeverstown. Work has commenced on a similar Park+Ride at Carrickmines which will open later this year. During 2010 RPA and Veolia Transport Ireland (now Veolia-Transdev) carried out a range of promotional activities which were designed to remind people of the convenience, good value and environmental benefits of Luas.

secondment OFFER to staff

The RPA is proposing to offer some of its 300 staff the chance of taking up secondments to other international agencies in the near future, given the sharp reduction in the agency's short-term workload. While many projects, such as Metro North and the Luas BXD, are in planning, they may be delayed due to the high cost of borrowing for capital projects. It is expected that any staff on secondment would receive the same salary, pensions and benefits as their current job, with these costs being recovered from the new employer. RPA employees who were involved in the integrated ticketing programme moved into the NTA earlier this year.

Proposal to merge RPA and NRA

The Minister for Transport Dr Leo Varadkar TD has sought the public's views on a merger of the RPA and NRA (National Roads Authority). Last April, he announced his intention to bring proposals to government to merge both into a new commercial state sponsored body called the Transport Infrastructure Service. This would take on additional functions, such as procurement of Bus Rapid Transport and planning and procurement functions, beyond the transport field. The new body will be smaller than the two parent agencies, in line with government policy to streamline and reduce the number of public bodies.

 

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 176, published October 2011