[Article] New Luas stops will not open due to downturn

[Colm Moore]

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news...e-to-downturn/

New Luas stops will not open due to downturn
Conor McMorrow, Political Correspondent

WE already have hundreds of ghost housing estates and the latest monument to the economic bubble is set to be ghost tram stations along a new €300m Luas line.

The Sunday Tribune can reveal that some of the tram stations on the new 7.5km Luas Green line extension will not be operational when it opens.

The long-awaited Cherrywood extension, which will almost double the existing 9km line from St Stephen's Green to Sandyford, is expected to begin operating in October.

But the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), the agency responsible for developing the state's light rail infrastructure, confirmed that two of the 12 stops will not be opened as they serve areas that are "not populated".

Stations at Brennanstown, which has not been developed as had been expected, and at Leopardstown Racecourse will not now open.

The RPA said the stops at Central Park, Glencairn, The Gallops, Leopardstown Valley, Ballyogan Wood, Carrickmines, Laughanstown Cherrywood and Brides Glen will be operational.

Brennanstown station will not be operational as the RPA said there was "currently no road infrastructure in the vicinity of the stop" and the area is not as populated as was expected when the Luas extension was planned.

The Cherrywood line has been funded by a public-private partnership and it has been reported that the extension will cost €300m, with most of that money coming from the public purse.

Developers who built housing schemes within a kilometre of the Luas line were charged a special development levy, which was expected to raise about €150m.

When asked about the cost of the project, a spokeswoman for the RPA said: "As the project has been funded by a combination of exchequer funding, Section 49 levies and contributions of land and works from developers along the route, it is not appropriate to release the exact monetary values of these elements while commercial negotiations are ongoing."

Many of the developments along the new Luas extension are apartment blocks of between five and seven storeys which are largely vacant.

Fine Gael's transport spokesman, Simon Coveney, said: "If we have invested in the cost of building these stations and now they are not opening them it seems to be pretty poor planning. It is another example of waste in expenditure.

"What we need is the detail of the cost of the planning and the cost of actually putting those stops in place so we get a clear picture of how much money has been wasted."

UCD transport planning expert, Dr Enda Murphy, believes having public transport facilities in place before residential development is built is best international practice.