WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2708/96 by Patricia McKENNA to the Commission. Light rail system in Dublin
Date: 1996-10-09
Institutions: European Parliament, MCKENNA
Subjects: EU aid, Ireland, co-financing, cost-benefit analysis, means of public conveyance, project evaluation, public transport, rail transport, transport lines, urban transport













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91996E2708

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2708/96 by Patricia McKENNA to the Commission. Light rail system in Dublin  


Official Journal C 091 , 20/03/1997 P. 0024 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-2708/96 by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission (9 October 1996)Subject: Light rail system in DublinEarlier this year spokespeople for Commissioner Wulf Mathies were quoted in Irish newspapers on the exclusion of Dublin's northside from the first phase of the Luas light rail project, which is being co-financed by the EU. The spokespeople said that the Commissioner had requested that the Irish authorities conduct a socioeconomic study to assess whether the need for the light rail is as acute on the northside of the city as it is on the southside and to ascertain if it is justifiable to exclude the northside from the project's first phase.Can the Commission give details of whatever contacts it has had with the Irish authorities on this matter? Have the Irish authorities conducted or agreed to conduct any socioeconomic evaluation such as that suggested by the Commission? What reasons have the Irish authorities given the Commission for the exclusion of the northside from the project's first phase?Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (15 November 1996)The Commission has maintained close contact with the Irish authorities ever since this project was announced. It is represented on a steering group which has been created to oversee the project. One of the first tasks of the steering group has been to undertake a full socio-economic cost-benefit analysis of the three routes currently under consideration.This study was undertaken jointly by the Commission and the Irish authorities and carried out by an independent external consultancy firm. Work commenced in June 1996 and a final report was prepared during October. Following the production of this report an agreement was reached with the Irish authorities to go ahead with the southern and western routes as the first phase of LRT for Dublin as these were deemed to be the best solutions both from a technical and transport economic point of view. However, it was also agreed to construct the northern route as soon as possible and at the latest immediately after the completion of the other two routes. This agreement will bring forward the construction of the northern route by at least two years.The reason that one route will have to be excluded from this first phase of LRT is set out in the Transport operational programme ((Operational Programme for Transport 1994-1999, p. 47/8 (ISBN - 7076 0462 1/1994). )), agreed between the Commission and the Irish authorities in July 1994, as follows: 'The core LRT system would cost approximately 371 MECU. This system cannot be fully constructed within the 247 MECU proposed for LRT under this programme. A longer time frame than that of this Programme (1994-1999) will be needed to physically complete the core LRT network. Detailed work is urgently in hands to determine the optimum combination of LRT links, which could be constructed over the 1994-1999 period'.