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Fairview based community activist Pádraig de Burca today attacked the recently approved Dublin Port Tunnel and dismissed claims by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke, that the public transport element of the National Development Plan represents 'a new dawn' for commuters.
"One of the main reasons the DPT is being pushed is because it supposedly is a main part of the DTI's jigsaw. But this strategy is now in tatters. The proposed DPT is a two tunnel motorway rather than the DTI's single carriageway. Dublin Corporation is proposing to construct the full Eastern Bypass rather than the DTI's northern portion only. New HGV management options such as the marshalling yard are being held up. The Luas options currently under consideration bear no resemblance to the DTI's light rail."
"The proposals for public transport over the 7 years of the National
Development Plan are singularly lacking innovation or vision. There is not
one new idea included in the plan. The Minister has secured long overdue
investment for existing services, but she has failed to radically reform
our public transport system in the new millennium,"
"For instance, there is no proposal in the plan to construct a rail link to Dublin Airport. At the end of Minister O'Rourke's so called 'new dawn' Dublin will still be the only capital city in the EU without a rail link to its chief airport. Dublin's Northside will lose out yet again. Caution and conservatism are the defining characteristics of the proposals. An additional 275 buses and just 3,700 park and ride spaces will not transform public transport in Dublin and the Minister knows it,"
"The allocation of £500m for an underground tunnel for the Luas in Dublin's city centre - which I fear will never see the light of day - is scandalous considering the comparative penny-pinching when it comes to properly developing our rail & bus networks. The only people looking for this tunnel is the car lobby. Echoes of the Dublin Port Tunnel."
"I gave evidence to the public inquiry on the DPT. I was also cross-examined by Dublin Corporation's Senior Counsel, who raised the tragic fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel, which killed 40 people. I had stated that the Dublin Transport Initiative strategy was now in tatters and cited the proposed dual tunnel rather than the DTI's single tunnel proposal as an example. Dublin Corporation contended that this was important for safety reasons and that the fire in the Mont Blanc gave us an example of why this was so. Naturally I agreed that safety must be of paramount importance but I also pointed out that the safety of the tunnel users, the builders and the people living in houses over the tunnel must take top priority. When asked whether I would therefore prefer a dual tunnel system as proposed to a single tunnel system, I said I would prefer a zero tunnel system."
"And to add insult to injury, the Minister now proposes to increase fares on our stretched, unsafe and crowded trains & buses."
"While elements of the plan are welcome, it fails to represent a
new
departure for public transport in Ireland. The stark fact is that this Government
intends to spend twice as much on road building than on public transport
over the lifetime of the National Development Plan. Despite all the hype
public transport will not enjoy 'a new dawn' over the next 7 years."
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