Vol. 572 No. 3
400 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Transport the projected distribution of peak hour passengers into Dublin city when Luas is fully operational, distinguishing the numbers travelling by bus, by DART, by Luas, by private car and by motorcycle and bicycle at the point when Luas is fully operational. [22849/03]
The Dublin Transportation Office has just recently updated its traffic model and revised traffic projections are currently being produced. These are expected shortly. I have asked the DTO to forward the Deputy the relevant data as soon as they are available.
401 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Transport his projections for the operating subsidy on Dublin Bus, on the DART and on Luas per passenger and as a percentage of passenger revenue. [22850/03]
The subsidy for Dublin Bus was €56 million in 2002 which equates to around €0.4 per passenger journey and to 36% of the passenger revenue.
The operating subsidy for DART services was €15.5 million in 2002, equivalent to around €0.8 per passenger journey and 67% of revenue. These figures involve an apportionment between DART and other suburban services of shared costs and disaggregation of revenue and passenger revenues. Based on current estimates of revenue from fare box, projected operations and maintenance costs for Luas, the Railway Procurement Agency, RPA, estimates that Luas will operate at approximately break-even during full operational years.
Operating subsidy per passenger and as a percentage of revenue is a function of costs, fare yield per passenger and level of service provided. Given the work being undertaken in my Department on forthcoming regulatory change in the bus market and on fares increases, I am not in a position at this stage to provide the Deputy with projections which have a high degree of accuracy.
402 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Transport the cost of the Luas fleet per carriage and per passenger of capacity; and the way in which this compares with the cost per bus of the Dublin Bus fleet and per passenger of capacity. [22851/03]
I understand from the Railway Procurement Agency that the cost per unit of the 26 30-metre trams purchased for the Luas line from Tallaght to Connolly Station was €1.458 million, while the unit cost of the 40-metre trams for the Sandyford to St. Stephen's Green line was €2.19 million. The cost per passenger on either tram is €7,060.
Dublin Bus paid €270,000 per unit for the buses recently purchased, which equates to a cost per passenger of €3,000. The expected life service of a bus is 12 years, while that of a tram is 30 years. Accordingly, over the life of the asset, the average annual cost per seat per tram is €235 and that per bus is €250.
