I appreciate fully the patience of those business people and residents who are being inconvenienced by Luas works in their area. I understand from the railway procurement agency that most, if not all, of the current track laying work should be completed by the year-end, which should alleviate the situation. I should add that constructing a major light rail system in a built city environment cannot be undertaken without disruption and most cities which have recently constructed similar systems have encountered similar problems.
Luas is part of an expanded future public transport system designed to alleviate traffic problems in Dublin, as outlined in the Dublin Transportation Office's, A Platform for Change. In the medium to long-term, the emphasis of the strategy is to move to rail-based public transport such as Luas-metro and suburban rail. This strategy will achieve a modal shift from the private car to a more sustainable integrated public transport system. Indeed, the strategy responds to the Deputy's concerns about congestion on our roads. As a further step in implementing this strategy, I intend bringing proposals shortly to Government on the first phase of a metro system for Dublin.
