Luas service ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’
The Green Party said today that the National Transport Authority was ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’, as it was revealed that 7 Luas trams have been transferred from servicing the Red Line to the Green Line.
Green Party Representative in Dublin South Central, Ed Davitt, said that it was another shocking indictment of poor planning of the Cross City rollout, and that Red Line users were being unfairly affected by the reduction in trams.
Speaking today, Davitt said: “It is completely unacceptable that Red Line commuters should suffer lower capacity, and a less reliable service due to the poor planning for the rollout of the Cross City service. The solution to alleviating problems on the Green Line, is to create problems on the Red Line? That’s not a solution – that’s robbing Peter to pay Paul. Commuters, on the Red Line and on the Green Line, deserve better than this. The Government and the NTA must get on top of this issue, and quickly.”
Green Party Deputy Leader, Catherine Martin TD, said: “These problems were entirely predictable, and responsibility lies with the Government for poor planning. Even though passenger numbers on the Luas increased by 10.2% in 2017, and the Luas has approximately 30% more track on the Green Line to service since the opening of the Cross City, only 7 more trams will be in circulation this year over last. Capacity is a massive issue already, and will only get worse as development at Cherrywood kicks off. The Government must act. The situation with overcrowding and delays is becoming dangerous.”
Further information:
The response to the Parliamentary Question submitted by Deputy Catherine Martin can be found here.
