Rail Users Ireland Forum - [Article] Luas Line to lead to "Hundreds" of Job Loses

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Businesses up in arms over planned Lucan Luas line
Neil Callanan
Submissions to Railway Procurement Agency warn of 'disastrous' business closures on proposed Luas route

The proposed Luas line to Lucan, likely to be one of the first projects dropped by the government in its spending cutbacks, has met with opposition from businesses on the route. Submissions to the Railway Procurement Agency, which have been seen by the Sunday Tribune, say the route could close businesses and the disruption would be "intolerable".

Builders' provider DPL Group is particularly worried about the prospect of the Luas serving Old Kilmainham. Managing director Jeremiah Maher wrote that it "would have the disastrous effect of closing down our long-standing business resulting in enormous job losses for the area. It is our intention to ensure our company, based in Old Kilmainham for over 35 years, is not closed down and be assured we will utilise all of the resources at our disposal to prevent Luas line option F being routed through Old Kilmainham."

The company employs 360 workers and has a wage bill of more than €11.6m a year. It also recently embarked on a €6m investment programme at its headquarters. This involved purchasing land, clearing and redeveloping it and "it is expected to create the potential for additional employment in the catchment area over the coming years".

A business impact assessment by Platinum Consulting Group for DPL said that if the line went ahead through Old Kilmainham, "it would involve major disruption of traffic along Old Kilmainham for a period probably of a least six/seven months. The road may be completely closed for part of this period. DPL will not be able to survive this level of disruption to its business, and as such, the proposed Line F, Option 1 would close down a thriving and significant employer in this area of high unemployment".

DPL said direct and indirect job losses as a result of closure would total about 1,300 and the economic impact would amount to over €290m in the first year. It said relocation was unfeasible.

Two route options were proposed by the RPA. The first would travel from College Green via Christchurch to Kilmainham and on to Liffey Valley and Lucan village. The second would leave St Stephen's Green, meet the Luas red line as far as Blackhorse before going on to Park West and Newcastle Road. Several route suboptions were also proposed. It is estimated that the line would serve up to 25 million passengers a year and that work would be completed in 2013.

A consultant for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland said "it would be strongly opposed to a further Luas line around St Stephen's Green… Any additional Luas facilities would make an already bad situation into one that would be intolerable".

The Cherry Orchard Equine Education and Training Centre said one of the suboptions would dissect the centre and make its paddocks virtually unusable.

However, developers were quick to support route options that would serve their lands.

"Harcourt Developments would wholeheartedly support the provision of the Luas line in this area and would suggest that the most appropriate alignment is via Park West business park," wrote Harcourt director Conal Harvey.

He said the route offered strategic advantages including a link to the Park West rail station, and would serve a significantly higher population in future.

Dublin city council (DCC) lobbied for the route to serve Liffey Valley because it is planning to sell or develop lands it owns near there. Its site at Coldcut Road is used as a recreational facility but in recent years has become underused.

"The site has potential to accommodate a medium- to high-density development and represents an opportunity to effectively integrated Luas Line F with existing and future land use patterns in the area," it said.

DCC wants the current zoning changed to allow residential development on the site when the South Dublin county council (SDCC) development plan is reviewed later this year.

The owners of Liffey Valley also lobbied for the route, describing it "as being of paramount importance to the development of Liffey Valley Town Centre". Owners Barkhill and Morley Asset Management are seeking a buyer for half of the existing centre and a 50% interest in its future expansion.

The document also reveals that SDCC intends to facilitate and allow for the westerly extension of Liffey Valley towards Fonthill Road and metro west.

"The land use changes required to support this westerly expansion will be provided as part of a later phase of development of the site when Metro West is operational and there is greater certainty regarding the provision of Lucan Luas," the submission states.

A joint submission from developers Castlethorn Construction and Maplewood called for the line's extension to Adamstown where they own land. Castlethorn operations manager Hugh O'Neill told the RPA it wants the line to continue past Newcastle Road through Ad*amstown to create an interchange with the mainline rail station there.

The interchange with the Kildare railway line "should be achieved via the Adamstown SDZ lands and we would strongly support an extension to the Adamstown district centre and its new mainline and suburban rail station on the Kildare line". In addition, it would "not be averse to a further extension over the lands (owned by others) south of the rail line which could ultimately connect to the Red Line extension to Citywest".

Closer to the city centre, investment company the Creedon Group and sauces company Blenders, which own five to seven acres in the Newmarket area, said they were drawing up a master plan for development of the area and have met with high-ranking city council officials to discuss it. They said the second route "would better serve the development framework areas within the southern parts of the inner city ring".