Repair work on Dublin's two Luas lines will begin in the next few months, with the State company responsible for the system insisting that the multimillion euro bill will have to be paid by the contractor who laid the tracks, writes Stephen Collins, Political Correspondent
The director of Luas at the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), Michael Sheedy, acknowledged that the cost of repairing the system would run into millions of euro, but he denied the problems had arisen because of a design fault.
He said the problems with the Luas lines, revealed in yesterday's Irish Times, had arisen because something had gone wrong with the debonding material under the tracks and they still did not know why this had happened.
Mr Sheedy said the repair work would take place "probably without any noticeable disimprovement" in the system. He said the contractor, AMB Joint Venture, had accepted its responsibility in the matter.
However, one of the country's leading civil engineering experts, Prof Eugene O'Brien, professor of civil engineering at UCD, yesterday questioned the design and construction of the Luas lines, having read the full report by Austrian engineering experts in the possession of The Irish Times.
Prof O'Brien said a number of issues were raised in the report, the critical one being the problems identified at sharp bends in the lines.
He said the repair work to the straight sections of track should not cause serious disruption, but the problems identified with the bonding at the sharp bends could be a different matter.
The Labour Party's spokeswoman on transport, Róisín Shortall, said the serious flaws reported to have been found in sections of the lines were a matter of concern coming so soon after the construction of the system.
"Commuters will find it difficult to understand how such an expensive project could have encountered such problems, so soon, that the report warns if left untreated they could lead to doubts about the reliability and proper functioning of the system," she said.
The Green Party's transport spokesman, Eamon Ryan, said that coming on the same day that further flaws were identified with Dublin Port Tunnel, the problems with the Luas tracks were remarkable.
"It is increasingly clear that this Government simply does not know how to deliver large infrastructure projects on time, on budget and to the proper required standards," he said.
However, a spokesman for the Department of Transport accused the Opposition politicians of trying to "spook" the public into blaming the Government for the problems.
"There are three central issues here - cost, safety and disruption. The RPA has confirmed to the Minister and the department that there will be no cost to the taxpayer, no threat to safety and minimal disruption," he said.
"Political attempts to spook the public into thinking otherwise are regrettable. It is the responsibility of the contractor to put this right and that's what will be done."