Doubts have been raised about the route of the proposed Luas extension, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.
Integration of public transport services to ensure that passenger journeys are "as seamless as possible" is one of the main planks of the Government's €34.4 billion Transport 21 investment programme - but this will not apply in the case of Bray, Co Wicklow.
Although the greater Dublin rail network map published with the programme showed a direct connection in Bray between the Dart/main rail line and the proposed extension of the Sandyford Luas line, the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) has chosen a different route.
Instead of terminating in Bray, like the old Harcourt Street railway line, the RPA's "preferred option" would take the Luas to Fassaroe - an undeveloped area west of the town, remote from the rail line. A link to the Dart at Bray station or Woodbrook is being considered.
Bray-based architect Adrian Buckley complained that the opportunity to provide a transport interchange in Bray, as originally indicated in Transport 21, was being missed by the route options put forward by the RPA for extending the Luas green line from Sandyford to Bray.
"All three options presented to the public for consultation were routed to Old Connaught and Fassaroe," he said, adding that none of them - including the preferred option recently announced - would serve Bray, the State's eighth-largest town, with a population of almost 30,000.
The fact that the Luas would not link up with Bray station "clearly indicates that the project is Dublin-only focused", Mr Buckley said. As a result, it would not cater for passengers who wanted to travel from Bray or Wicklow to, say, Cherrywood, Sandyford or Dundrum.
He said the RPA's decision to run the Luas alongside the N11 for much of the extended route would cut off half the potential catchment area, as people would be reluctant to cross a motorway to get to tram stops at Stonebridge Road, Crinken Lane and Wilford roundabout.
Mr Buckley also queried whether diverting the Luas away from Bray town to Old Connaught and Fassaroe was "developer-led", to justify future residential development in these areas - currently being considered by Wicklow and Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown county councils.
It is known that the Cosgrave Property Group has assembled a major landbank in Fassaroe and, though no formal agreement has yet been reached, the RPA is confident that the developers would contribute a significant sum towards the capital cost of the Luas line.
Former minister for transport Martin Cullen, who announced the preferred option earlier this month, said one of the benefits of the Luas was that it attracted funding from developers because the provision of a tram line opened up new areas for development.
Pat O'Donoghue, project director with the RPA, said that the choice of route for the Sandyford Luas extension had been influenced by the local authorities' master plan to develop Bray to the west, which is subject to the provision of a light-rail line to serve the Fassaroe area.
Asked why the RPA had rejected the idea of bringing the Luas into Bray and then out to Fassaroe, he said that this would be "very difficult for technical reasons" - even if the route had followed the old Harcourt Street railway line, which would have joined up with the Dart.
Mr O'Donoghue said such an option was rejected at an early stage because it would have involved demolishing six houses which were built on the line.
The RPA "did not want to end up in court again", as it had done over the proposed demolition of a listed house near Glencairn.
He added that the High Court action taken by the owners of the 18th-century house, "Clonlea", had been resolved after the RPA agreed to purchase it for an undisclosed sum.
This had cleared the way for work to start on extending the line from Sandyford to Cherrywood.
Asked about the decision to route the Cherrywood-Fassaroe extension alongside the N11, Mr O'Donoghue said this was intended to serve planned development areas to the east of the dual carriageway, mainly in Shankill, where Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown council owns land.