Madam, - Vincent Browne's view of Luas is seriously flawed (Opinion, July 16th).
While the planning and cost-control elements of the construction of the system, particularly the political ones, leave much to be desired, the positive qualities of rail transport far outweigh the negative.
As someone who has used trams and trains to commute to work (from Rotterdam to The Hague) I can testify that these are safer, more comfortable and superior in every way to buses. Safer, because they can travel down narrow streets and we can all see where the tram is going to pass us (on the rails!) so we can easily step aside. More comfortable, because the only input the driver can make is to accelerate and brake; he or she cannot swerve, drive under a low bridge (as in Bray), hit a pothole, pull out in front of cyclists. etc.
A tram runs on smooth tracks and is not subject to the battering buses and passengers experience on bad roads; therefore trams suffer less wear and tear and last longer with less maintenance. They do not spew black fumes. They do not scream horrendous noise at pedestrians. They do not leak diesel on the road, causing other vehicles to skid when it rains. They require a quarter of the manpower to drive and when they are full the standing passengers have a very smooth, predictable ride. They are future-proofed against energy shortages as they can literally be powered by wind generation (try that on a bus.
We need is another six to 10 tram lines designed, built and operated to a fixed price by an agency with a proven track record to solve Dublin's problems - in so far as this is possible given our unplanned sprawl.
Finally, trams are cool. Buses are not. What people find cool people like to use. When the Luas trams start running we will see a massive welling of support. - Yours, etc.,
KIERAN TIMMONS, Albany Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.