Madam, - The response of Minister of Transport Martin Cullen (September 4th) to Frank McDonald's article of August 28th on Transport 21 is welcome. No recent Minister has done more to raise the profile of transport and secure funding.
The Minister offers extensive comment on the paper I have been preparing, which has yet to be published. It would be discourteous to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport if I was to respond in detail now. Suffice to say that it is usually inadvisable to comment on a document based on what is inevitably a selective review of some of the issues raised when you haven't read the complete document.
It is important, however, to address a few key points of principle. The objective of the paper is not to produce "paralysis by analysis", as the Minister suggests. Rather, as will become evident, its objective is to advance cost-effective solutions to major challenges, not only in Dublin but across the country, in response to an invitation by the institute to the transport industry for papers to address this goal.
Indeed, the Minister's comments raise alarm about the possibility of delay to Transport 21 from potential objections raised at an inspector's inquiry. After all the hard work by the RPA, Irish Rail and other stakeholders that would be entailed in reaching that stage of project development, surely it would represent an even greater risk of delaying or even derailing Transport 21 if a key project was to be subject to successful challenge at that point.
The paper sponsored by CILT is concerned with Transport 21 and its wider context, not solely with the Dublin Metro. Indeed, the Minister's confidence in the economic case for that project makes it even more surprising that he has not taken the public into his confidence by publishing the results of the economic appraisal of the scheme. Commercial sensitivity, even if understandable in the case of financial appraisal, is not an argument for withholding the economic appraisal. These appraisals are not the same.
The Minister also suggests, on the basis of Frank McDonald's article, that I have fundamentally misunderstood the role of the metro proposal. As I think my paper will demonstrate, this is not the case and invite the Minister to reconsider his observation when he receives a copy. However, it is clear that one of the metro's roles is to serve the airport. If a large percentage of air passengers is to be attracted to metro, it will have to offer high quality service to points throughout the greater Dublin area and beyond.
Given the unprecedented level of spending earmarked for transport it behoves those of us like myself, with years of practical experience in transport planning internationally and in Ireland, to contribute to raising the standard of debate and to advancing delivery of a 21st-century transport system for the country. - Yours, etc,
Prof AUSTIN SMYTH,
Kings Road,
Belfast 5.