The annual report of the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), published yesterday, is understandably self-congratulatory about the success of Luas in exceeding all expectations for the number of passengers carried - so much so that it no longer requires any subvention from the Exchequer.
Indeed, the agency was even able to tell the Department of Transport that the €2.5 million it had budgeted to meet an anticipated deficit last year was not needed. The main reason, of course, is that revenue from fares has covered the operating costs as well as producing an undisclosed level of profit for the operating company, Veolia Transport (formerly Connex).
As RPA chairman Padraic White noted, the average daily number of passengers carried by Luas has risen by between 30 and 40 per cent to 70,000-plus. This illustrates the point made by Labour transport spokeswoman Roisín Shortall that there is a "huge pent-up demand for high quality, reliable public transport" in Dublin. Even though the two lines could hardly be termed a "system", it is obvious that the provision of a frequent, reliable tram service has changed the perception of public transport and even of the city's geography. It is now possible for people in the catchment areas served by Luas to plan their journeys, knowing that they will get to their destinations on time - irrespective of the levels of traffic congestion.
But Luas has become such a runaway success that trams are often over-crowded. The RPA is seeking to overcome this problem by introducing additional services in morning peak periods. From September, a four-minute frequency will apply on the Sandyford line and next spring the capacity of the Tallaght line will increase by 40 per cent by lengthening all of its trams from 30 to 40 metres.
Further improvements in the longer term will include joining up the two lines in the city centre - something that should have happened at the outset but for a cowardly decision by the Government in May 1998 - and building extensions to Cherrywood, Docklands and Citywest. Plans for a metro line linking St Stephen's Green with Dublin airport and Swords are also being progressed.
However, as rail lines can only serve limited catchment areas, buses will remain the backbone of the city's public transport system. In that regard, the urgent need of Dublin Bus for more buses can no longer be ignored, especially if quality bus corridors and other priority measures are to have credibility with the travelling public.