Plans for next Dublin Luas line submitted for Government approval

Plans for Dublin’s next Luas line have been submitted for Government approval with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) ready to apply for permission for the Finglas line “immediately”, according to its chief executive Peter Walsh.

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said he supports accelerated development of the line and intends to seek early Cabinet approval for its construction.

The Finglas Luas, which would connect to the existing Green line at Broombridge, had not been scheduled for construction before 2031, but a positive Cabinet decision could put it on track to start years earlier.

The Green line extension from St Stephen’s Green to Broombridge, which opened in 2017, was designed to provide for a link to Finglas, but while a preferred route for the four-kilometre line was selected, the Government has not yet sanctioned its development.

The Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area, published in January of last year, included the Finglas Luas as a “medium-term” project for delivery in 2031-2036. However, Mr Walsh said the line had now been submitted for Government approval and TII would be in a position to make an application within “a matter of weeks” to An Bord Pleanála once it got the go-ahead.

“We are ready to go now. Immediately. If we got approval, the preliminary design is in existence so it would be a matter of weeks to have it in with An Bord Pleanála.”

Speaking ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Luas service on Sunday, Mr Walsh said he recognised the transport strategy was designed to “spread the resources to meet the transport needs of the city”.

However, he added: “We understand and accept this is where it sits in the programme, but we’re saying we’re ready to go early, if we’re given the go-ahead and the resources to do it. The last section of the Green line we opened was 2017 and Finglas isn’t due even go to construction until 2031 – we could do it a lot quicker.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Ryan said he would like to see early development of the Finglas line and “would hope to be in a position to look for Government approval for it to go to planning as soon as possible”.

Dublin City Council’s head of traffic Brendan O’Brien said the local authority “would very much welcome the speedier expansion of the Luas network and the increase in capacity of the existing lines”.

The line, which is expected to take three to four years to build, will terminate at Charlestown north of Finglas village, with four stops and two new bridges. The extension will bring an additional 30,000 people within a kilometre of the Luas line.