[article] Shake-up of Dublin traffic control to go ahead

Miriam Donohoe, Political Correspondent, Irish Times, 09/11/2006


The Government will today announce it is to proceed with plans to establish a new super transport authority in a radical shake-up of Dublin traffic management.


Minister for Transport Martin Cullen will publish a report that will set out in detail how the new Dublin Transportation Authority will work.

The report will propose that the new authority assumes responsibility for overseeing all major public transport projects including metro, a new rail tunnel through the city centre and the extension of the Luas network. The authority will also be responsible for regulating public transport in the city and will ultimately have responsibility for bus routes.

The Railway Procurement Agency is to be subsumed into the new authority that will also take over some of the functions of Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann. The report also proposes that the new authority will have the power to set fares, complete the integrated ticketing project and regulate the entire market.

The heads of the State transport companies and Dublin local authority chiefs have been called to a meeting this morning for a briefing on the radical proposals.

The report was carried out for the Government by a team led by Prof Margaret O'Mahony of TCD. Legislation to implement the team's recommendations and to allow for the establishment of the new authority will be required and is being drafted. It is expected that Mr Cullen will bring the legislation to Cabinet before Christmas.

It is understood the Minister will outline today that he plans to establish a shadow Dublin Transport Authority until legislation is in place. Earlier this year in the Dáil, Mr Cullen said there was precedent for the setting up of a shadow authority to begin co-ordinating policy ahead of a body being set up on a statutory basis. He said this had worked well in the setting up of the Railway Safety Authority.

The Minister is keen that work on the Dublin metro, the linking of the Luas lines and the rail interconnector and other infrastructure should not be delayed by the drafting passage of legislation.

Other Dublin Transportation Authority "establishment team" members were assistant secretaries general at the Department of Transport, John Lumsden and Pat Mangan, and Mr Cullen's special adviser, Colin Hunt.

© The Irish Times

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