[Article] Luas chiefs still don't have final green light on safety

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Luas chiefs still don't have final green light on safety
From:The Irish Independent
Tuesday, 29th June, 2004

LUAS chiefs are in a race to get safety and construction work completed if Dublin's new tram service is to start on schedule tomorrow.

It emerged last night that Luas has not yet got the go-ahead from the official railways inspector.

John Welsby told the Irish Independent he could only issue a "contingent" final letter of operation - he could not give an unconditional clearance for the Connex operators to carry passengers.

One of the key safety issues relates to the Charlemont stop at the Grand Canal where a motorist mounted the tracks last week. Another condition is that the new station at Ranelagh Bridge must have its rear parapet properly constructed before midnight tonight.

"The issues relate to both passenger and pedestrian safety," said Mr Welsby, who is the Department of Transport's chief railway inspector.

Building workers and welders were last night making efforts to get rails and safety fittings in place at both Luas stations.

Other Luas safety-related issues detailed by the Interim Railway Commission include proper signage on the poles along the line from Sandyford to Stephen's Green so that drivers know their actual position should they have to report a breakdown. At present, these location-mark signs are just hand-written. This is not a key safety issue, however, and is related more to good operational practices.

Last night, Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) spokesman Tom Manning said the agency was continuing to finalise a "snag list", and confirmed the system had not yet received a green light to operate. He was unaware of the detailed requirements and that the construction of parapets had to be completed, adding "we have sign-off in principle".

He expected the Luas would get conditional permission to start carrying passengers from tomorrow. He was confident the outstanding construction work at Ranelagh and Charlemont would be finished by tonight's new deadline or would at least be approved by the railways inspector before the first passengers were allowed to board at 3pm tomorrow afternoon. Invited guests may board at 12 noon.

Mr Manning said "people will do whatever is necessary and we never had any plan to have it approved any earlier. He denied the RPA was "cutting it fine", adding that "we do not regard this as serious".

Mr Welsby said he again inspected the line yesterday morning at 9am noting that, overall, he had been happy with the safety trials over the past six weeks.

He added that interim operation licences had also been a feature of some new trans services in Britain where they failed to meet all the requirements.

Gerald Flynn Industrial Correspondent