Sceptical comments made by City Councillor Noel Larkin about the merits of a tram system for Galway have been lashed as ‘off the rails’ by GLUAS backers.
The debate about the need for a light rail system in the city resurfaced last week when Independent public representative said Galway would be transformed into “a giant building site” and would be “crippled” during construction.
Cllr Larkin, a businessman, pointed to problems with delays and cost overruns during the construction of a tram in Edinburgh and claimed the same would happen in Galway.
Tram Power, a UK light rail company that backs the Galway GLUAS, has already refuted Cllr Larkin’s claims and say the project is sustainable, practical, environmentally friendly and has the support of the people of Galway.
Now local campaigner, Brendan Holland, of Holland’s newsagent on Williamsgate Street, this week has come out and issued a staunch defence of light rail.
A former chairman of the GLUAS project, Mr Holland said he took issue with Cllr Larkin’s remark that it would be “utterly stupid”.
“To defend this remark he made only two points about the delay and overspend in the Edinburgh Tram project,” said Mr Holland.
“But delays and overspends have nothing to do with the final projects and the benefits of light rail. This is a function of the overseer. It was proposed that the GLUAS would be funded by private funding and this type of funding tends not to have a habit of being over budget or over time.
“Public projects generally seem to suffer from this and one does not have to look too far away from the city centre in the past for proof of this. Surely this is a not a reason not to build a public transport system, surely one learns from the past and not fall into the same trap.”
Mr Holland said you can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs and that spurious arguments about cost overruns and delays were made about the LUAS in Dublin.
“However when the dust settled, I have yet to hear someone, anyone say ‘take up that bloody LUAS it’s useless’. All the properties, businesses, residents and the entire city have benefited from being on the line and the LUAS has now become the symbol of Dublin,” he said.
Mr Holland said Cllr Larkin didn’t look at the positive experiences of light rail, such as Besancon in the South of France. “Instead he chose to focus on the negative,” he said.
The newsagent added: “Councillor Larkin’s answer to the traffic problem is the N6 Galway City Transport Proposed Road (bypass). Once again the GLUAS was never about if we build a ring road around Galway or not. The GLUAS project was about moving people around the city in a fast comfortable manner which is an alternative to and as good as your own car.
“He is a member of City Hall’s transportation strategic policy committee. I would like to hear what his transport solutions are because I am getting a bit long in the tooth waiting for solutions that are no nearer now than they were when we made our proposals for GLUAS.
“If he is worried about the disruption to business while building light rail, maybe it he might start worrying about the damage to businesses while we sit waiting for something to be done.”
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