Advocate frustration with lack of engagement on Light Rail Feasibility Study
Solutions are urgently needed to combat Galway's traffic congestion. Photo: iStock
By Michelle Geraghty
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has confirmed in a statement that a ‘Light Rail Feasibility Study’ for Galway city is nearing completion.
Brendan Holland, Chair of the Galway light rail campaigners, GLUAS has expressed his frustration, with the lack of engagement from the NTA.
“Under the Terms of Reference, our group is supposed to be consulted but the engagement has been sparse,” said Mr Holland. “We’ve only had two Zoom calls since we started talking about the feasibility study.
“We’re still hopeful that there might be an in-person meeting soon where we can make real progress but we’re fearful it won’t happen,” he said.
“And with talks of the Metro in Dublin coming up again, we’re worried Galway will be left behind.”
Following the preparation of the draft Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (GMATS), the NTA will undertake a public consultation process. It is currently anticipated that the consultation will commence early in Q2 of 2024.
Project Delays
The latest NTA statement came following a request from Deputy Catherine Connolly, Independent TD for Galway West, calling for an update on the status of the feasibility study from Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport.
“I’m extremely frustrated at the delay in moving this project forward,” said Deputy Connolly following receipt of the statement.
“We’ve been campaigning for a feasibility study on a light rail system for Galway for decades and we’re no closer to seeing the results,” she said.
In 2018, Deputy Connolly undertook a petition campaign on the streets of Galway to clarify whether the public supported a light rail solution for the city.
Over 24,000 physical signatures were collected during that short-focused campaign calling on the then Minister for Transport to carry out a feasibility study.
“And we’re still waiting,” said Deputy Connolly. “The response from the NTA does not give me any assurance that a light rail solution is being taken seriously. It’s just one delay after another and we’re no closer to relieving the congestion on Galway roads.”
‘Very Light Rail’ technology
The GLUAS campaign made submissions advocating for the use of ‘Very Light Rail’ (VLR) technology, similar to the one being tested in Coventry, England.
The Coventry VLR vehicle is battery-powered, eliminating the need for overhead wires. It has an innovative turning system, meaning it can be installed in tight corners in the existing roads. It also has low floors to enable passengers to embark and disembark easily and has been developed to allow autonomous operation in future.
The GLUAS campaign believes this VLR system would be cheaper and less disruptive to install in Galway compared to heavy duty system such as the Luas in Dublin.
According to Mr Holland, “A major selling point of very light rail is that its lightweight design only requires a shallow track base so it doesn’t interfere as much with buried utilities like water, electricity and communication pipelines.
“This makes it easier to install and less expensive to build.”
Other transport modes
The NTA’s statement also said that work is nearing completion in the assessment of other transport modes, in parallel with the ‘Light Rail Feasibility Study’ and the ‘Strategic Roads Feasibility Study’
These will “feed into the development of future transport options, and ultimately draft proposals for an integrated transport plan for the GMA [Galway Metropolitan Area],” according to the NTA statement.
The NTA stated that the completed draft GMATS will address many other issues including traffic management, demand management, behavioural change measures and policy measures aimed at closer integration between land use development and sustainable transport.
