[Article] Luas trial run in Stephen's Green tomorrow

Victor

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/03/14/story138285.html

LUAS trial run in Stephen's Green tomorrow
14/03/2004 - 2:13:26 PM

The first LUAS tram will travel from Sandyford to Stephen’s Green in Dublin tomorrow as a trial run.

The Transport Minister, Seamus Brennan, will be there to greet the carriage when it arrives in the city centre at noon.

It will be the first of many tests along the track in the run-up to the summer launch.

Victor

http://www.thepost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-239921685-pageUrl--2FThe-Newspaper-2FSundays-Paper-2FNews.asp

Luas disruption triggers court case
Sun, March 14, 2004
07/03/04 00:00
By Tina-Marie O'Neill

A Dublin city centre businessman is to appear in court after withholding his rates because of disruption caused by Luas works.

A number of hotels and businesses on Harcourt Street have refused to pay their rates to Dublin City Council for 2004. Stanley's Newsagents is the first business in the street to receive a court summons for withholding a quarter of its 2004 rates.

Ian Ferris, owner of Stanley's, has taken a pay cut of €30,000 in order to pay his staff after revenue dropped. "I think the Luas will be great," said Ferris. "But I'm angered by the way retailers and businesses have been treated by Luas. I would like to get my money back to cover lost revenue."

Construction of the Luas Line B began in Harcourt Street in January 2002 and the tram service is scheduled to start by June 30. Street closures, disruption to water and electricity services, missed waste collections and the erection of barriers affecting deliveries are some of the reasons traders are refusing to pay their rates.

At least two businesses have shut down because of disruption caused by construction. The Russell Court hotel lost about €300,000 last year, said owner Arulchelvan Ranagan. "We can't survive another €300,000 loss," he said. "Smaller businesses have had to shut down because they could not maintain their cash flows."

Ranagan said business in the hotel's two nightclubs fell by 75 per cent last year because taxis could not reach the hotel or club entrances. Guests and their baggage have to be dropped and collected at the ends of Harcourt Street. The hotel had to refund a number of guests the full cost of their stay for the inconvenience.

Hotels and businesses on the Georgian street said there was a lack of communication and consultation from the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) and Dublin City Council (DCC).

Engineers from the RPA and DCC recently inspected all the basement cellars between 15 and 40 Harcourt Street following the collapse last year of part of the street. Cellars considered structurally inadequate to support traffic are being filled in. The work would not be intrusive, said RPA public relations director Ger Hannon.

"About 250 basement cellars in the city, including some on Middle Abbey Street and the right-hand side of Harcourt Street, have been infilled for health and safety reasons. We will take note of cables, engine rooms or water hydrants, for example, that are housed in the weaker cellars and we will then move them into safer areas of the cellar," he said.

Two basements under the Russell Court hotel must be partially filled in. Ranagan refused to let engineers take over the cellars, which house the hotel's fire sprinkler system, unless they could guarantee insurance cover in writing.

Separately, the RPA has released safety guidelines for those living and working near the Luas tracks following the deaths of two motorcyclists.

A Garda investigation into the motorcyclists' deaths is underway and an RPA spokesman declined to comment until the Garda report was published. The spokesman said personal injuries claims relating to the Luas had been quite low but he could not give precise details.

People living or working near the Luas areas are being advised not to walk, cycle or drive along the tramway. Shared use of the tramways will only be allowed along the James's Street and Beresford Place sections.