We're on the right track with public transport

Surely one of the most short-sighted decisions in the history of the State was the removal of trams from the city’s streets in the late 1940s, followed a decade later by the axing of the legendary Hill of Howth service.

Just imagine the positive impact on tourism today if the lines had remained in place in the intervening decades before trams seemed like a good idea again. 

While our state-of-the art light rail system has been a major hit with 21st century commuters, I’m told that the Luas doesn’t come close to matching the Dublin trams of old, where you could take a day trip out to Dalkey, Howth, Sutton, Clontarf or even Blessington.

It was a major upheaval for Dubliners all those decades ago when tram tracks had to be ripped up from the streets to make way for buses and cars in the name of ‘progress’.

Equally, reinstating the tracks for the Luas has been a headache for commuters, particularly given the modern-day explosion in traffic. Work to connect the two lines across the city is ongoing. A little bit like Dublin itself, it will be great when it’s finished.

In terms of public transport, we’re slowly getting there, even though we’re still waiting on a rail service of some description to key locations such as the airport and major population centres like Swords.

I had reason to take the bus to work on a number of days last week due to car trouble and was pleasantly surprised by how the service has improved. There’s an app that gives real-time information on when your bus will arrive – there’s even on board wi-fi. If only they served coffee!

The one negative aspect was having to listen to commuters babble incessantly into their phones as if they were the only ones on the bus. I was better prepared the next day, making sure I brought a set of earphones – problem solved.

Travelling to work by car is fast becoming the least attractive option, with fuel, parking and toll costs making it increasingly unviable.

With a bit of joined-up thinking (and joined-up Luas lines), there’s no reason not to consider using public transport more – even if it’s not a patch on the old tram system.