Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 302: To ask the Minister for Transport if, in view of the passing of the first year of the operation of the Luas, he has satisfied himself with the practicability, frequency and size of the service. [27479/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Passenger services on the Sandyford to St. Stephen's Green and the Tallaght to Connolly Station lines are operating to wide public acclaim. In 2005, Luas is on course to carry nearly 21 million passengers. This is substantially ahead of projected passenger numbers. Recent customer surveys conducted by Connex indicate that passenger satisfaction with the Luas service is very high across all aspects of the service provided. In particular, very strong satisfaction levels were recorded in terms of journey times, punctuality and reliability of the service.

It appears that a significant proportion of Luas users had formerly used private vehicles. Apart from car transfers, there also appears to be a significant number of new trips to the city centre for business and-or recreation. This view is shared by city centre businesses which report substantial increases in business as a result of Luas and is reflected in the high levels of Luas usage in the traditional off-peak periods and at weekends. Overall, Luas has been a major success story and is a valued and valuable addition to the public transport system in Dublin. Further development of the Luas network is being considered in context of the ten-year transport investment framework, which my Department is preparing.