Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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125. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update as to the progression of the Luas cross city works; his plans to address the serious reduction in commuter services, from some parts of south Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9956/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Transport Authority (NTA) which has responsibility for  the Luas Cross City project, reports regularly to my Department on its progress.  I chair the Luas Cross City Project Group comprising business representatives, the NTA, RPA, Dublin Bus, and An Garda Síochána to review progress and ensure the city remains open for business.

The current position is that delivery of Luas Cross City is on time and within budget. The utility works are now 76% complete.  The contract for the main construction has been awarded and these works are expected to commence before the Summer.  Following testing, commissioning and trial runs, the line will be operational in Q4 2017.

There have been significant unavoidable bus route and traffic changes to facilitate utility works, preceded by widespread communications with all the stakeholders. Dublin Bus undertook a substantial campaign to notify their customers. In addition to use of web/social media and advertising in the press, they distributed 190,000 leaflets and they deployed staff at existing stops informing customers of the changes.  NTA has advised me that to date the changes have been running smoothly.

There was no reduction in the number of bus services arising from these route changes.  In terms of journey times, average journey times on certain of the diverted routes, including Bus Route 15, have improved following the rerouting.  On other routes using the Westland Row corridor, average journey times did increase slightly due to the slightly longer distance travelled.

Looking to the future and increased travel demand as the economy recovers further, I recently asked the NTA, as the agency responsible for strategic traffic management in the GDA, to work with the NRA and the GDA local authorities to prepare a report on congestion and to outline actions and investment to address the issue. I understand that the NTA is close to finalising the report in conjunction with the other agencies.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank city centre retailers and businesses, as well as commuters, for their cooperation and patience during these works.