The final report of the Public Transport Feasibility Study has come firmly down on the side of an upgraded bus network, effectively ruling out a tram system for the city as too expensive.

The introduction of an improved bus system, coupled with city centre traffic management restrictions as well as park and ride facilities, would nearly treble the levels of public transport use to 14% of road users by 2020.

The report – which has taken a year to complete and was presented to Galway’s City Council’s special policy committee yesterday – found that a light rail transit (LRT) system would cost nearly €600m or 80% more to build than a bus rapid transit network (BRT), would take ten years to start and cause significant disruption to services during construction and beyond.

According to the consultants MVA charged with carrying out the study on behalf of the Galway City Council, it would cost €699m to set up a light rail system, as opposed to €115m to get a ‘bendy bus’ network off the ground, with a further €89m required to enhance the current bus system.

A cost benefit analysis found that the BRT represented medium value for money, with a benefit to cost ratio of 1.755, whereas the LRT was found to deliver poor economic return, with a benefit to cost ration of 0.535.

“It is therefore evident that either much higher levels of population and employment growth, over and above those currently forecast, would be required to generate additional benefits to make the LRT medium value for money. Alternatively, the cost of the LRT option needs to be significantly reduced for the same benefit,” according to the report.
A proposal for a Light Touch LRT – or the GLUAS proposal – which supporters have claimed would cost a maximum €250m to set up – was dismissed by the consultants as a “very high risk approach” to fixing our congestion woes.

The backers of GLUAS claim the new technology rail installations would involve less excavation of the road surface, going down just 300mm, which would result in less road disruption during installation. The trams would weigh just 22 tons, compared to over 30 tons that the more common trams weigh.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.