DUBLIN BUS was not “instructed” by Department of Transport officials or Minister Leo Varadkar in relation to what it could say at a Bord Pleanála oral hearing on the plan for a link between Dublin’s two Luas lines.
Responding to a report in The Irish Timeslast Thursday, a spokesman said: "Neither Minister Varadkar, nor the department under the previous minister, gave any instruction to Dublin Bus in relation to any submission to the oral hearing."
He also said no decision had been made on when the Luas line, known as BXD, would be built. “This is subject to the new National Development Plan which will not be ready until September or October of this year,” the spokesman added.
He acknowledged that traffic-management planning and co-ordination in relation to Luas BXD “is particularly of concern to Dublin Bus”. A key issue was to ensure the city centre would “at all times remain open for business”.
A spokeswoman for Dublin Bus said there had been no instruction from the department to downplay its concerns. “At no point was Dublin Bus told by the Department of Transport that it should not object to this Luas link.”
