Sir, - I have just returned from a visit to Brussels and was able, once again, to assess the folly of putting tramways underground in the wrong places. The main boulevard linking Brussels North and South Stations, the equivalent of Dublin's O'Connell Street, has seen the tramways - buried underground a good few years ago. This once pleasant thoroughfare, shared by trams, cars and pedestrians, has now become a racecourse, which you can only cross at the risk of life and. limb.
The traffic doesn't stop (cars are not allowed to park). For obvious reasons of cost, underground stations are much further apart than the former surface tram stops, and the effect of this phenomenon is clearly visible on the fabric of business along this important thoroughfare.
The quality of shops is going down, especially between underground stations and in many side roads. The typical brasseries with their year round terraces are shrinking in numbers, and also concentrate near the underground stations (there are only five of them), whereas before they flourished at every one of the numerous tram stops. Office blocks are taking over. At night, the underground tram stations are ghastly places, half lit, intermittently patrolled by teams of traffic police, and even then a place I would rather avoid.
Those people in Dublin who believe that an underground light rail system would be a solution here, should think twice. Examples abroad show that they are bad for business, and don't solve the traffic problem. At the same time, examples in the UK and all over Europe illustrate that light rail and cars can co exist, without damaging the fabric of our main streets. Underground, yes, but only in well considered, special circumstances. - Yours, etc.,
Killiney,
Co. Dublin.