Hugh Creegan, Deputy CEO of the National Transport Authority met Wicklow County Council on Monday and explained and defended their Strategy to 2035 which the Council has criticised.

Apart from a commitment to improve the N11 and bring the LUAS to Central Bray the plan will cause major problems.

The plan to provide more DART’s to Greystones is very vague and a shuttle from there to South Wicklow even vaguer. The NTA explained that they intend to study this in more detail in 12 months. Cllr Derek Mitchell said ‘I have submitted a detailed plan to improve the DART but this was ignored and the suggestion that the direct diesels from Arklow could be replaced by a shuttle is not acceptable. A shuttle from Bray to Greystones was tried before and didn’t work. Instead the direct rush hour diesel should be increased from 4 to 8 carriages as people are standing from Wicklow Town and this could be supplemented by a shuttle’.

The NTA plan cancels the previously planned LUAS to Fassaroe where a major expansion was planned. The NTA plans a bus system and this threatens a major part of the County Development Plan and will place more cars on the overcrowded N11.

‘There also needs to be more emphasis on providing better busses, especially express services. I counted the number of rush hour passengers from Greystones and it came to more than the NTA was projecting for 2035 which seems strange. The plan should be called a Co. Dublin Plan rather than a greater Dublin Plan as it has largely ignored Wicklow and Meath’

Minister Simon Harris is hoping to arrange a delegation to meet the Minister for Transport to discuss these issues.