The introduction of a Gluas Very Light Rail (VLR ) infrastructure for Galway would make public transport as 'attractive and reliable as possible' while reducing the number of cars on the city's congested roads, says campaign chairman, Brendan Holland.
The next 20 years of the city's transport plans hanging on the finished result of the Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (GMATS ), Gluas VLR have submitted a copy of its extensive collaborative study which outline and highlight the benefits that light rail could bring to Galway. The study, which is a result of a combined collaboration between academic figures, engineers, the local business community and the general public, explains that the city's need for light rail infrastructure is vital for the 'sustainable expansion and growth' of Galway city.
The report was presented to Mayor Eddie Hoare this week by the Gluas VLR chairman, Brendan Holland, who said, "When we first started promoting the idea of a light rail for Galway it was all about just moving passengers around the city, now it is as much about health, environment, climate and the economic and social benefits of our city, making it even more urgent to construct a smart city transport system.
"We must get used to the idea that we can not keep putting more cars on our roads. We must make public transport as attractive and reliable as possible. One only has to look at the success of the Luas in Dublin and ask the question why not the same for Galway. Recently the chief executive of Cork City Council made the call for light rail, giving a list of reasons why light rail will be a game changer for Cork, all these reasons are the very reasons why Galway city and county councils should be making the same request.
"Just because we are a smaller city does not mean we have to wait in line. Studies have repeatedly shown Galway as the worst city for traffic congestion, which is a far more important reason to develop this mode of transport. The outer Ring Road as the name would suggest is about diverting traffic from the east to west around the city, The Gluas VLR is about moving passengers from A to B in the city and the two should never have to compete with each other."
Keeping the dream alive
The topic of light rail in Galway is one that goes back over four decades.
Initially proposed in the 1980s it was quickly discarded by some who said that the city was too small and very light rail was too expensive. The vision was resurrected in 2010 when Professor Lewis Leslie collaborated with the Engineering Department in University of Galway to study a solution to traffic. A key feature of Prof. Leslie’s vision was a very light rail system which only required a shallow base track and did not interfere with underground structure.
The Gluas VLR dream was boosted last year following the commission of a light rail infrastructure in Coventry, UK, a city similar to Galway in terms of population density and size. There has been strong support for the concept in the city since its establishment, with environmental planning organisation, An Taisce, pledging its support for the Gluas VLR initiative and calling for a comparative feasibility study for very light rail for Galway in its submission to the Galway City Development Plan for 2023-2029. In 2021, Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, stated he was 'committed' in securing a feasibility study for very light rail in Galway.
