Planning issues leading to delays in getting electric buses on Dublin streets, NRBU says

Vivienne Clarke

The assistant general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU), Tom O’Connor, has said that planning issues were the reason for the delay in getting a fleet of electric buses on the streets of Dublin.

There were delays to the electrification of depots in Phibsboro and Summerhill because of an objection to plans for the infrastructure and the material to be used in respect of a “heritage” granite wall.

“I just think that's sort of malarkey,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

The rollout of electric buses in the capital city has been delayed because of such issues, he added.

“Roxburgh depot in Limerick has been electrified, Athlone depot has been electrified, Harristown in North Dublin and Capwell and Cork are due to be electrified, but it's not just as simple as that; having to go through the planning system delays everything.

"Because they're operational bus depots, I mean, the charging infrastructure takes up space, so you've got to move buses out while maintaining the operations, O'Connor said.

“Jamestown route in Finglas was set up as an overspill, and Tivoli depot in Cork was set up, but they've suffered planning problems as well because Jamestown route has been restricted in its operating hours by the planning process.

"The lifespan of Tivoli depot is just 2030, that's it, even though tens of millions are spent developing it, 2030, and that's all, and there's a big workshed on site, and they couldn't use that for maintenance because of the planning," he added.

“You're talking about operational bus depots and to me, and maybe this is oversimplifying it, why would you need to apply for planning permission to put a substation and ancillary electrical cabling into an operational bus depot?

“Dublin Bus carried 164 million people last year, Bus Ireland 54 million approximately, that's a lot of bus journeys. The common good would dictate that you need to electrify it.”

O’Connor pointed out that 20-year-old buses were being taken out of mothballs to go back into service in the absence of the electric buses.

“I drove those buses 20 years ago, now they're back out on the streets, out of storage, because of Bus Connects and the expansion of the network and the shortage of buses, those old buses are on the road. I drove them 20 years ago and they're not really ideal, like those buses have a 6.7 and 9.4 litre engine and the diesel engines, polluters.

"When you consider that the Environmental Protection Agency said Ireland's going to miss its 2030 targets by a wide margin, that the reduction in emissions I think was 51 per cent and they reckon we're going to hit a mid to late 20 per cent reduction, and those fines are in the billions.”

O’Connor said the Critical Infrastructure Bill announced recently by Jack Chambers “may help things”.

“But I really think one of the emergency powers should be that this electric infrastructure for electric buses should be exempted. You shouldn't need planning permission, and that way you could go straight. If you have a framework agreement, you go straight to the construction."