COMMENT: Going underground would transform our city

REGULAR readers may have noticed that this columnist has been missing in action for the past two weeks. But even while on holidays I have been carrying out valuable research on your behalf.

OK, so that might be stretching it a bit. However, a recent family break in Barcelona – truly one of Europe’s most beautiful cities – did make me think about the type of place my native Dublin could become.

Despite its size, Catalonia’s capital feels more compact and less sprawling than Dublin. This, in large part, is due to its highly efficient Metro, an underground system that seamlessly links all of Barcelona’s main districts. The key to its success is both its reliability and simplicity. It is far easier to navigate than, for instance, the London Underground, making it extremely user-friendly for tourists.

It is also cheaper than public transport in Dublin, with 10 journeys across multiple lines costing less than a tenner. Thanks to Barcelona Metro, we were able to take in all the city’s main attractions, from the Sagrada Família to La Rambla to the legendary home ground of Barcelona FC, Camp Nou.

Barcelona feels like a living, breathing city and the Metro network functions as its main arteries. Many of those living there have no reason to own a car – and why would you bother if you had such a reliable public transport system? While there, we didn’t take a taxi even once.

In sharp contrast, Dublin city centre was a traffic nightmare on the week we returned home, with match fixtures and road closures necessitated by the cross-city Luas works creating a perfect storm over the Bank Holiday Weekend. While linking the Luas lines is an essential project, the timing of the works has to be called into question – smack, bang in the middle of peak tourist season.

Such a piecemeal approach to improving our public transport infrastructure has not served commuters well. Our new Transport Minister, Shane Ross, recently raised the possibility of reviving the shelved DART underground project, which would link all the key rail networks including Luas, commuter and inter-city services.

At a cost of €3 billion, it won’t come cheap. Clearly, though, underground is the way to go and such an investment would ultimately make a significant difference to Dubliners’ quality of life.