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The Columba Line - Light Rail for Derry

Story added by Tommy Murphy, 06 February 2009

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It's almost a forgotten part of our history, but at one time Derry was one of the most forward thinking cities in Ireland. One symbol of that was the building of the city's first tram system which operated from 1897 to 1919. It cost £20,000 to set up and build, carried 346,000 passengers in its first year and made a profit of £141.00 (profit levels which Derry City Airport can only dream of today). If certain events in the early part of the 20th century had taken a different turn, the history of Derry's first tram system would have been a lot longer.

In 2009, trams or electric light rail systems are taking over from the diesel bus at the heart of urban public transport systems all around the world. This is especially so on the continent, where cities with populations as low as 100,000 are now benefitting from the investment in such projects. For an example of a similarly sized city with a recently installed tram system look at Mulhouse in France. http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/mullhouse/

Of course such systems are not cheap and UK traffic consultants will say the population in Derry is not big enough to support a tram system. But how many people said that Derry could not support a venue such as the Millennium Forum and yet I believe it is now thriving. For me, the main argument for a light rail system centres around the need to make Derry a standout location for inward investment and jobs. If it helps to do that, then the cost/benefit argument should swing towards it. Imagine being able to jump on a tram at a Park-n-Ride on the new Skeoge link, travel through Shantallow, down the Buncrana Rd, through Fort George, along the riverfront or Strand Road, through Waterloo Place and from there across the river by Ebrington and St Columb's Park, through Kilfennan and onward to Altnagelvin and Park-n-Ride at Drumahoe. Now that's a vision I could buy into! We could call it 'The Columba Line'

A second line in time could operate from as far out as Muff right along the Culmore Road, Strand Rd, through Bogside and Brandywell to a Park-n-Ride near the end of a new 3rd road-bridge which is currently being looked at from Prehen over to theLetterkenny Rd.

Of course such a proposal would work even better if Derry were properly linked into the national rail network. A fast and more direct link to Belfast and the continuation of the line to Sligo would bring hundreds of thousands of extra visitors to Derry every year. It would further enhance our attractiveness to outside investment and offer the prospect of greatly increased prosperity and employment for the city and region.

Comments (4)

I totally agree with your comments Tommy, obviously it would be a very costly proposal but I see no reason why we shouldn't be looking to (vastly) improve our public transport system in the city.

We seem to have lots of different ideas developing about Derry, none of which seem to include transport.

I would also like to see Ulsterbus trying new ways to promote the buses... we need young people to start using public transport ...and stop being lifted and laid by your da! Why are derry people so dependant on cars??

Maybe a new transport system, (like the one you suggest) would be the answer to the citys traffic and parking problems.

Its particularly interesting that in the Mullhouse article they comment on the light-rail project as "playing a significant and highly visible part" of the urban renewal.


Aidan Doherty 10 February 2009

Thanks Aidan for your positive feedback. You are quite right about light rail playing a significant part in urban renewal. If implemented correctly trams would help to make the centre of the city seem more accessible from estates such as Shantallow on the cityside and parts of Kilfennan and Irish St on the waterside. Whilst stopping at the key sites of Altnagelvin, Ebrington, Foyleside, Fort George, Templemore etc, a route which also goes through Foyle St., Waterloo Place and Strand Road will serve as an economic driver for areas which seem to be suffering from almost terminal decline.


Tommy Murphy 16 February 2009

Interesting piece and would be great for the city, however the pessimist in me can never imagine something like this ever happening. Just a note on public transport in the DC. For some reason we still don't even have a proper bus servive in the culmore area which relies entirely on Lough Swillys pathetic service. Culmore deserves a better more frequent ulsterbus service that would stop it's inhabitants having to rely on their own cars and using taxis. This would help reduce parking and traffic congestion in the city aswell as environmental benefits.


Liam Langan 15 March 2009

Yes the public transport provision to Culmore is dismal. However while the Lough Swilly Bus Service is identified as 'pathetic' it runs 15 services a day up until 1030pm AND CROSS BORDER! Ulsterbus want to take away the single licence from the Swilly but state that they will stop their service at 6pm. Neither bus company is agreeing to offer a Sunday service. Ulsterbus is funded. The Swilly Bus is not. ALSO the developer proposing 250+ homes next to Culmore PS has refused to fund £200K public transport pilot project BUT is offering a 6-figure sum towards the roadworks at the Culmoe roundabout.

CAMPAIGN FOR A SECOND LICENCE ON THE CULMORE ROUTE


mary casey 28 February 2010

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