Do you know all the steps Veolia Transport and Railway Procurement Agency are taking to make your journey on Luas a comfortable, safe and pleasant one?

Last year, for example over 27.4 million passenger journeys were made on Luas. This equates to roughly 80,000 people travelling on Luas daily.

The Luas service recorded daily reliability of 99% in 2010 and, it is the hallmarks of; reliability, punctuality and friendly customer service which ensure Luas receives satisfaction ratings of over 95% annually and holds an ISO 9001: 2008 Certificate for Customer Service and Quality Management.

Together We are Making a Difference

The campaign presently running on the Luas system called “Together we are making a difference” is about communication with you the passenger on all the steps being taken behind the scenes to ensure your journey with Luas is a good one.

Veolia Transport work with many agencies to deliver a quality tram service to the people of Dublin.

Below is a brief outline of some of the agencies and people whom we work with to deliver for Dublin a safe, frequent and reliable tram service.

An Garda Síochána

Veolia Transport have an excellent working relationship with the Gardai, this is demonstrated in the following measures;

Bi -monthly meetings with representatives of the various Garda districts along the Red and Green lines. At these meetings problems experienced are discussed and help and solutions sought.

Here are some examples of the types of actions taken to date as a result of these meetings:

• An increase in Garda response time to calls from Luas Control Room.
• Plain clothes and uniformed Gardai, from time to time, are present on the Luas, Red & Green Lines.
• Regular meetings occur between Luas Control Room Traffic Supervisors and Garda Traffic Control Room.
• Railway Procurement Agency and Veolia Transport Management have met with senior members of An Gardai Siochana to discuss Garda support of Luas and are happy to have contributed most recently to the Chief Superintendent request for input into the Annual Policing Plan (Roads Policing Goal).
•  Luas Control Room CCTV monitors are connected to Garda Traffic Control Room, Harcourt Square, allowing for greater visibility by the Gardai of all Luas stops.

STT Security

Anti social behaviour is on the increase in Dublin and is not particular to Luas.

Many companies employ private security firms and Veolia Transport employ STT,  an Irish security firm specialist in transport security.

The presence of STT on board the tram or at the stops, in there distinctive black uniform acts as visible deterrent to those intent on misbehaving whilst providing reassurance to other passengers who are travelling on board the tram.

Luas Security is in operation seven nights a week on the Red and Green lines with additional day time security present on the Red line commencing at 10am.

The requirement for extra security is continuously evaluated in light of the presenting problems; for example, school mid term breaks, match and concert fixtures, Halloween Night and so on…..

Luas staff

Luas Customer Service staff are trained in customer care and conflict avoidance.

Whilst the focus of the job is on assisting customers with queries and offering travel advice, from time to time there are incidents of anti social behaviour and Luas staff training ensures their reaction is positive and the occurrence dealt with in a professional manner and one which prevents a situation from escalating.

CCTV

There is CCTV on board trams and at the stops. Passengers please be advised Luas CCTV is kept in accordance with Data Protection legislation and copies of CCTV are given to members of An Garda Siochana on request only.

Emergency Help Points

The Emergency Help point at stops – SOS buttons allow people direct contact with Luas Control Room and when activated CCTV monitors the person contacting the control room.

Emergency buttons and handles are also present in the saloon of the tram beside the door and when activated allow you to talk to the driver or bring the tram to a stop.

Criminal Justice Public Order Bill and Merchants Quay Ireland

As well as the above items Veolia Transport welcomes the introduction of the Criminal Justice Public Order Bill.

This bill contains proposals for an act which will prohibit harassment or intimidation of the public by persons who engage in begging, and will confer power on members of the Garda Síochana to give direction to people to desist from begging.

This we know from our customer feedback will be welcomed by the vast majority of Luas passengers.

In dealing with issues in a multi faceted way we are working also with Merchants Quay Ireland.

We lend our voice to their daily campaign for greater financial assistance to support agencies working with homeless people and drug addicts.

Luas is a part of Dublin, a tram system for all and we are proud to support many civic and charitable messages annually. In 2010 for example we supported many charities but the highlights would be the support of:

The Canal Communities Intercultural Centre. In 2010 Luas donated € 5,000 as seed funding for their EU application for greater assistance. We were delighted to learn they were successful in their application and support their work in the following areas of Dublin’s South Inner City: Bluebell, Inchicore, Kilmainham, Rialto and Islandbridge. We trust they will continue to inspire people, groups and organizations to work towards integration that celebrates diversity.

Dublin City Council’s Office for Integration (OFI) led a key initiative for the city last autumn which focused on the city’s immigrant population to promote inclusion, integration and to combat racism and discrimination.

Titled One City One People the initiative used a variety of mediums including Luas to promote the message that Dublin is an open city, a city which respects and embraces difference, is accessible, safe and equal and does not accept racism and discrimination.

Veolia Transport staff participated in The Irish Heart Foundation Pedometer Challenge in September 2010 and lost plenty of weight in the process!

Unicef Countdown to Zero Campaign: Luas supported also, the Unicef Countdown to Zero Campaign between the 24th October and 6th November 2010.

This financial and advertising support  allowed Unicef to ask Luas passengers to give to them just 1 Euro to help combat child hunger and poverty.

Finally, Veolia Transport and our client Railway Procurement Agency believe together we are all making a difference.

Should you wish to contact Luas Customer Care in relation to our work or on any other matter please email info@luas.ie