LUAS ELEVATORS HAVE been out-of-order for the equivalent of up to 82 days in the last two years.

Lifts at the Dundrum stop were out of service for a combined time of 1,966 hours from 10 October 2016 to 10 October 2018, according to data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Elevators at three out of the eight stops were out-of-order for the equivalent of a month or more during the same period.

The Phibsborough stop lift, which opened last December as part of the new Cross City service, has been broken down for the equivalent of 17 days.

Commenting on the situation, a spokesperson for the Luas said, “All the lifts on the
system are checked daily… regrettably lifts do break down and one of the main reasons is
vandalism. There is currently a case before the court in relation to vandalism.”

In cases when an elevator is out of service, the Luas will recommend members of the
public who require the lifts to use the next accessible stop.

In the most extreme circumstances, this could lead to individuals having to travel 2.1km between Cabra and Broombridge and vice versa.

James Cawley, the policy officer for the Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI)
understands the setbacks out-of-order lifts can have on people with disabilities.

“When elevators are out of service this makes the transport system inaccessible immediately [for people with disabilities],” Cawley said.

“In instances where this occurs over a long period of time it can contribute to social isolation within the disabled community,” he continued.

Cawley vocalised ILMI’s concern on the measurements being taken by the Luas transport
system to maintain a reliable service for those dependent on the lifts.

“It is important that we just don’t focus on the repairing of these elevators but what could be done to prevent [vandalism] happening on a regular basis?”

According to ILMI, disabled people are significantly more likely to be at high risk of social isolation. The research, carried out by the National Disability Authority, found that 32% of disabled people are at risk of being socially isolated.

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