The French connection
QUESTION
Where are Dublin’s Luas trams made? Do they operate anywhere else in the world? THE Luas trams used in Dublin are made by a French multinational, Alstom, at its plant in La Rochelle, on the west coast of France. Trams identical to those used in Dublin run in nearly 30 other cities around the world.
The Alstom company, which is due to merge with Siemens Mobility Solutions in Germany and change its name to Siemens Altstom, is a long-established firm dating back to 1928.
It has 11 plants in France and the one at La Rochelle makes not only high-speed trains, such as the TGV in France and the Eurostar, but Citadis trams.
At La Rochelle, Alstom employs just over 1,000 people and makes between ten and 12 tram train sets a month.
When the Green and Red Luas lines started operating in Dublin in 2004, they began by using Citadis trams. Transdev, the operating company, has continued to use them ever since. The Green Line uses Citadis 402 trams, which are 43 metres long; 26 are in service. The Red Line uses Citadis 401 trams, which are slightly shorter at 40 metres; 40 are in operation. Both sets of trams can operate on the Green and the Red Line.
Various extensions have been completed, including from Belgard to Saggart on the Red Line, which came into operation in 2011. The biggest extension came just before Christmas 2017, when the cross-city line came into operation, connecting the Red and Green Lines and extending the Green Line as far as Broombridge, on the rail line to Maynooth.
Seven new longer trams have been ordered for the Green Line, but when the first of them came into service earlier this month, it got stuck on O’Connell Bridge; at 55 metres long, it was longer than the bridge. All seven of these longer trams are due to come into service before the end of May, at a cost of €35million.
Despite hiccups like this, the Luas trams have proved extremely popular with customers, more so than the trains on the Dart system. Around 90,000 people a day are now using the Luas trams in Dublin. Alstom says that the popularity of its trams in Dublin is just part of a worldwide revolution in light-rail transit, which has revived trust in public transport.
Trams identical to the ones used in Dublin are widely used around the world.
In France, they are used in Paris, as well as in 17 other cities in France, as well as in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Spain, where they are very popular in Barcelona. They are also used in Istanbul, while in North Africa, they are used in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
One city in England uses them, Nottingham.
In the Middle East, they are used in Dubai, Jerusalem and Qatar, while in South America, they run in Rio de Janeiro as well as Cuenca in Ecuador.
In North America, they are used in Ottawa and Toronto in Canada, while in Asia, they are popular in Taiwan. Four cities in Australia also have them. Kenneth O’Donoghue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
QUESTION
How has Botswana managed to be economically stable and successful? THINK tank the Legatum Institute has an annual prosperity index that routinely ranks Botswana as the most prosperous of 38 African countries. This is not based solely on its Gross Domestic Product of around $16,800 (€13,500) per capita, but other criteria such as governance, education and personal freedoms.
One of the world’s poorest countries at independence in 1966, this landlocked country in southern Africa rapidly became one of the world’s development success stories. This was mainly down to enlightened rule by its first president, Seretse Khama, who was in office from 1966 to 1980, and his English wife Ruth, and the intelligent development of the country’s significant natural resources.
While Botswana is not alone in Africa in having a vast mineral wealth – is the world’s largest producer of diamonds – it is one of the few countries that is exploiting this for its own benefit.
Rather than squander its wealth, the government formed an equal partnership with diamond experts the DeBeers to form a private public partnership called Debswana with the sole right to mine diamonds in the country.
DeBeers benefits from this arrangement, but so does the government: diamond mining generates foreign currency (accounting for 70% of export earnings) and constitutes 33% of the country’s GDP. The country also has nickel, copper, gold and uranium mines.
Lucrative diamond exports have funded economic and social development. The country has many business-friendly incentives and policies to build up a service sector economy. Socially, the government is progressive and forwardthinking, as shown by the policy of providing free anti-retroviral treatment to combat HIV/AIDS.
The country spends 8% of its GDP on education, one of the highest proportions in the world.
Botswana also benefits from tourism, being home to the Okavango Delta – a large, swampy inland delta which is one of the world’s natural wonders, attracting vast herds of animals in the dry season.
Ellen Chetty, London N11.
QUESTION
Are there any comic sci-fi novels to rival the works of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy? FURTHER to earlier replies, I heartily recommend Philip K Dick’s A Scanner Darkly. Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by the American-born Spider Robinson is a must for anyone whose tastes run to bars, whiskey, aliens and time travel.
And nothing has made me laugh like Diabolical Liberty, a gloriously funny fantasy romp by writer G Llewellyn-Barker. Rob Cousins, London SE9.