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CABINET HAS OFFICIALLY given the green light for a planning application to be made for the project to extend the Luas green line to Finglas.
If approved under an accelerated timeline, the line could potentially be in operation by 2031, according to the Department of Transport.
Under the proposal, the existing route would be extended northwards by four kilometres to connect to Charlestown, St Margaret’s Road, Finglas Village and St Helena’s.
Cabinet ministers have signed off on the submission of a Railway Order (planning) application to An Bord Pleanála, which is to be sent by this December.
Minister for Climate and Transport Eamon Ryan said that the approval for the project “forms part of our commitment to significantly invest in public transport and decarbonise Ireland’s transport system”.
“Since it started 20 years ago, the Luas tram system has been a public transport success story for Dublin’s citizens and visitors. We can look forward to the Luas extending to Finglas along a green track line that will open up lands for more transport orientated housing development along the way, which we really need,” he said.
It’s intended that the extended line will shorten journeys between north Dublin and the city centre, provide a better public transport connection that will support increased housing supply along the route, and encourage people to switch from private cars to the Luas.
The route is to be mostly off-road and segregated from road traffic.
The project will also include improvements to walking and cycling paths in the area of the new route and a 350-vehicle park and ride facility near the new St Margaret’s Road stop.
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The achievements of this government in the last few weeks have been epic and completely unrelated to the snap election they’re about to call. All of a sudden, the scoliosis patients are going to be looked after, there’s going to be a new luas líne and the occupied territories bill will be brought forward. And if you believe any of these things will materialise when they get back into power, you’re a mug.
Lets branch out and maybe stretch it a few km further to the airport .
@Robert Doogan: best comment so far.
@Robert Doogan: woah woah woah slow down there egghead!!
@Robert Doogan: what time line u would like kids
@Robert Doogan: it’s the idea, loooong term. They’ll promise that further extension when the next elections come round
@Robert Doogan: Or even to Meath commuter belt
@Robert Doogan: Of course nobody will believe any of this until they see it with their own eyes but the plan is for this section of LUAS line to continue further up St Margaret’s road to link up with the metro at Santry across the road from IKEA. Everything just takes a ridiculously long time. The metro never should have been canned the first time.
@Robert Doogan: 100%. The Luas needs to be in continuous development until all suburbs are connected. Lucan for e.g., is crying out for connection.
@Murto O Brien: Yup. You know when they delivered it ahead of schedule and under budget, our politicians at the time sent them packing, probs wafting the few quid they had left, instead of putting them right back to work. This (sadly) is still our national identity, toothless pirates.
@Robert Doogan: yes, you’d think having made it to Finglas it would keep going to the airport. Give it another 30 years or so, there’s no rush.
Amazing the amount of stuff not got done over last few years, now all going to be now miraculously done in a few weeks.
@Michale Kane: hold your horses there, we both know they really mean 2041, not 2031.
2031!? are they doing it themselves?
Is there an election coming?
4km is going to take 7 years?
Never forget this government. The leader faced a vote of no confidence over the cervical checks.
The bike shed.
The security hut.
Phone pouches.
The children’s hospital.
These are just things we know about.
I genuinely don’t know how anyone puts ff or fg on the ballot.
Anyone else all the way down.
@JustAnotherTaxPayer: just reported this comment… WTF
@Rafa C: no point, you’ll have to wait until he says something similar about the Gov parties or about supported agendas or narratives.
@Rafa C: The inevitable question that will come back to you is who you would vote for instead. Many people see it as electing the best of a bad lot.
@John Moore: Well if you want change you won’t get it by voting for the same thing. If you vote FF they’ll go in with FG and vice versa.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results – Albert Einstein
@Rafa C: yes as a lot of it is on green field sites. They ca install these sections a lot faster than on roads.
ItDidn’t Simon Harris promise to get rid of scoliosis waiting lists 5 years ago? It’s groundhog election day.
You couldn’t make it up.
@Shane O Mac: They just did.
Where’s the effin Metro????
@T S: that will be an extra few decades, theyve just appointed a metro chief on massive money to do the job that loads TII are paid to do in the first place.Meanwhile Anne Graham hides under a rock and keeps taking her massive salary. Complete sham and squandering of tax payers money.
@T S: At least 2035.
@Pat Barry: under global central government from Chinatown then
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: Dunno why people aren’t camped outside these houses, politicians are just the marketing department for the civil service, if we started to publicly out them maybe they would do their jobs.
@T S: delayed in planning
When FG gets back into power after the election, which unfortunately is going to happen, with their past track record with the Metro North, there is no hope for Finglas. Leo Varadkar, when the transport minister in 2011, cancelled the Metro straight after the general election even though he campaigned for it pre-election. Enda Kenny relaunched the project just before the 2016 election, saying it would be complete by 2026; more pre-election spin, and here we are in 2024, no Metro North, 300 million of taxpayers’ money wasted and not a single track laid and now we have more election spin about a Luas to Finglas. They must think we are all fools.
So it will be ready in 2060 at a cost of 300 billion
If the dart went through Finglas would it be called the FART
@larry smith: That why we reckoned Cork did not get a simalar system
@Pat Barry: they could, if they called it after South Munster….
@Pat Barry: actually because you don’t have the population that needs one as much.
Can someone explain to me why the Cabinet had to sign off on this? I know Dublin has a quarter of the country’s people, but isn’t that the job of local councils, just like local infrastructure projects for the rest of us is decided by our local councils, while the Cabinet is meant to be governing and making decisions for the whole country, which leads me to my next point. As they do seem to be doing the job of local councils, why not look into upgrading the public transport for the rest of the country, maybe reopen some of the train stations and lay on extra trains and buses. In Dublin, a lot of it can be reached by various transport options, while the rest of us do not have anything close to a proper public transport system, need to use our cars, and are being punished due to that need!
@Pat Barry: it’s not a council issue it’s a national transport project under the Dept of Transport. Like motorways etc
People would believe anything if they fall for this nonsense
China has accomplished a remarkable feat in building over 10,000km of high-speed lines in six to seven years at a unit cost that is lower than those of similar projects in other countries.
@Maurice Byrne: if we had the same employment laws as China we could certainly half the cost at least.
@Maurice Byrne: look up ‘tofu dreg construction’ on YouTube. There’s clips of bridges for these brand new rail lines collapsing. China’s building standards are terrible.
If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.
H. L. Mencken
Bit of a stretch that!
Don’t let BAM near it.
Imagine a rail service ….like anywhere in Europe……..which takes you direct to the airport from the city centre, cleanly, safely and efficiently.
Now….look at Dublin…
@Maurice: how original!
While most welcome in finglas, if this line goes on to the airport it will take about 3 hours to get there from town. More lines would be better than longer and longer lines.
@Ben dover: It won’t be going to the airport.
What about Meath, Govt keeps growing the towns with NO public facilities…..
Electioneering propaganda.
Great news
@John Conlon: It’s a pipe dream.
Oh and election time is upon us….look after the HSE and our people’s health first
The Luas format isn’t fit for the type of distances and population it caters for anymore. It’s way too packed and slow.
We need to get rid of all our planning legislation – all of it – and replace with a more permissive planning regime like they have in Spain where they build this type of thing faster and cheaper than any English speaking country can.
THEN, we build a proper metro system with multiple underground lines and solve our housing crisis too.
I hear those things are awfully loud…
Estonia built a 2km tram extension to Tallinn airport…start to opening 1 year…an airport with a fraction of Dublin passenger numbers. 7 years for 4kms. Bogbackward 1955 Tuam parish council diddly eye Paddy the Irishman joke. We are Irish and can have nothing…but giggle behind pints to hide the shame of it.
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