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The Daily PollIARNRÓD ÉIREANN TODAY announced it was submitting a proposal to build an extension to the DART line bringing it out to Dublin Airport.
Costing €200 million, the rail operator believes the project, involving a 7 kilometre extension from Clongriffin to the airport could see a significant increase in passengers on the DART system and that fare revenue would cover operating costs. The estimated journey time would be 25 minutes from Dublin city centre.
However, the Railway Procurement Agency has already received planning permission for the Metro North project, 15.7 kilometre line from the city centre to Swords, via the airport, which would carry up to 20,000 passengers an hour and leave the city centre and the airport just 20 minutes apart. It has been suggested that the multi-billion euro project could be shelved because of spiralling costs.
But we want to know what you think would be the best public transport link from Dublin city centre to the country’s main airport.
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A large catapult ?
The DART extension would in fact, in typical Irish fashion, be doing things by halves.
Wasn’t the whole point of Metro North that it connected densely populated urban areas with poor transport links – Glasnevin, Ballymun, Swords etc- with the city centre, and facilitate access to the likes of DCU, Drumcondra/ Croke park, the airport, the Mater etc? It was never just a “link to the airport”.
And by putting some of it underground, it would go a long way to easing the hideous congestion in the north city/city centre.
Oh and just to make it clear, the 2 billion or whatever cost, would be paid back over 25 years, with not a penny being paid until the metro was up and running.
But instead of long term planning and thinking, lets just do the typical Irish thing and go for the cheap ass short term solution.
I can never understand the public opposition to metro north – its what Dublin has been crying out for 30 years!
Shauna is quite right – the question is misleading!
The underground is by far the best public transport link to Dublin airport and also to wherver else they put stops!
the real question is which option represents best value for money – as I understand it there remains plenty of excess capacity in the port tunnel which could be used for additional Airport direct coach and taxi services. Strikes me as an easy and efficient solution.
The concept of a Dart extension seems decent also – €200m is not insignificant but would be layering onto our rail network which we are already investing in.
How exactly would the “not a penny being paid until the metro was up and running” bit work?
We can’t get any money for PPP projects at the moment.
In an ideal world, Metro North would be a no-brainer, for the reasons above. But we’re not in an ideal world, we’re in a near-bankrupt world. So I can’t see how we can avoid going for the cheaper option right now.
Shauna the sheer value of a Metro North route is not under discussion, yet with the dire situation the state’s finances are, I hardly see the government spending a penny into anything that’s not repaying the IMF & EFSF loans or cutting costs. So I wouldn’t feel proud of having a multi-billion Metro North funded by closing down more A&E’s across the country. Or would you suggest deducting a new Metro North levy from our paychecks ?
100% agree!!
Oh I totally agree that our economic situation is dire, but it bothers me so much that the current government and the last one, have no problem with pouring tens of billions into the black hole that is the banks, but are not willing to stimulate the economy with any type of long term investment, in badly needed infrastructure.
The problem with the DART extension is that it puts more trains into an already crowded Connolly. It can only be achieved by reducing services to other destinations.
So it needs to be done in conjunction with DART Underground.
Do that and it can become a winner, linking to Heuston as well as the city centre and providing a one connection service to most railway stations in the country.
Dart Underground has been scrapped, as of yesterday since the new plans came out.
Heuston and Connolly have always been connected via a tunnel under the Phoenix Park, however this line, although passenger grade, is only used for freight due to capacity issues at Connolly.
So a €200 million extension to the DART is only 5 minutes slower than a brand new €4 billion underground? Ahaha.
The Dart link to Connolly (with low frequency due to the over-capacity of Connolly) would not really be "city-centre" compared to the high-frequency Metro North link to O’Connell St. and St. Stephen’s Green.
Thanks for the added information Brian Lenehan. Wish the article had a bit more insight!
This is a typical reaction, only looking at the price tag. ‘Ah its cheaper, so we’ll go with that one then’. These are totally different projects which will have totally different impacts. You cant compare just on price alone. You have to think about the long term solution and not just at a half assed quick fix solution.
The DART extension is only a spur off the existing (and already congested) northern DART line. This spur will serve the Airport and the Airport only.
The Metro North will have 14 stops (not just the airport) and it intersects with the Luas Green, Red, Maynooth Railway Line (which will be upgraded to a DART). It will also be linked to the proposed Metro West.
I say keep the €200m for this DART proposal and use it for something else and WAIT a few years when we can afford to proceed with the Metro North and the DART underground and extensions to Maynooth ,Drogheda and Hazlehatch/Celbridge (which is far more important than any other public transport project).
Do it properly or don’t do it at all.
Thanks Galactic Overlord. Hopefully the article update to reflect the information you’ve provided. Better off for knowing more, not just soundbites.
The Airport on the propsed extension will never have a direct service to Connolly as the Northern DART line that this spur will connect to is going to be connected to DART Underground, which will service Docklands stations before going under the Liffey to Pearse St.
Except, Paddy, the options for Leo are a) Metro North, b) Dart Underground, c) Luas BX OR d) Dart Extension to Airport. It’s “either or”. If the Dart extension goes ahead the Dart Underground does not, hence Connolly gets even more overcrowded. Remember, by the way, that the frequency of the Dart will be far less than that of the Metro North, so where Paul says the Dart is only five minutes slower (and even then this is incorrect when you take into account the time taken to get from Connolly to the City Centre), he does not take into account the likelyhood that one will be waiting on the platform at Dublin Airport for up to 15 minutes for that Dart.
Why are we keeping Dublin as one of the only capitals without an underground? Moving people to underground rail is the best solution but not the cheapest.
As per usual with Ireland we do a half measure with no future insight.
Dublin needs a good underground and that’s the way the airport should be connected too.
Couldn’t agree more! The traffic at the red cow is horrendous today! I wish I could have taken an UNDERGROUND TRAIN instead of a bus! Not only are they more reliable than buses (traffic wise), every major city has one! We don’t need an elaborate one! Maybe a ring one that has a cross in the middle, serving the suburbs of Dublin to the city centre and to each other. Surely that’s 100% better than ploughing money into Dublin bus – or to IE who actually only serve those along the dart line! The IE/airport line will not serve as many as the Metro north would just the regular dart-users. But really we need ALL of the public transport in Dublin to be connected. Big time!
dart extension and link connelly & heuston at the same time
Monorail!
Cause the Luas doesn’t link them already?
Take all the TDs executive cars and drug dealers big cars off them and run a free VIP connection service from Dublin Airport to the city, Coz people willing to holiday and spend their money in this country deserve them more than those useless fecks in the Dail and the Crims abusing the law!!! We can name it C.A.B. cabs!!!
Jetpack. Organised a bit like the bicycle scheme!
My big concern with Dart is that the service is already horrendous due to the limitations on how many trains per hour can go. Luas is a superior service to Dart largely because of the sheer frequency of trams. The physical set-up of Dart, particularly in relation to the signalling system, makes increasing the number of Darts (and not carriages as they seem to focus so irritatingly on) difficult. A system not based on Dart, be it Metro North, a new Luas line, an extension of Dublin Bikes :) would make for a more effective long term solution.
Daa offered to fund metro north as far as the airport but the government said no.
I work out there and the public transport links are horrendous.
The DART extension sounds good on paper However IE won’t be putting on more services so I don’t think it will be as good as it seems.
According to Barry Kenny, on Morning Ireland they WILL be able to add 4 more trains per hour to the line (i.e.: one every 15 mins to the airport). Plus all DARTs would be 8 carriages as opposed to some six and some eight.
The Dart excludes most of Drumcondra Whitehall, Glasnevin, Ballymun, Santry & Swords, which are highly populated areas which are in need of a more adequate transport system that all ready exists. Metro North financially from these additional locations & so will the people of these areas. As all these suburban areas have never seen any great improvement in public transport i.e Luas, Dart, New Rail Stations.
Yet again, we’re discussing a piece-meal solution. What we really need is an overall, integrated strategy covering all aspects of transport – including rail, trams, busses, taxis, private cars and bicycles. For many people travelling to/from the airport being deposited somewhere along the DART line will be of no benefit. What’s really needed is access to a central hub, where with a minimum number of transfers you can get to/from your eventual destination. We simply don’t have that in Dublin – where even our LUAS lines don’t connect to each other, never mind having connections to various other modes of transport – main-line rail, commuter trains, park and ride, regional busses, etc.
Metro North seems to, at least, go someway towards an overall integrated strategy – but it would even only be one component in it.
Agreed.
However, whether we like it or not, Dublin is the public transport hub for the whole country and any system also needs to take account of journeys that are passing through Dublin as well as those that have a destination in Dublin.
This is a daft thread, comparing 7km of track serving 0 population to a high speed dedicated track metro system serving hundreds of thousands of people, connecting to the city centre, hospitals, universities, airport and north county dublin.
Which is tastier, a lump of coal or an orange?
Pregnant women have been known to prefer the lump of coal, I’ve heard, but otherwise you’re spot on.
Monorail. Should have been built instead of luas as well. No digging needed just bolt an rsj to the footpath job done!
Just ask Ogdenville, North Haverbrook, and Brockway
Worked for Springfield.
How about sorting out Galway’s horrific traffic problems first?
brilliant!! remind me what the population of Galway is??
if they stopped building rubbish in all the wrong place in Galway they would have no problem, ie; if there were fewer brown envelopes handed around at the Galway Races
I would much prefere to get the Dart to the airport, busses are always dirty, smelly and full of diesel.
All so-called European capitals have a decent railway service that connects the city centre with the airport. The station is usually inside the airport terminal. If IÉ can do this with €200m, then great. Less carbon dioxide, less vehicles on roads, fewer chances of finding traffic jams on Swords Rd. Not sure who’d benefit from a multi billion Metro North project.
DART extension is only of use to people going to airport. Metro north would have been of use to anyone wanting to go to any point between Stephens Green and Belinstown north Swords!
Colm Fitzgerald->Is there any reason the DART Extension couldn’t continue on to Swords in the medium term future? I can’t think of one.
Because that wouldn’t solve the problem? It might allow travel between Connolly and Airport and Swords but still nowhere in between which is a large part of metro north!
@Chris – Capacity is the main issue. What many people fail to realise is that Metro North is not about a link to the airport. It’s about connecting a number of large centres of population to the city: Swords pop. 40k; Ballymun pop. 22k; DCU 11k students; and of course Dublin Airport – 50k passengers/day.
A spur to the airport from the existing dart line will mot be of any use to Ballymun or DCU and will not have the capacity to adequately serve Swords or even the airport.
Monorail, monorail! MONORAIL!
Well, sir, there’s nothing on earth Like a genuine, Bona fide, Electrified, Six-car Monorail! What’d I say?
Metro North is simply not an option at the moment and won’t be for the foreseeable future – even if it is a very worthy project.
A DART extension is better than no rail link.
The project also includes a plan to increase capacity on the line with new signalling equipment.
more extensive air coach network? cheaper for sure …
buses are a pain in the rear end to use for people with young children especially coach style buses like air coach and they are not exactly wheelchair friendly either.
This is mooted as a cheap alternative to Metro North yet it only fulfils one of the objectives of that light-rail project. Metro North would single-handedly link the two Luas lines (eliminating the need for Luas BX), both main city-centre shopping streets, Rotunda, Mater & National Childrenâ
Where are we going to get the money to build it. Simple as, the last Govt. bankrupted the state. Ideally the Dart should have been run through the Airport from day one.
Dart extension as well as the extension of Greenline luas from Stephens Green to Connolly would be a good combo solution. The luas extension should be priority.
Catapult
The country cannot aford to spend billions on a vanity project that will take 10 years longer than projected to complete and overrun its budget many times over. DART extension is a cheaper option in the short term and will take less time (though still at least 5 years longer than they say and I’d guess it would come in at about half a billion), however at this point I think Irish families starving and freezing their asses off is of far greater importance than improving already existing links to the airport. Ireland is going to have to learn that we are a bankrupt nation of 4.5 million fools – and that a little inconvenience and fewer holidays is infinitely preferable to actual human suffering.
Metro North has planning permission. Will get you from the city centre to Swords in 25 minutes; from Dublin airport to St Stephens Green in under 20 minutes and create thousands of jobs. There is only one Metro North and a decision is due on its fate soon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9yqa9r-8_w
Is there a chance the track could bend?
Not on your life my Hindu friend
What about us brain dead slobs?
@ Hugo: you’ll be given cushy jobs. Christ, I think I should put a proposal together in the style of Lyle Langley. Head into the planning office and announce: I’ve sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrooke, and by gum, it put them on the map
The dart line is already over congested, Connolly cant cope with the number of trains going into it already. This is short term thinking. time to start planning for when the recession is over. Metro North is the first time we have seen any sort of joined up thinking in relation to transport in Dublin and it should be the only solution.It would hopefully create some jobs too and help kickstart the economy.
Luas
The Dart extension will only work efficiently if one of the following occurs:
1. Significant reduction in the number of Darts servicing Howth and Malahide despite both already operating at very high capacities thus having a severe impact on services to these branches.
2. A trebling of the track between Clongriffen and Connolly so that direct Dart services could operate to the airport or at least an increase of trains could be thrown in which lets face it, is going to triple the €200m budget and only provide limited relief especially for anything operating south of Connolly.
3. Operate the Airport branch with a single Dart shuttling between Clongriffen and the terminal meaning passengers need to transfer trains at Clongriffen, can’t see that being massively popular!
None of these ideas are particularly ideal and only highlight how congested the northside Dart line is and add the airport to this then we will have meltdown. The airport link would be ideal as an addition to the Dart Underground when the capacity issues are addressed and a direct nonstop service to Connolly could be launched but in the mean time it would merely be a stop gap measure offering a mediocre and crowded service.
At the end of the day Metro North despite it’s cost is a far better investment. It will have long term benefits, offer significant amount of work during construction, bring in significant income from the areas it serves plus make local businesses more accessible! At the end of the day we need to prepare for post recession too!
And let’s not forget that Dublin Airport is the only major capital city airport in Europe not served by an adequate rail service which Dart just would not provide without damaging services to other parts of the city!
The question of this poll is fundamentally wrong.
Taxis, Several Dublin bus routes, private companies and Bus Eireann are public transport that currently serve the airport.
Which capital investment is best? or something similar is a better question.
The only answer is Metro North.
It serves far more than just the airport and Dubliners always seem to forget this.
It will not be a tunnel to the airport.
It is a high capacity light rail system serving 3 Hospitals, 2 major universities, the city centre, several other transport systems and many under served neighbourhoods of North Dublin.
Thousands of jobs will be created. The Dart spur will create traffic chaos on a busy line that has limited room for expansion, beyond 3 tracks…
Metro North and Dart Underground are vital links, but not immediately.
The Luas BXD is more vital on the immediate future and can be built and finished in the next 5 years.
Metro North is a bad investment. See:
http://planbetter.ie/downloads/2010/11/Metro_North_Analysis.pdf
BRT is many times better. A BRT option can do all you claim for Metro North at a fraction of the capital cost. The DART link option probably is also better than Metro North.
Which is BEST? We need independent analysis of the options rather than hired-gun reports paid for by vested interests which always “prove” their option is best. (Have you ever seen a hired consultant’s report which found against the client’s preferred option?).
The Australian model of an independent Commission is the only way to go. An exceptional problem right now is that the finance might not be available even for the best option yielding a good return.
Where’s the option for:
‘Bertie and all the 3ankers on all fours with reigns and saddles attached.’
I could make a killing selling spurs…
Dart proposal would obviously be much cheaper than Metro north and would be linked to the existing Dart line. Metro North would be very expensive but has the option of going to more than just the airport. But would it be linked to any of the other systems we’ve got? But why limit ourselves to only one option? Why not both? If we opt to spend billions on Metro North, the extra 2 million for the Dart extension would be very little additional expense.
Even without the current financial problems, serving the same destination twice is wasteful when there are other public transport projects competing for funding
– Expanded LUAS system
– Metro West
– LUAS systems in regional cities
– Improved journey times on InterCity rail routes
– Possible rail extensions (e.g. M3-Navan, Galway-Tuam, Midleton-Youghal)
– An adequate bus network in regional cities and rural areas.
Galway-Tuam and Midleton-Youghal would be far FAR worse waste of resources than Dublin Airport, in all fairness. Those projects should not even have made it to the planning table.
That there is the problem with this Country…It’s 200 million not 2million….Oooops.
I agree that they can’t compare to a link to Dublin Airport, but their business case has to beat the business case for two links to Dublin Airport and I’m not even sure there is a business case for Galway-Tuam…
Ah go for the underground, it’l be more expensive but better in the long run. We need to catch up with the rest of Europe’s capital cities..
Fix the rest of the country’s roads first before splashing the cash in Dublin. Where’s that option?
Why not both? Done properly. The transport 2 Dub Airport is an embarrassment. No doubt it’ll stay dat way for the forseeable future. Privatise the transport network I say!
THey talk about transport to airport !!is this some kind of joke !!BUSES have been taken off , where needed,!! People talk about “other countries “having this and that ,WAKE UP GUYS <WE ARE NOT OTHER COUNTRIES .Our government has SOLD us out So there is NO competition !!!!We have spent years on our knees listening to these guys MOUTHING ABOUT what they are going to do ,TIME TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED !! I live in GOATSOWN and can't even get a BUS to a hospital (if need to!)without going first to city centre and back to ST VINCENTS
you could surely just go to the Beacon? Or a hospital in town?? If you’re so keen on vincents you should get a taxi there??
Watch out for Dart fares though. If it’s 4.50 one way to Greystones it will probably be 20 euro to get to the airport.
Given how slow the Dart is you’d probably be better off walking anyway….
There should be a direct link to both heuston and Connolly
Theoretically there could be with the Dart Underground.
The St Stephens Green stop of the Dart and Metro North is the most direct link to the airport.
The spur would make Northern Commuter trains and The Enterprise slower as dart traffic will be split 3 ways in the northside (howth, malahide, airport. plus extension to balbriggan as part of dart underground…)
If a dedicated line was built just for the airport dart from clongriffin to connolly station ( ie. a third track) it would work great but if it isn’t I would probably be quicker commuting by horse and cart.
The Dart extension will only work efficiently if one of the following occurs:
1. Significant reduction in the number of Darts servicing Howth and Malahide despite both already operating at very high capacities thus having a severe impact on services to these branches.
2. A trebling of the track between Clongriffen and Connolly so that direct Dart services could operate to the airport or at least an increase of trains could be thrown in which lets face it, is going to triple the â
By this time it would of been cheaper to make Connelly street into a runway!! A heavy rail link is the best public transport solution. The underground is a White elephant given it’s route and the fact it’s not part of a bigger network. The suggestion of better bus links/services is good. But what about better / cheaper taxi services including a taxi pool service like those that operate in Budapest and Bristol?
Well actually Roy, The metro is part of a bigger overall plan linking with the Dart Underground at St Stephans Green as long as the Luas Green Line, The Luas Redline at O’Connell St, the Maynooth/Sligo line at Drumcondra and the Metro West at Ballymun!
And why is it a “white elephant” given its route? Swords is one of the largest urban centres in Europe with atrocious transport links, then bring into that the whole area inbetween right into town which relies almost solely on inadequate bus services. The route alone will service up to 3 major hospitals, 2 universities, the nations main airport, a densely populated area and lets not forget Ikea! LOL!
We need to stop looking at the price tag and start looking at the value to the economy!
Roy, you are seriously misinformed
here we go again u wood think we were a wealty country.WE dont have an arse in our trousers at the moment, we wont need a link to the airport, for years to come. Wood it not be better to pay off some of the money we owe.There are some people out there who dont no where the next meal is to come from. We need to cop on get in the real world,Try to help people who really are in need just tryin to SURRIVE
What about the thousands of jobs that would be created in building Metro North? Is it not better to have these people working and paying taxes than just sitting on their arses taking the dole? In that way the government would be helping the people. At least they would be putting money into the country instead of taking it out. And as with all major infrastructure projects, it would generate extra work in the country from, the suppliers of the materials down to the local shop selling rolls and coffee in the morning to feed the workers. We can’t cut and tax our way out of things, we also have to spend on projects for the future to get the economy moving again. As the old saying goes, you got to spend money to make money.
What i would say ideally is that this proposed “DART” link would also allow for the running of trains to other parts of the country no? If is built for DART it will take heavy rail so it would offer some other benefits over the Metro in that regard, however that would require the DART underground to be completed also so that one could run trains to the south west also.
But what really has to be asked about the projects, is not what mode is to be used to build the bloody thing, instead what is it’s purpose? Metro North is designed to full fill the objective of serving Swords and Ballymun primarily and also to connect the Luas lines, logically if going to Swords and Ballymun it would serve the Airport also and in the ideal world the DART underground stop also. Does it do that? Yes i think does achieve on these. As regards the cost, yeah its a hell of a lot of money that we don’t have, but what’s 2,3,4 or 5 billion on top what we ploughed into the banks? We’re probably going to be giving them more money soon anyway.
But I do think there is serious hesitation in going for the really expensive project because lets face it, i don’t think we’ve funded any single project that has cost that much so far as a government. Pls do correct me if I’m wrong though.
And now we wait for the National Development Plan so.
Anglo Irish Bank comes to mind!
A Bus Rapid Transit system using the Port Tunnel and M1. We already have a tunnel so why dig another one? BRT buses can move as many people as light rail (Metro).
Bus my arse. Metro north needs to be built and managed by someone other than Irish rail-bus eireann- Dublin bus
When swords express started it was great, pay a little more and travel non stop to city centre ( note: Connolly station is not city centre).
Now this bus meanders all over the place, buses are useless.
Oh, there is one shining light for the public sector transport companies. After Over 20, yes 20, years, integrated ticketing is almost ready to deploy.
Another success story!!!
Bus times would, and are, far better than the train.
The metro north is not for the airport only. it serves 3 hospitals, 2 major universitys and many major population areas in North County Dublin. That and many other public transit systems.
Aircoach and the current bus routes are however not going to take the passenger numbers. People don’t see them as attractive.
ideally a brt that ran on a segregated open line using M1 and port tunnel would help our networks greatly. The BRT buses should be low floor bendy buses to attract air-passengers and high rider-ship. And the quality bus corridor/ brt segments open to Dublin bus and private operation.
If you need to get to Beaumont Hospital from Swords on public transport you must travel into the city centre and then back out! Crazy! Ludicrous! Really really crap! I can not believe the people of North Dublin accept such rubbish public services. The Metro North debate has been taken over by the Airport access arguments when it should be about the tens of thousands of Northside residents it will serve!
The 41 goes near to Beaumont or you can change onto a 16 at Collins Ave??
The two projects (i.e. Metro North and DART Underground) are vital for the overall public transportation of Dublin and indeed the rest of the country to become better integrated. The communities, facilities and services along Metro North’s alignment speak for it’s viability as a standalone line never-mind the connection to Dublin Airport. The population along this hypothetical corridor is massive. The services include the secondary interchange between the two Luas lines at Stephen’s Green and O’Connell Street. The Matter Hospital offers the entire corridor fast access to an emergency amenity. Next, there is a major interchange with Drumcondra Railway Station allowing connections with Maynooth Commuter and Sligo Intercity services. DCU is the next major stop on this corridor which is imperative given that thousands of students go there daily. Ballymun is a massive population center and is home to one out of the only two IKEA’s on the entire island of Ireland which must have hundreds of employees. The airport, being the international hub for the entire country has a business case in itself. Hereafter, there is the very large community of Swords with a population of approximately 40,000. The remaining stations to the north have a secondary purpose which is a relatively inexpensive portion of the route given that they are overground.
DART Underground connects with Metro North at Stephens Green as well as the Green Luas Line to Cherrywood (and potentially Bray). Let’s not forget that DART Underground will also relieve the congestion at Connolly Station as it serves to split the DART system into two lines: Bray/Greystones – Maynooth/Pace M3; and Celbridge/Hazelhatch – Howth/Balbriggan. This will allow a more dedicated service on both corridors. Assuming that the Maynooth Line does become electrified, people traveling to DCU from the likes of Bray will be able to change at Drumcondra for Metro North which will bring them the rest of the way in 10 minutes or less. In a similar vain, people traveling from the likes of Celbridge to DCU will change at Stephens Green and be there in roughly 15 minutes. As for the airport. People who travel from Bray, Dalkey and Greystones will probably still use the Aircoach as it will still probably work out faster than getting a DART the entire way out to Dublin Airport via the Clongriffin DART spur. It is for this reason that a spur at Clongriffin DART Station to the Airport would be redundant or superfluous.
Although Metro North has a hefty price tag, the massive population along with the services and facilities along it’s path should be more than enough to make it a self sufficient corridor. However, I do recognize that DART Undergound will be an essential piece of the public transport jig-saw puzzle as it will more than likely deliver people from the west of Dublin to Metro North thereby, providing the desired level of public transport integration. Furthermore, it interacts with both Luas lines which will provide a direct connection for those living in Howth/Balbriggan who would be commuting to the likes of Tallaght or Sandyford Industrial Estate. Instead of having a spur off Clongriffin to the Airport, would it not make more sense to have a shuttle bus that crosses the two DART lines and travels to Maynooth via Dublin Airport, essentially, forming an orbital service?
Ideal scenarion Metro North owned by the rpa, operated under commercial franchise as per LUAS..
Problem is the cost, someone mentioned the roads being where this money is needed. I couldn’t disagree more, road transport has been subsidised in this state at the expense of other modes since the birth of this state. Well if Road Users,especially commercial operators as in Germany, were required to cover the true cost of Ireland’s roads a lot more government capital would be available for projects.. If the profits earned by the RPA’s very successfull Luas lines were set aside to fund further development and funds generated by the introduction of congestion charging and benefit in kind tax on city centre parking for staff added to the pot funds for the development of metro north could be accumulated over a number of years.
The Dart underground can also be put off for a number of years by investing in the phoenix park tunnel for through Heuston- Connolly passenger trains. The reopening of Broadstone station for use by Sligo and Mayo trains would reduce the congestion in Connoly to make slots for trains from Heuston and connection between Broadstone and Connolly could be made by changing trains at a new station at Glasnevin Jct. As a fact Broadstone isn’t too much further from O’Connell St. than Connolly and has excellent bus links as well as the planned LUAS BXD which could terminate there or else serve Grangegorman.. The surplus of land available means a second Busaras could also be incorporated onto the site
The Docklands station was "rebuilt/rebooted" like a Hollywood movie so that the Broadstone track could be saved for Luas "D" line on BXD expansion.
Phibsborough will never be a terminus for Sligo, Maynooth or Navan Trains again.
Yes the Docklands station is pitiful, and growth in Spencer Dock area dead but land will be used in future. Dart Underground will start there at new Spencer Dock station, and Docklands won’t be demolished.
These plans have been in motion for years. Grangegorman Luas and bus stops for new DIT campus and some of the legal district will serve the Phibsborough area well if/when Luas BXD goes ahead.
I’m aware of the plans but i don’t think they’re the best they can be.. by diverting trains off Liffey jct. track slots into Connolly from the west would be freed up for trains joining at Glasnevin Jct. Docklands may have been built for DART underground but we can’t afford that for at least twenty years so why not do the quick fix which could be nearly as effective when provided with links to the city via LUAS BXD. Integrated ticketing would improve the case for Broadstone/Phoenix Park tunnel over DART underground.
A bicycle.
Horseback.
If central government is paying – busways to Malahide and Howth Junction for fast access to DART and Northern Suburban towards Dundalk. Perhaps convert Howth line to a busway to free up more slots/trains for Malahide/Dundalk.
If Dublin Airport Authority is paying they can build what they like. PHX Skytrain in Phoenix is ahead of schedule because higher than expected passenger counts brought in more revenue for the levy applied to tickets.
Can i drive
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