Dardistown Metro North Depot

Having finally got off my ass to resume blogging the Metro North project is cropping up more and more in the news! I see that a lobby group has be officially launched (I reckon relaunched but anyway!) the ‘Yes to Metro North‘ Facebook community. It is being described by the North Dublin TD, Clare Daly as:

‘This is the only shovel-ready transport project, with planning completed, millions already spent on it and the only project with funding in place.’

Which I can say is probably true, however it’s not ‘shovel ready’ as the relocation of the depot still has to go through probable oral hearing with a decision not likely until October where the project will receive build permission as part of the conditions attached to the railway order. Documents relating to the Depot relocation to Dardistown are available at www.dublinmetronorthdepot.ie

I am inclined to agree with the cooments attributed to the unnamed former Fingal County Council planner in a recent Fingal Independent article.

….a former Fingal County Council planner has warned there is ‘no way’ Metro will be built, given the lack of funds and skewed projected population figures.

Now I wouldn’t go as far as saying its never going to be built as we must remember Railway Orders made under the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001 remain in force forever effectively. Unlike Planning Permissions which have an effective life if extended of 10 year, Railway Orders have no defined lifespan. So lets not get too freaked out just yet it can still be built, maybe not in the next 10 years though!

Comments by the Minister that the old plan of linking the Airport with the Northern Line at Clongriffen are laudable, like come on if that was to happen it would have been built already! The whole Metro concept of linking the airport to the city centre while also serving communities is the whole point of it not just a rail link to the airport.

We seem to be going one step forward in terms of aspiration and two steps backwards in terms of clarity of what it is we want. Is the policy to put a rail link to the airport or is it to provide a rail link to the airport to Ballymun. The investment plan Transport 21 seems to have been quietly cancelled, which could be the final death nail for the Metro for the time being.

Pragmatism!

'Bus with High Level of Service' - Gothenburg, Sweden

We are looking to 20 year solutions, why i ask? There needs to be a radical shake up of transport policy for Dublin, something which 2030 vision is not going to deliver since it is a rehash of all the transport 21 projects. More pragmatic solutions need to be proposed! Something like a BRT based line that would run along the Ballymun road as an interim stop measure or stepping stone until the Metro can be built.

Undoubtedly I will rant more about alternative solutions in the coming weeks!

Related posts:

1. RPA to submit railway order for Metro West to the Bord!
2. What’s the story like? 1/2012
3. Metro, Dart link included in €39bn revised capital plan

RTPI sign and waiting Dublin Bus on Eden Key (Photo: Colin Broderick)

What is it you might ask? Why it’s realtime passenger information as deployed by the QBN Office! I must confess I was a non believer that this would ever happen in Dublin, but I have been proven wrong, there it is at a bus stop during its initial testing phase before full live deployment. The project as far as I am aware is due for completion in Q2 2011. [Reference to follow]

Interesting to note is that the sign appears to be branded “Transport for Ireland.” I wonder will it be abbreviated to TFI? I can’t seem to find any reference to on google searches, but who knows this could be the new marketing name for our integrated transport systems. Obviously just copying Transport for London (TFL) .

HOLD THE PHONE!

There is a live test version of the RTP information available here: http://dublin.acisconnect.com/
Not all of the routes are live but some of the main bus stops are though as witnessed below:

ACIS Dublin RTPI test site, using Open Street Map

If you are interested in how the RTPI is implemented and its current progress you should check out this presentation by Brendan O’Brien from the Dublin City Council, IT Department.

DCC RTPI Presentation, Nov. 2011 (Click Image to View)

It would also appear that the Quality Bus Network Office have a new website in development, I stumbled across it’s test site before christmas and meant to post a link on the blog. Of note is the map showing the current QBC Network which displays the two orbital routes numbered 11 and 12.

Let me know what you think of the project so far, comments as always are welcome!

Related posts:

1. Dublin City Council erecting Real Time Passenger (RTP) information signs
2. A time for building bridges

Was firing through the google reader when i came across this on Buck Planning, Redrawing Dublin – Paul Kearns and Motti Ruimy, available for €33 in bookshops. (It’s sold out on amazon, will hopefully be able to get a copy in town today) Would suggest everyone check out the Redrawing Dublin Facebook page for extra titt bits!

Metro North or DART Underground, what’s it to be? One, both or neither…Dublin Transport.

Very good article in yesterdays Sunday Times by Richard Oakley, was quiet synical but a good laugh and hit the right nerve as far as the projects go. The RPA are definitely the better PR machine at the moment. Sticking with the transport note, now that Dublin Airports T2 is complete and operational, will the plans for a second parallel runway be lodged? Dublin Bus is to complete the role out of real time passenger information throughout the city by March, will have to see it to believe it! We are to finally have an integrated ticket this year at some stage! Further Dublin Bikes expansion is on the cards too and the new bike map looks like the shape of a seating plan for an airliner.

Plans, plans and more plans!

This year however will undoubtly be the year for the preparation of the Local Area Plan, for instance Dublin City Counil have committed to producing 5 local area plans by the 2016 renewal date of the newly adopted plan.

Hope 2011 will be way better than 2010!

C

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1. Happy New Year! 2011 The year of the Chinese, our massive population, continuing trends and more
2. Bag O’ Links 31/07/2011 Incinerators, Transport, Dublin Bus and Grangegorman
3. Review of Kildare County Development Plan 2011 – 2017

Well this pretty much snook in under the radar! I hadn’t heard a peep from this project, I assumed it was dead and buried for another time, how wrong was I!? Very happy to know i was wrong! From the RPA:

The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) has today (20th October 2010) announced its intention to apply to An Bord Pleanála for a Railway Order for Metro West, a light railway from Old Blessington Road, Tallaght to Dardistown, just south of Dublin Airport. The railway order, if granted, would permit RPA to construct, operate and maintain the Metro West light railway.

The proposed line begins at a new terminus in the median of Belgard Road adjacent to the Institute of Technology Tallaght. The line runs northwards over the Luas Red Line at Kilnamanagh/Belgard to Clondalkin and onwards to Quarryvale before crossing the River Liffey on a new bridge. The route continues to Porterstown and Blanchardstown, past the National Aquatic Centre and northwards to Cappoge and Meakstown before ending at a connection with Metro North at Dardistown. Full details of the proposed route, stops, Park & Ride and other details are available here on this website.

The Metro West project is a key element of Transport 21, the governments transport investment framework and the railway order application represents a significant milestone in the delivery of the project. Metro West will link the large towns and districts in west Dublin such as Tallaght, Clondalkin, Liffey Valley and Blanchardstown. With linked services between Metro North and Metro West it will also connect these towns with Swords, the city centre and all other locations along the route of Metro North.

Metro West will integrate with the wider transport network with interchanges with Luas, Irish Rail, Metro North, bus and QBCs, taxis and Park & Ride along the route. The integration that Metro West will greatly improve connections within the entire public transport system.

The railway order application is the culmination of a number of years of planning, consultation, assessment and design work. The railway order includes plans and drawings of all the scheme infrastructure, legal documentation and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the scheme. These documents will be on display at the offices of South Dublin and Fingal County Council, Railway Procurement Agency and An Bord Pleanála from the 29th of October 2010 and also available to view and download fromwww.dublinmetrowest.ie from the same date.

Metro West will deliver substantial benefits to communities in west Dublin, providing a quality public transport system, employment opportunities during the construction and operation phases, regeneration potential and environmental improvement. Overall Metro West will enhance the quality of life for those who live, work and visit the area.

Click here to view or download Metro West Railway Order Application Newspaper Notice

Click here to view or download Metro Metro West Railway Order Application Newspaper Notice Press Release

Related posts:

1. RPA lodge Railway Order for Luas Line BXD to join the green and red line
2. Metro North – What’s the story like?
3. Luas BXD and Interconnector lodged to the Bord

Related posts:

1. RPA to submit railway order for Metro West to the Bord!
2. Luas Line F1 – Change to proposed route for Lucan line planned
3. Luas Red Line extension to open on Tuesday

WITH A flash and a large plume of smoke, the last piece of railway track was welded into place on the Luas Cherrywood extension yesterday.

The €300 million extension to the line, which is expected to open to the public in October, is already wired and “live”, with testing of trams expected to begin late next month.

At 7.5km, the extension almost doubles the initial 9km length of the Luas Green line from St Stephen’s Green to Sandyford. It is to have 12 stops between Sandyford and Brides Glen, about 1km beyond Cherrywood.

While most of the Luas Green line follows the route of the former Harcourt Street railway to Brides Glen, the extension deviates from the original.

It turns southwest alongside the prominent Vodafone building at Central Park, across the M50 and continues to Glencairn, close to the British ambassador’s residence. From there, it turns back to the Ballyogan Road and across the M50 to Leopardstown.

After the final weld yesterday, chief executive of the Railway Procurement Agency Frank Allen said the deviation was to tie in with high levels of development around Glencairn, the Gallops, and along Ballyogan Road, all planned in tandem with the Luas.

Property developers within 1km of the Luas line were charged a special development levy, in a move designed to raise about €150 million of the cost of the extension.

Many of these developments were apartment blocks of between five and seven storeys which are now largely vacant.

However, Tom Manning of the Railway Procurement Agency said the property developers’ difficulties had not affected the line’s development.

“There is a 30-year timeframe for the State to recoup the money, so that could be as many as three or more economic cycles,” he said.

At €300 million, the route has cost €40 million a kilometre.

The first phase of the Luas light rail worked out at €35 million per kilometre.

Iarnród Éireann confirmed yesterday there would be a three-year additional delay to the planned opening of its Dart underground project.

Public consultation on the project, now not due to be completed until 2018, continues.

Meetings will be held between 5pm and 8pm on each of the following dates at these venues: Today: the Atrium, Civic Offices, Wood Quay; Monday, May 10th, the Alexander Hotel, Fenian Street; Tuesday, May 11th, Hilton Hotel, Kilmainham, Dublin 8; and Thursday, May 13th, Sean O’Casey Community Centre, East Wall, Dublin 3.

Irish Times

Related posts:

1. Luas Red Line extension to open on Tuesday
2. Luas trams will not stop at new Brennanstown station
3. Luas Line F1 – Change to proposed route for Lucan line planned

THE RAILWAY Procurement Agency (RPA) plans to change the route of the proposed Lucan Luas line, but said it does not intend to reopen public consultation on the project.

Plans for the line, which would run from Lucan in west Dublin to the city centre, were originally put out to public consultation in late 2007. The RPA received a record 2,300 submissions from the public, greater than the response for the entire Metro North project.

The preferred route which emerged from this process was announced in October 2008. From College Green in the city centre, the 15km “Line F” would head west along Dame Street to Christchurch before joining the existing Red Line at Fatima. It would then continue along the Grand Canal before turning right on Kylemore Road and heading towards Ballyfermot and out of the city towards Lucan.

In a letter sent to residents in Inchicore, the RPA said it now plans to change the route so that the Luas line could link up with the proposed final stop of the Dart Underground line.

In the letter, the RPA said that at the time the original Lucan Luas selection process took place, the Dart Underground route was to end at Heuston Station. Iarnród Éireann subsequently decided to extend the line to Inchicore.

The RPA and Iarnród Éireann have been working for a number of months to identify a way to provide a “viable interchange” between the two lines, the letter said. The proposed solution involves taking the line away from the canal and routing it through industrial lands east of Inchicore Village to meet the planned Dart station.

A spokesman for the RPA said two information meetings would be held this week – at Liffey Gaels GAA Club, Ballyfermot, from 6pm to 9pm tonight, and at the Oblate Hall, Inchicore, at the same time tomorrow.

The RPA intends to seek a Railway Order, planning permission to construct the line, from An Bord Pleanála next year. When the preferred route was announced in October 2008, the RPA said it would seek a Railway Order in 2010.

The spokesman said there would “not be any significant delay” in development as a result of the route change. No date for its construction has been set.

Inchicore on Track, a residents’ group which had been critical of a lack of consultation from Iarnród Éireann in relation to the site of the Dart Underground station, said it wanted public consultation on the route change.

“This route change might be a no-brainer, and it seems logical, but what if we don’t agree with it?” asked group representative John Beck.

IrishTimes

View more about this LUAS project on the RPA website:  http://www.rpa.ie/en/projects/luas_lucan/Pages/default.aspx

Related posts:

1. Luas Red Line extension to open on Tuesday
2. RPA lodge Railway Order for Luas Line BXD to join the green and red line
3. Proposed route for Corrib pipeline unsafe, Shell told

THE LUAS extension from Bus Áras to the Point is to open on Tuesday and will face its first big challenge within hours, the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) said yesterday.

According to the RPA, passengers will be offered free travel on the entire Red Line from 3pm on Tuesday immediately after the official opening, until 12.30am, when the line closes. The offer coincides with a potential audience of up to 13,000 people at the Lily Allen concert in the 02.

As he gave pre-school children from the Giraffe and Early Learning centres in the IFSC a special preview of the new extension yesterday, RPA light rail project director Michael Sheedy said the three- bay Luas terminal at the Point would be able to move 2,500 people from the O2 in the first 20 minutes after the concert.

“You will have some people taking their cars anyway and some who will start walking rather than wait, so we are not really expecting a problem,” Mr Sheedy said. Depending on demand, trams could be available every 6½ minutes.

The new extension encompasses four new stops – at George’s Dock, Mayor Square, Spencer Dock and the Point. The route bypasses the current terminus at the Luas concourse at Connolly Station. The RPA says the distances to the new stop represent a walk of only one or two minutes.

From Tuesday, just one in three trams will deviate between Bus Áras and George’s Dock to serve the concourse at the station.

According to the RPA’s Tom Manning, one of the main benefits of the Luas extension will be in breathing life into the IFSC at night-time, bringing people into the area for concerts and giving people a reason to remain as late as the last tram at 12.30am.

The route will pass the Harbourmaster bar and restaurant and will serve many of the corporate offices in the IFSC, as well as the National College of Ireland and new hotels, restaurants and wine bars on the north quays. It will also serve the 02, the soon to be completed concert hall and the Point Village.

“It brings the tram into a whole new area of Dublin; it looks more like Boston,” said Mr Manning as he pointed out local landmarks including “the Anglo Irish icon”, an unfinished office block near the Point. Journey times from Tallaght to the Point will be 56 minutes and services will be every 6½ minutes at peak times.

Public consultation for the extension was launched in January 2001 and construction began in June 2007.

Irish Times

Related posts:

1. Luas Cherrywood extension has final stretch put in place
2. Luas Line F1 – Change to proposed route for Lucan line planned
3. RPA lodge Railway Order for Luas Line BXD to join the green and red line

LUAS TRAMS will not stop at a new station being built in south Dublin because development planned for the area has not materialised, the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) has said.

A new Luas line from Sandyford to Cherrywood in south Dublin is currently under construction, and is expected to be operational next autumn.

Costs for the development have been estimated at €40 million a kilometre.

Eleven stops will be constructed along the B1 line, including at Ballyogan, Leopardstown, Carrickmines and Cherrywood.

However, although a stop is being built at Brennanstown, off the N11 near Cabinteely, Luas trams will not stop there. New housing developments in the area had been and are being marketed on the basis of proximity to the Luas stop.

A spokesman for the RPA said the area around the Brennanstown stop had not developed in the way that was expected.

He said the road infrastructure around the stop had not been built.

“There is no way passengers can get in and out,” he said.

It was not the responsibility of the RPA to provide access roads, he added.

“It is really a matter of how the area has developed.”

Fine Gael TD George Lee said the decision not to stop at the station would be a “a kick in the teeth” for local residents.

“This will come as a major shock to local residents, many of whom bought apartments and houses in the area at the height of the boom in the expectation that they would have a Luas stop on their doorstep in the near future.

“These are the same people who are suffering terribly from negative equity,” Mr Lee added. “Plans to deprive them of a Luas service is like kicking them when they are down.”

He said he understood the Rail Procurement Agency was concerned that the demand for a Luas service would not be sufficient due to the number of empty apartments in the area.

He said he would raise the matter with Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey.

“I am calling on the Minister to ensure that the Brennanstown stop opens from day one when the Luas line is extended.”

Related posts:

1. Luas Red Line extension to open on Tuesday
2. Luas Cherrywood extension has final stretch put in place
3. Luas Line F1 – Change to proposed route for Lucan line planned