Metro North

[SunnyDub]

Letters about what, design I'm guessing because the decisions have been taken about what lines are going where, it's called Transport 21 and the RPA's (and Iarnrod's) objective is to deliver it, plain and simple

[SunnyDub]

Metro North put back to Feb 2009

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=35730-qqqx=1.asp

Sunday, September 07, 2008 By Nicola Cooke
The bidders for the Metro North rail project have been told that the date for the submission of tenders has been extended by more than two months to February next year.

[missarchi]

Would it be safe to say the whole application will be available online on DCC's website...

one would think so 3 days after the application is lodged...
you never know it might even be invalidated!!!
it appears too late to add Fingal council to applicants for the consultation?
I want to know if bono is going to request anything for his 150k contribution...

[missarchi]

It appears the rpa are giving planning drawings out to tenants in the city which is a good sign

[notjim]

Would it be safe to say the whole application will be available online on DCC's website...

one would think so 3 days after the application is lodged...
you never know it might even be invalidated!!!
it appears too late to add Fingal council to applicants for the consultation?
I want to know if bono is going to request anything for his 150k contribution...

Do you mean the Railway Order has gone in, it can be hard to follow your posts some times.

[missarchi]

the railway order I don't know about that yet...

I know tenants around the city have been giving large format drawings I'll have more info tomorrow.

[notjim]

So apparently the Railway Order application is going to posted here:

http://www.dublinmetronorth.ie/

on the 17 Sept.

[SunnyDub]

Yeah Newspaper Notice was published yesterday.

Metro work to disrupt two major hospitals

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0912/1221138437499.html

Application on / after Sept 17th,

[SunnyDub]

Metro North documents to be lodged

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0913/1221235786679.html

TIM O'BRIEN
THOUSANDS OF Dubliners are expected to seek copies of the planning application for Metro North when it is lodged with An Bord Pleanála on Wednesday.

The planning application – officially an application for a Railway Order – is to be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which contains details of disturbance caused by the construction of the 18km, partly underground, rail line linking Swords and Dublin airport with St Stephen’s Green.

The EIS will look at disturbance to traffic and trade as well as to hospitals, community organisations, schools and parks.

The application and the EIS will be available at An Bord Pleanála’s headquarters in Marlborough Street as well as at Fingal County Council offices in Swords, Dublin’s Civic Offices on Wood Quay, Ballymun Regeneration on Ballymun Road and from the Railway Procurement Agency at Parkgate Street.

An Bord Pleanála will accept submissions on the project until October 29th and is expected to then hold an oral hearing which may take several weeks. A decision on the application is expected by next autumn.

The Railway Procurement Agency has refused to say how much the five-year construction project is set to cost, citing commercial sensitivities as the tendering process is under way.

[notjim]

according to platform 11 it went in this after!

[cgcsb]

It'll take till next autum to make a decision? that's a whole year. Even if they start work right away, it could be 2015 before it's operational. The interconnector could be open before it

[notjim]

The interconnector hasn't gone to RO yet, the tenders aren't out either, how ever long Metro North will take, the interconnector will take longer.

[missarchi]

Well not much has changed at the green...
I wonder what the Irish Landscape institute have to say will they make a submission?

[damcw]

Check it out, the Stephens Green ticket area will have "granite slabs symbolising arch above".

http://www.dublinmetronorth.ie/Downloads/PlanofProposedWorks/06-StructuresDCCBook%202of2/19-LMN000TO107018A.pdf

Does anyone have any thoughts about the station design/materials used? The airport station entrance and drumcondra building look pretty bad from the elevations....

[missarchi]

you could have a bigger greener arch
the airport is a bit...
drumcondra could be a red brick arch like little ita
http://www.dublinmetronorth.ie/Downloads/PlanofProposedWorks/03-StructuresFingalBook%201of4/29-LMN000PK101006A.pdf

[notjim]

The Post has the metro stopping at the airport and going over ground through Ballymun, disappointing for Swords if this happens and potentially awkward for the Metro itself since stopping at the airport will have a large effect on passenger journeys. I guess this should only be a temporary delay for the full plan.

[missarchi]

interesting...

http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Heritage/NationalMonuments/FileDownLoad,2253,en.pdf

[SunnyDub]

State to scale back Metro project
The Sunday Business Post, 21st Sept 08

The government looks set to dramatically scale back the €1.2 billion Metro North project linking Dublin city to the airport, and is also poised to axe the proposed Metro West project.

The move follows discussions between Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan, Minister for Finance, last week in light of the slump in government finances.

Further discussions will be held with cabinet colleagues in the days ahead, but sources believe that Noel Dempsey, Minister for Transport, and his senior officials are fighting for the bulk of the existing plan to be maintained.

A range of other projects in the National Development Plan are also set to be delayed or shelved as part of a wide-ranging review. Transport protects will be given priority, while several non-transport projects will now be cancelled indefinitely.

Large portions of the Metro North project, one of the most ambitions infrastructure projects in the history of the state, were originally intended to be built underground.

This now looks unlikely to happen as a range of other less costly options come onto the table.

Much of the scaled down project may now be built above ground in an effort to cut costs, with a range of options of how to achieve this, including running trams on specific sealed off road areas, now under consideration.

Advisers believe the decision will reduce the estimated €4.5 billion cost by hundreds of millions of euro.

[shanekeane]

State to scale back Metro project
The Sunday Business Post, 21st Sept 08

The government looks set to dramatically scale back the €1.2 billion Metro North project linking Dublin city to the airport, and is also poised to axe the proposed Metro West project.

The move follows discussions between Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan, Minister for Finance, last week in light of the slump in government finances.

Further discussions will be held with cabinet colleagues in the days ahead, but sources believe that Noel Dempsey, Minister for Transport, and his senior officials are fighting for the bulk of the existing plan to be maintained.

A range of other projects in the National Development Plan are also set to be delayed or shelved as part of a wide-ranging review. Transport protects will be given priority, while several non-transport projects will now be cancelled indefinitely.

Large portions of the Metro North project, one of the most ambitions infrastructure projects in the history of the state, were originally intended to be built underground.

This now looks unlikely to happen as a range of other less costly options come onto the table.

Much of the scaled down project may now be built above ground in an effort to cut costs, with a range of options of how to achieve this, including running trams on specific sealed off road areas, now under consideration.

Advisers believe the decision will reduce the estimated €4.5 billion cost by hundreds of millions of euro.

that might just be good news. only solution now: pedestrian the entire city centre and build an extensive network of trams. i support metro systems but frankly if it's going to cost that much then maybe trams are a better option, as long as they're segregated from traffic.

[SunnyDub]

Best tactic on Metro is to keep digging

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/0925/1222207741242.html

OPINION Any cutback on building an integrated transport system in Dublin would end up being costly, writes John Gibbons

Thank goodness then for Transport 21. Admittedly, it's far from perfect, with a ludicrous €1.2 billion motorway from Dublin to Waterford (population barely 40,000). But no matter, at least our congested and rapidly growing capital will finally get a proper public transport system.

Or will it? Heavy hints have been dropped in recent days that the guts are to be pulled out of Transport 21. Not the motorway folly, of course, but the dismemberment of a desperately needed integrated Dublin public transport system. And if you think congestion is bad right now, the Central Statistics Office projects that by 2021, there will be over two million people in the greater Dublin area

[cgcsb]

I have to agree. How can we expect to come out of a recession without proper transport. SurelyT21 should be the most important step in bringing back our competitiveness

[SunnyDub]

You'd have to start wondering about the consortiums bidding for this, their finance must now either be a lot more expensive or not going to happen...they should dump the ppp, cut public spending and keep some capital spending for transport & other infrastructure me thinks

[missarchi]

strike the pose! move and make monuments...
maybe we can get some bronze entrances I still think the green is Dublin's greatest attraction...
the Irish times clock looks very similar style to another sign ortem
I still cannot find if bikes will be allowed on outside of peak hour...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0929/1222420015092.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0929/1222420015052.html

[shanekeane]

If this is still on after the budget, ill eat my hat

[SunnyDub]

Metro North is still on track but there's no time of arrival

Irish Independent
Tuesday, 7 October 2008

DUBLIN'S €3.7bn Metro North rail system is going ahead -- but Transport Minister Noel Dempsey can't say when.

Mr Dempsey yesterday qualified his backing for the huge project saying the system would only be built if it came though a stringent cost-benefit analysis next year.

The minister also raised the spectre of lengthy delays, saying the Transport 21 plan would "be an even better idea in three or four years when we move out of recession".

He admitted money was not there for other transport schemes included in the National Development Plan (NDP). Some projects could now face postponement or the chop.

"The procedure is, and always was, that once the tenders are there, there would be negotiations and the final price would be decided at that stage," he said. "It will get its usual appraisal, value for money, cost benefit analysis and if it meets those, it will go ahead.

"That's the way it was, that's the way it is, and that's the way it will be."

The minister was speaking at the launch of airline CityJet's new €6m hangar at Dublin airport, a project he said underlined the need to plan for the future.

But he appeared to hedge his backing of Dublin's future transport needs, as speculation continues that Metro North from St Stephen's Green to Swords could fall victim to the State's collapsing finances.

In August, before the full extent of the credit crisis became apparent, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan met with the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) -- which is overseeing the project -- to say Metro North would go ahead.

Informed sources said the Government wanted to send out the message that the project would go ahead so the four bidders would submit the best price.

Bidders

Yesterday, bidders said that as far as they were aware, the project was still going ahead. But Mr Dempsey said other projects could be scaled back, or indefinitely postponed.

"We haven't as much money as we expected. We prefaced everything in our programme for Government on a 4.5pc increase in income," he said.

"We obviously haven't that, we are going to be in deficit next year and that will affect our spending plans.

"The NDP and Transport 21 was a good idea when it was put in place. It's still a good idea and it will be an even better idea in three or four years' time when we move out of recession.

"We may have to delay some projects, we may have to postpone some of them but we're not talking at this stage of abandoning any projects, giving up on any of the projects.

"I intend, in the NDP, to continue planning and providing money for various projects in Transport 21, but start-up dates in some cases may be deferred."

The RPA, which has already spent €33m planning the project, has sought planning permission for the line and the successful bidder is not expected to be announced before next month. After that, they will negotiate with the RPA over the final price and this process could run into next year.

Any delay could have serious effects for those investing along the Metro route -- critics say a postponement would send a signal that Ireland is not investing in infrastructure.

Mr Dempsey said the tendering process would be completed on February 6 next.

"When the tenders are finalised, there will be the usual capital appraisal and subject to that, yes, it is a project that is going to go ahead and one the Government is very much committed to," he added.

Ciaran Byrne and Paul Melia
Irish Independent