Reply To: Is Dublins Underground rail network a past fantasy?

Originally posted by mickeydocs

It is funny how regional development never involves allowing the regions to participate with each other.
The lack of a train line and a decent road between Cork/Limerick/Shannon/Galway/Sligo is a disgrace, especially as a western corridor would provide an excellent counterpole to Dublin.

I know exactly what you mean Mickey, the classic example is the new motorway being planned between Cork and Portlaoise, it is following almost to the mile the existing N8 alignment, when as suggested by one prominent An Taisce member that it should follow the rail line to Tipperary and then back to Mitchelstown.

This would have allowed a 24 mile link from Tipperary to Limerick doubling up as a Dublin & Cork connection to Limerick, and even providing 1/3 of the link between Waterford and Limerick.

Instead Limerick will have to wait at least a decade as 10kms bypass links with 10kms bypass to have a connection to Dublin.

No plan exists to Link Cork and Galway by A class road, and I will have a state pension before a rail line links our 2nd, 3rd and 4th cities.

Originally posted by mickeydocs
Surely this will give you an idea as to the insanity of spending up to 2 billion on such a system for Dublin, a conurbation with at most a population of 1.5 million… where is the sense?

The sense is that the orbital motorway has been tried and failed, nothing less than 1.25% of the National budget over a five year period will solve the transport problems of the region that supplies 40%+ of the revenue.

Gridlock costs Dublin over 2bn per year, that is ignoring the human cost of spending 3 hours per day commuting.

Cork will receive its Midleton extension and I am sure that increased capacity and greater land use planning on the Mallow line would also be welcomed.

But beyond who gets what on a Geographical basis, the choices to be made are do the government spend more and more money on dubious road schemes such as the Dublin to Kells motorway & Dublin to Slane Motorway and a second orbital Motorway for Dublin or is a public transport system built in Dublin that actually connects.

If you want to go from Galway or Cork to Belfast or Dublin Airport, it is currently a multi-modal mess, only an extended and fully linked Dart service can do this.