Re: Re: Dublin Airport Metro to have unconnected terminus?

Originally Posted by Irish Indo
Metro work to begin in April

Chaos feared as new city Luas link gets green light as well

Treacy Hogan

Environment Correspondent

DIGGING work on the controversial €1.5bn Metro line from Dublin city to the airport gets under way in April, it was revealed yesterday.

The fact that the initial exploratory work begins so soon will come as a surprise to commuters and businesses.

Already serious concerns have been raised over the impact of the digging and tunnelling works on traffic.

We will have to put up with digging for the Metro – to be completed by 2015 – and for a new link between the two unconnected Luas lines in the city centre.

Both rail systems will be totally separate but will run along exactly the same route as far as O’Connell Street, the Metro running underground, the Luas link running overground.

The Metro route from the city centre to Swords via Dublin Airport is being officially unveiled by the Government next week following a briefing to the Cabinet by Transport Minister Martin Cullen, yesterday.

The Metro is expected to go from St Stephen’s Green, Westmoreland Street, O’Connell Street, Dorset Street, Griffith Avenue, Glasnevin and Dublin City University (DCU), Ballymun, Dublin Airport, and on to Swords. Travel time to the airport is estimated at 17 minutes.

Separately, a €100m Luas line linking the two unconnected lines from Tallaght and Sandyford will also go from St Stephen’s Green, Westmoreland Street, and O’Connell Street.

Work on this project is due to get under way later this year and the link is due to be finished by 2009. This is the route which emerged as the most popular with the public during consultations on possible routes.

Following a Cabinet meeting Mr Cullen announced that the route for the Metro will be unveiled next week and the public invited to air their views.

Geophysical digging is due to start on the Metro project in April.

Mr Cullen said yesterday: “These developments represent significant staging posts on the delivery of one of Transport 21’s key projects, Metro North.

“We are now ready to start the physical groundwork on building the Metro service, running from St Stephen’s Green via the airport to Swords,” the minister added.

A Department of Transport spokesperson said yesterday that the geotechnical work would not cause any traffic disruptions.

Meanwhile, plans for a new Luas line to Dublin’s booming Citywest area are being unveiled tomorrow.

As recently revealed by the Irish Independent, the 3.2km tram service spur off the Tallaght line is expected to cost up to €100m.

Much of the cost is being met by two developers, Davy Hickey Properties and Harcourt Properties in a public-private partnership.

The line will run from Belgard to Citywest and will cater for the commercial district there as well as an expected housing boom and is due to open in 2009.

The cost of building new Luas lines is currently running at €30m per kilometre. A public inquiry into the extension of the Sandyford line to Cherrywood in south Dublin is being heard next Monday. This line is scheduled to open in 2010.

Luas is now carrying over 70,000 passengers a day. Mr Cullen will launch the public consultation on the proposed Citywest Luas link at South Dublin County Council’s offices in Tallaght tomorrow.

I guess we’ll have the answer next week