Re: Re: Metro West

The Irish are by their nature a nation of instinctual Luddites (“Creeping Jesus types” as Bertie correctly pointed out ) when it comes to anything away from the familiar. Normal engineering transport design and approaches which are standard/proven methodology in every other country on earth inspire fear, loathing and doomsday scenarios among the hysterical and timid Irish.

Here are my reason why the MetroWest is going to be a major success:

A) Them Shopping Centres are busy as hell and transport to them is almost 100% private car orientated. Metro West will free-up a huge amount of capcity on the M50 and create a more sustainable retail transport culture in West Dublin and beyond. This is worth its weight in gold.

B) The integration between the Maynooth and Kildare railway lines is really sweet in itself. You want to get to Lucan from Tallaght it’s a one change – no biggie. You live in Maynooth and work in Kildare, MetroWest liberates you from the car. When the Interconnector comes on stream the frequency, capacity and integration on the combined MetroWest, MetroNorth and DART/Suburban Rail will be superb. You want to go to the Airport or City Centre from MetroWest – then change with MetroNorth at Ballymun. People all over the world do this, the lazy Paddies have to learn to do this as well.

I am really amazed how people view MetroWest as a stand-alone project as if is has no integrational relationship to any other Metro line, Heavy Rail or Luas. Look at the T21 maps – it’s an integration dream.

We also have to get away from the endless spit and polish of the CIE victorian rail infrastructure approach which is alright for a quick fix, but it is extremely limited over the long term.

We are a nation of slow learners who like old CIE Victorian railways lines to get a bit of an upgrade now and again or throw CIE a few extra buses with “An Lar” on the destination board so the BAC Supreme Soviets can be saluted as the new buses pass the reviewing stand on Upper O’Connell Street. Then the same Irish who are happy and safe with such traditional approaches to public transport investmenr can constantly wonder why our public transport is among the worst, if not the very worst in the Western World.

Anyways, it is going to be built and that’s that so you might as well start to learn to accept it as you have already done so with the fantastic and gloriously successful Luas, which also went through the same Chicken Little response upon announcement and which delayed it for years and led to the gap when the Chicken Little’s got their way (before the same muppets demanded the lines be joined ASAP as soon as they scratched their baldy shopkeeper heads watching the packed trams stop at the Green).