Re: Re: The destruction of St. Stephen’s Green

@ofjames wrote:

after irish rail lost the battle for the broadstone alignment, Minister Dempsey gave them a consolation prize by suggesting that the current Docklands station will be retained to cater for the Navan services IR wanted to send to Broadstone. As it stands, it seems that the time-restriction on the planning permission that was granted for Docklands will be scrapped, and the midland line will continue to be used in the future for Navan and perhaps some other maynooth line services

There is no harm in retaining a terminus down there but a concrete and galvenise structure is sadly unambitious and a dreadful waste of land; there could have been an interesting option to bring the Navan/Maynooth line underground and have had trains running say Navan to Adamstown as well as the Kildare – Drogheda routing already envisaged.

I have no real opinion on who should use Broadstone as it is a little edge of town for a main terminus in any event a sort of Hueston pre Luas arrangement in many respects. Like so many of the Victorian termini it was at the edge of the city i.e. as far in as the railway promotors could get without laying waste to significant tracts of the City which given the destruction of the loopline it is certainly a good thing that Broadstone is as close to Henrietta Street as the line got.

The real bonus of underground rail is that the centre should be more or less unaffected save for exits to the stations. For this reason alone the proposal to terminate a railway in Stephens Green defies belief in the context of the number of underdeveloped sites in leafy D6. The costs of the disruption will be simply horrendous for City offices and retailers in particular; sadly it appears that state agencies are simply incapable of admitting they are mortal like the rest of us and from time to time get it wrong.

The city really needs an airport link that hits key locations such as Croke Park, O’C St, Stephens Green and this route will also bring Swords and Ballymun into play as viable business locations but why can’t the line be extended to at least the DCC holding at Charlemont St which could accomodate a significant quantum of additional mixed use development to pay fopr a lot of the costs as well as extending the area covered by the special development levies.