Re: Re: transport21

Greetings.

First off, I want to acknowledge this site as one of the best discussion boards in the country, and have been a fan for a number of years.

There are a few points I shall try to address for sake of clarity, as I believe my piece may have been misread by some, and regrettably is being misrepresented.

First off on an aside, I am somewhat amused to see a mugshot of myself pop up here – if it’s any relevance, I am male rather than female – though that discussion provided one or two ex’s with amusement…

Now to get on with the facts.

@PVC King wrote:

3 routes into a single linear route simply doesn’t work… I get the impression the author of the article has after years of complaining about CIE’s billboard portfolio, misunderstood both the commercial arrnagement between Shelborne and CIE on Tara St and not done his research on why the interconnector was proposed. It is a supply side argument that both enhances North-South Capacity and opens up a large development corridor from Heuston out to the county border and beyond.

To clarify]I agree with you marmajam and PVC King. The author or that article (Ruadhan Mac Eoin – the notorious grandson of James Connolly) is obviously living on cloud cookoo land. If Mac Eoin has a fetish with the Phoinex Park Tunnel then he should seek advice on how he can cure himself of it rather than wasting our time spoofing off the top of his head.[/QUOTE]

Linog, regrettably I am not the “the notorious grandson of James Connolly”, nor have I been “spoofing off the top of my head”. As the record will show, while I was Press Secretary for An Taisce, during 2003 I advocated the use of these lines.

It is a position I continue to stand over, not only in terms of infrastructural integration, but to my mind it appears the higher the population density, the less services Irish Rail are providing to Dubliners. Please see the map below.

Please note the above map regrettably does not show the lines going in to Spencer Dock area, which obviously are present already

@weehamster wrote:

Ladies, to avoid any further confusion by bad reports like the one in the Sunday Times and any future ones that might still pop now and again, I would like to refer you all please to Irish Rails website and to the excellent video presentation explaining it all.
DART Underground
🙂

I understand people would like the Interconnector and I too consider it deeply regrettable more money wasn’t spent on railways during the boom rather than unsustainable roads. I am also well aware of that lavish well-produced video.

However given the reality of today’s economic climate, and unaddressed public transport needs, we must make use of existing but idle assets. Ryanair didn’t wait for new airports to be built, and neither should public transport users have to wait for significant improvements that could be delivered by existing lines and stock, if only they are put to better use.

In February 2004 Joe Maher, then CEO of Iarnród Éireann told the Oireachtas Transport Committee: “We certainly intend to use the park tunnel in the short-term to bring trains from the Kildare/Newbridge area into Spencer Dock because there is demand for that.”

This would have made sense, as Croke Park (sandwiched between two railways) was redeveloped as Europe’s 5th largest stadium, yet without a station; and of course populations in Phibsborough, the north inner city, and Cabra are among the highest in the state. However not only did Mr. Maher’s committment not happen, but the new Spencer Dock station was built in such a manner so that the lines entering the area from the Northern/ Belfast and Heuston/ Phoenix Park routes do not actually connect with the station – leaving it accessible only from the Royal Canal Maynooth line. It is hard to see how that folly could be topped, but I do note that Irish Rail are currently seeking to build a €100m spec office block at Tara St – after An Bord Snip recommends closure of about 240km of lines in order to save €55m.

@Yixian wrote:

Is it just me or do both metro north and the dart underground realllly neglect the northside..

Yixian, I believe you have a point here. Once Airport Metro North is removed off the map, Transport 21 leaves a large void north of the Liffey. This is particularly pointless as obviously there is already both population and infrastructure sitting there – yet seemingly there are no plans to use it. In my own personal opinion, I do not believe that Metro North has been well-planned, as evidenced by the withdrawal of RPA until next year from planning hearings. In the past I have written on the topic in Plan Magazine, noting that the tunnels would be predicated on the 4’8″ gauge, rather than 5’3″, and that this combined with stopping it in ag land 3000m short of the east coast line is futile. I do not have much confidence in the project as it was progressed – including O’Connell Street disruptive routing rather than Marlborough Street – nor do I believe is there money now to build it.

Dublin should have got Dart Underground and much more, and hopefully one day it will yet – but it is highly unlikely in today’s economic climate.

It is most lamentable the country has been mismanaged to such a degree over the last number of years. The choices now are painful must be addressed. To not do so is to perpetuate an ostrich-like outlook. Hence do we then adopt a Ryanair approach that could bring most of the people to most of the places most of the time? Or do we wait around for a 1980’s Aer Lingus style approach that will promise all, take forever, cost a fortune we don’t now have – and that’s if it ever gets built?

Sometimes to provoke debate maybe unpopular but necessary; I am glad to have taken this opportunity to reply and I hope it clarifies some matters.