Does the interconnector go to Connolly or Spencer Dock?

Metrobest

from ireland.com:

Irish Rail proposes Heuston to Connolly tunnel link
Liam Reid


"Iarnród Éireann has warned that its network will become clogged within eight years unless a €1.3 billion tunnel linking Connolly and Heuston Stations in Dublin is built.

In a submission to the Government in July, the rail company said that the current network was due to reach capacity by 2012 and would be unable to cater for projected increases in population along its routes.

In an ambitious €3.4 billion plan contained in the submission, the company said it planned to be able to provide double-decker trains which would run on a commuter line from Drogheda, through the tunnel and on to Kildare. The interconnector tunnel would have five underground stations through the city, serving key areas such as St Stephen's Green and Pearse station.

The company has informed the Government that it could have the Connolly-Heuston tunnel built by 2011.

Other key projects in the proposal include extending the DART to Maynooth and Dunboyne, along with a further DART spur off the existing Howth line to the airport.

Iarnród Éireann has also proposed a €90 million investment for a commuter rail development in Cork.

Under the current €2 billion investment plan for the railways, including extra trains, tracks and new signalling, the company will be able to increase its passenger numbers from 35 million last year to nearly 45 million by 2008.

A company spokesman said that after 2008, it would be unable to keep up with increased demand from extra commuters unless the interconnector was built.

Figures collated by the company suggested that population along commuter lines serving Dublin will increase by 300,000 between 2002 and 2015.

Describing the project as "a necessity" rather than a possible alternative to a metro system, he said without it, demand would begin to outstrip any increased capacity from that date.

"People are coming and we know where they are coming to these routes," he said. "The main problem in the current network is the fact that the two main stations, Connolly and Heuston, do not link up." This was exacerbated by the fact that the only viable passenger link across the Liffey, the Loop Bridge, was restricted to fewer than 10 trains an hour, which severely limited capacity on the entire network.

The interconnector would remove Drogheda and north-bound intercity trains from the bridge, enabling DART trains to travel from Maynooth to Greystones.

Iarnród Éireann's plans are among a series of public transport proposals which are being being considered by the Government. They include plans for a metro and proposals to create a series of new Luas lines.

A spokesman for the Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, yesterday said that a decision on the interconnector tunnel would be made as part of a wider Government plan for public transport investment."

murphaph

Read between the lines....Who the f**k knows where Spencer Dock is? they have to say Connolly so Joe Public will get the jist of what the idea is. So the answer to your question is Spencer Dock.

BrianD

Am I correct in saying that it would go under Connolly to terminate at Spencer Dock?

Metrobest

murphaph wrote:

Read between the lines....Who the f**k knows where Spencer Dock is? they have to say Connolly so Joe Public will get the jist of what the idea is. So the answer to your question is Spencer Dock.

Eh, no. That's called lying to the public.

BrianD

Care to elaborate further metrobest on your statement?

murphaph

It's not lying, the tunnel surfaces at Spencer Dock, the railway tracks converge just to the north of Connolly. What's the problem? IE are clearly outlining that the DART as we know it will cease to exist and 3 new DART routes will be created. The entire Dublin Rail Plan is a large document, and it can't all go in a brief press release to Joe Public. Very few people read boards like this and if they want detailed information they should seek it out. Do the NRA publish entire plans in the national press before a motorway is tendered? no, so why should IE be condemned for similar. I'm not going to start arguing with you (I remember how I wanted to slit my wrists the last time), so let's agree to disagree right here.

Metrobest

You're entitled to your opinion. I just think it's creating confusion in the public's mind by telling people the tunnel will link Heuston to Connolly. It won't. It's obviously in IE's interest to push the case for the interconnector, but in so doing it should not resort to cheap PR stunts such as this in which mis-statements are reported - in the Irish Times no less - as fact

jlang

They lied to me when they said they were building a Dublin-Cork motorway. I want it to start at O'Connell Bridge and go to Patrick St. What they're building isn't even motorway at all until you get to Naas. Oh how I've been misled. And as for that Dublin-Galway one, sure it doesn't even start until Leixlip.

murphaph

Taken from DART upgrade site (an official IE information source as opposed to an article written by a third party). It clearly states Spencer Dock. IE are hiding nothing from the public on this topic.

"Longer term, Iarnród Eireann are proporse [sic] an interconnector rail tunnel which would link services coming into Heuston to Spencer Dock, the DART corridor and the city centre. Such a development would unlock capacity for rail services and cater for enormous growth into the future."

The actual web page is;
http://www.irishrail.ie/dart_upgrade/home/other_improvements.asp