[article] Extended Luas line will need to be replaced by 2020

NavanJunction1

Irish Times, Last updated: 26-04-06, 19:01

The extension of the Luas green line a further 8 kilometres in south Dublin to Cherrywood is needed now but will have to be replaced by a Metro in 2020, a report revealed today.

Following months of public consultation the Railway Procurement Agency was given the go-ahead for 11 new stops on the route but the Government was warned it would soon need upgraded.

The line could take over three years to complete and in another 10 years longer trains would be badly needed to meet demand.

The report of the public inquiry stated: "Overall the public reaction to the proposed extension of the Luas B1 Line from Sandyford to Cherrywood has been positive, and generally financial and economic evaluations of the project indicate a positive case for introduction of the project.

"The inquiry is satisfied that there is a need for the Luas Line B1 extension as proposed and that the project is viable."

And it went on: "The inquiry is satisfied on the information presented by the RPA that the Luas line extension has the capacity to meet users' needs until 2020 after which upgrading to Metro will be necessary."

Eamon Ryan, Green Party transport spokesman, said the report makes an unanswerable case for the Airport Metro to be connected to the south side of the city from day one.

"Metro trams would be twice the length of existing Luas trams, would have a far more frequent service and would therefore provide a much larger carrying capacity," he said.

The Greens made a submission to the rail inspector that the new line should be built to Metro standards and insisted that both Luas and Metro trams will run on the same line.

Mr Ryan said: "It now makes no sense for the Government not to extend the Metro service to the southside at the same time that they are building the Metro line from Swords to St Stephen's Green."

He said the Metro should run from the airport underneath the city centre to St Stephen's Green and on to the Beechwood stop on the Luas green line near Ranelagh where overground services would take over.

"If we have learnt one thing about transport planning in this city over recent years, it should be to provide the proper capacity from the start rather than trying to cut corners and then come back later," he added.

A total of 11 stops are planned along the 7.6 kilometre route.

Starting at Sandyford industrial estate it will run alongside Blackthorn Avenue towards Ballyogan Wood, Leopardstown racecourse, Brennanstown Vale, where a 350-space park and ride facility will be built, and on to Laughanstown Lane before ending at Cherrywood.

All trams on the green line will initially be 40m long, carrying 310 people each, but can be extended to 50m. Journey time from Cherrywood to Sandyford is about 19 minutes, giving a total journey time on the route to St Stephen's Green of 41 minutes. Construction on the line is expected to take over three years.

And the report said road traffic inconvenience from Luas works will be within acceptable limits. The report also stated there had been adequate public consultation in advance of the application to extend the green line. The report said the two existing Luas lines carried between them over 22 million passengers in 2005.

Around 32,000 people use the green line on a daily basis while the weekly average number of users is over 220,000 people. It revealed five pedestrians were injured on the tram lines and the accident ratio for 2005 is 0.16 accidents per 10,000 tram kilometres travelled — well below that for other comparable European cities.


© 2006 ireland.com

NavanJunction1

Irish Times, Thu, Apr 27, 06

The extension of the Luas from Sandyford to Cherrywood in south Co Dublin should go ahead, the report of the public inquiry into the scheme has concluded.

The extension is designed to almost double the length of the Luas green line, adding another 7.5km (4.6 miles) to the 9km (5.5 miles) route from St Stephen's Green. A formal approval of the scheme by Minister for Transport Martin Cullen is expected in time to allow construction to begin before the end of the year.


In his report, inquiry inspector James Connolly SC recommended the line be capable of upgrade to a metro service; that noise barriers be installed at an elevated section at Leopardstown roundabout; and that the Fisheries Board should be consulted in advance of work near watercourses.

The inspector has asked Mr Cullen to cover the legal costs of Mr and Mrs Gerard Delaney whose home Clonlea House, a protected structure, is to be demolished to make way for a stop at Glencairn, Sandyford.

However, the inspector's report avoided a contentious question of when the proposed Luas line should be upgraded to a metro line. In evidence at the hearing, the director of the Dublin Transportation Office, John Henry, called for "a detailed plan" of the upgrade which he said would be required in five to 10 years.

The upgrade to metro would involve lengthening platforms and altering road interchanges. In addition, because metros travel faster, some stops which are too close to each other would have to be closed.

However, the Railway Procurement Agency told the inquiry that an upgrade would not be required until after 2020 and it questioned "whether the time savings due to a metro travelling faster would compensate for passengers walking further to metro stations".

According to the Government's Transport Strategy, Transport 21, the line to Sandyford will be completed by 2010. It will follow the route of the Old Harcourt Street to Bray railway. A further extension to Bray is envisaged by 2015.

© The Irish Times

dr zoidberg

They should upgrade all of the green line to Metro in tandem with this extension then, it seems like such a waste to have to do it again 5 years after it is fully completed. As far as I know the green line was designed to be easily upgradeable to metro anyway. We should be planning for the future not for today.

mollser

They were placing bollards all along the sandyford road this morning, in what looked like the alignment of the extension tracks.

I can't imagine they are getting underway already, any ideas as to how far along with appointing contractors etc they are, and when they'll turn the first sod??

With projects nowadays, once they get started they fly along...

MarkoP11

RPA have already tendered for contractors, before they even submitted the works order

They can't start until the minister signs and accepts the inquiry results.

Victor

Extended Luas line will need to be replaced by 2020

this is misleading. It is meant to say it won't need upgrade before 2020

mollser wrote:

They were placing bollards all along the sandyford road this morning, in what looked like the alignment of the extension tracks.

Someone may be planning to lobby the minister directly (the minister need not accept the report as is).

Maskhadov

idiots should have took what the japan company offered all those years ago.

We need a high capacity high frequency metro line from the airport through city centre to Sandyford and on to bray by 2020.