Parking at Leixlip (Louisa Bridge) train station

toilet_ducks

Hi All,

I'm just wondering if anyone could tell me what the state of play is regarding parking in the weekday mornings at Leixlip (Louisa Bridge) train station?

Thanks in advance.

Tom Dunne

Oh, don't worry there is ample room - for five cars. Most people end up parking either the other side of the canal, or on the opposite side of the road along by Oaklawn West.

A better alternative might be to go up the Captain's Hill, park in the Super Value carpark and walk to the train station (3-4 mins max). Parking is almost as bad up there.

toilet_ducks

Excellent! Was expecting it to be poor alright. At least there are places to park relatively nearby then.

And thanks for the reply Tom.

MarkoP11

A planning application is in for a 301 space car park at Louisa Bridge existing car park is 35 spaces

Tom Dunne

Interesting, but where in God's name are they going to put it?

Actually, I've heard the same for my local station (Enfield). Word is, a park-and-ride facility will be built about two miles east of Enfield. Do you know anything about that?

MarkoP11

All I know is that there are two planning applications in under the name of Iarnrod Eireann at Leixlip Louisa Bridge.

Its application 06/466 granted with conditions for 301 spaces surface car park

markf909

There is room across the road from the station on land that IE own.
Thats the only place I can think of where they could fit them all.

godtabh

MarkoP11 wrote:

All I know is that there are two planning applications in under the name of Iarnrod Eireann at Leixlip Louisa Bridge.

Its application 06/466 granted with conditions for 301 spaces surface car park

Seems to be a planning aplication for Renovate and extend dwelling house by Theresa Yore at Kilbrock Cottage
Cappagh
Enfield
Co. Meath

Web Link

dr zoidberg

IÉ do have full PP for a car park at Louisa Bridge, it was reported in local newspapers a while back.

It's on their site, search for Louisabridge, dated from10/03/06 (for some reason the link doesn't seem to work )
http://webiplan.kildarecoco.ie/Enquiries/rpt_QueryByFileNumber_Delay.asp?FileNum=446&FileYr=06

godtabh

dr zoidberg wrote:

IÉ do have full PP for a car park at Louisa Bridge, it was reported in local newspapers a while back.

http://webiplan.kildarecoco.ie/Enquiries/rpt_QueryByFileNumber_Delay.asp?FileNum=446&FileYr=06

Mark fave the wrong number. Its 06/446 as opposed to 06/466

I'm just interested as I bought a place beside the train station and everytime i go up there parking is mad! This might make it easier to get in and out

dr zoidberg

Yeah it's a bit of a mess alright. Hopefully this will make a difference.

godtabh

dr zoidberg wrote:

Yeah it's a bit of a mess alright. Hopefully this will make a difference.

It should do but who knows!

Time Magazine

It might be a bit of a pain to the neigbours, but if you drive into the Oaklawn estate there's usually a bit of space in there. Alternatively some people park in the Amenities Centre five minutes walk up the Maynooth road.

And you're far less likely to get a seat from Leixlip Confey than from Leixlip Louisa Bridge.

MarkoP11

Sorry this 06/446 there was an earlier one as well which didn't go through

godtabh

Ibid wrote:

It might be a bit of a pain to the neigbours, but if you drive into the Oaklawn estate there's usually a bit of space in there. Alternatively some people park in the Amenities Centre five minutes walk up the Maynooth road.

And you're far less likely to get a seat from Leixlip Confey than from Leixlip Louisa Bridge.

Surely thats the hole idea of the car park. Who wants people coming into your estate and taking up space out side your home.

I'd be fairly pissed off if this was happening in my estate.

I'm sure the same would apply to the people who run the amenities centre. Sure Intel is just a bit further up the road. Why dont you just back there?

dublinhead

I would not recommend parking in Intel unless you want to be clamped. Cars have to be registored to use there carparks

daymobrew

The train station has bicycle racks. Residents of neighbouring estates are rarely annoyed by bicycles

D'Peoples Voice

MarkoP11 wrote:

Its application 06/466 granted with conditions for 301 spaces surface car park

What is the problem with them building a multistorey car park on stilts [over] the railway line. With the cost of land at present, it seems crazy to be building surface car parks!
With the RPA's Luas Park and Ride in the Red cow, Aer Rianta's Long term car park and IR's Heuston station's car park, we seem determined to stick to surface car parks while the private sector usually goes for multi-storeys, why is that?

MarkoP11

Given there is 26 conditions or something on the Louisa Bridge one getting planning permission would be a nightmare

There is talk of multistory elsewhere, but there are a few things to remember
1) Its a lot lot more expensive
2) Irish Rail are a rail company not a car park this is the local councils problem really and they don't seem to be helping
3) A lot of stations are in residental areas

The car park in Heuston may be opened as a access shaft during the interconnector works that said car park city centre not really a priority

Car parking comes up again and again as an issue much greater frequency than any other, meetings have degraded into arguments over who owns such and such a field

samo

tom dunne wrote:

Interesting, but where in God's name are they going to put it?

Actually, I've heard the same for my local station (Enfield). Word is, a park-and-ride facility will be built about two miles east of Enfield. Do you know anything about that?

Sorry for being OT but in relation to the train service at Enfield, is this expected to improve or capacity increased in the future??

Have bought there recently and although not dependant on commuting via train would be nice to know if its set to improve!

MarkoP11

For some crazy reason the Mullingar Athlone line is not planned to be reopened though it has been recommend for such. If that has gone ahead it would mean that the second track would be restored from Maynooth the whole way to Athlone. One of the problems currently is Longford commuters for some reason get a gold plated service i.e. non stop

The question of a park and ride close to Kinnegad came up a while back but the idea seems to have died

There may be some improvement from 2009 but any serious improvement will require a second track and even then its 2 trains an hour max since its going to be insanely busy between Clonsilla and Connolly. Irish Rail have a grand total of 0 extra diesel commuter trains on order which makes them 40+ coaches short unless they start sticking wires up to Maynooth in the next 18 months its going to get really ugly, they do have tenders out for up to 200 DART coaches

loyatemu

as Marko mentioned, multistorey is very expensive to build (especially if you wanted to build over a working railway line) and IE don't make any money out of carparking. When they've tried to charge for parking in the past they've run into major opposition.

A good example of the problem is in Bray - IE have a small carpark beside the station which is full by 8am. Most people park on the seafront but the council wants to introduce pay-parking there, arguing that IE should build a bigger carpark. However if they did, and introduced parking fees to pay for it the same councillors would probably be up in arms over the fleecing of commuters.

samo

Thanks for the info guys...looks like it makes more sense to drive to maynooth if the train is needed

MarkoP11

Large enough car park but it fills, don't forget it goes way down along the canal its much bigger than it first looks, its €5 return and the service level is fairly good

Enfield it would help to sort out the second platform but that second track really is key

westtip

samo wrote:

Thanks for the info guys...looks like it makes more sense to drive to maynooth if the train is needed

The problem with Maynooth is just how long it takes to get out of the car park, which can defeat the whole benefit of park n ride. I recall once it taking over half an hour to get out of Maynooth carpark. I think Enfield deserves a better service, when you go through Enfield station there appears to be plenty of room for a decent carpark. A better commuting service to Enfield, with perhaps the evening Sligo train stopping there might offer some relief on the tight squeeze at Maynooth

Victor

D'Peoples Voice wrote:

What is the problem with them building a multistorey car park on stilts [over] the railway line.

There a lot more safety implications.

The train counts as being in a tunnel if there is a building over it. The construction phase means interference with train operations. A derailment would be profoundly worse.

Tom Dunne

samo wrote:

Thanks for the info guys...looks like it makes more sense to drive to maynooth if the train is needed

Staying OT for the moment, I am not sure the drive to Maynooth is worth it. I have only in the last couple of weeks started getting the train from Maynooth and as westtip said, it can be a nightmare getting out of the car park. Also, there are plenty of seats available when getting the train from Enfield.

As soon as I get my yearly ticket sorted, I will be getting the train from Enfield.

godtabh

dublinhead wrote:

I would not recommend parking in Intel unless you want to be clamped. Cars have to be registored to use there carparks

I was trying to make the point that you wouldnt park in Intel cause your not meant to. You shouldnt park out side peoples houses and the only reason people do is cause they get away with it

westtip

MarkoP11 wrote:

For some crazy reason the Mullingar Athlone line is not planned to be reopened though it has been recommend for such. If that has gone ahead it would mean that the second track would be restored from Maynooth the whole way to Athlone. One of the problems currently is Longford commuters for some reason get a gold plated service i.e. non stop

If they could get the double tracking as far as Mullingar it would be a start, Mullingar Athlone has been debated before I think there is an issue about where the line joins the Galway line in Athlone and the position of the new station in the town centre as opposed to the old station on the Roscommon side beside the barracks (I guess for historical reasons the station was beside the barracks when first built). I might be wrong but I think this does present some kind of problem. But you are dead right with the increase of commuter traffic along the N4/N6, towns like Moate and Kilbeggan growing and commuters from Athlone itself, this line should be reopened, its there and would not take a huge infrastructural cost - compare it say to the cost of building a road. Even a shuttle service with a railcar going backwards and forwards from Athlone to Mullingar meaning commuters changing in Mullingar would be an improvement for travellors from Athlone and Moate wanting to get into Connolly, Tara or Pearse. I don't think double lines would be necessary for Mullingar Athlone - a passing point at say Moate would suffice, as for the Longford commuters getting a gold plated service with a non stop service - I don't think there are any trains ex Dublin to Longford non stop, but using Mullingar as a hub for Mullingar/Athlone commuters - to my mind makes sense, and utilises the good service going as far as Longford more productively.

If you could fill commuter train from Mullingar with passengers from Athlone/Mullingar/Longford by the time it gets to say Enfield and then timetable it for a straight run into town as an "outer express" then you are offering a good outer commuter service, but this is just living in hope.


For example a push pull railcar could leave Athlone every morning at say 7.00 am, via Moate to connect with the 0733 from Mullingar would be an alternative for Athlone/Moate commuters rather than the current 0627 from Athlone. Ok it would mean the inconvenience of changing at Mullingar but at least the service would bring you directly into the city. If the railcar went backwards and forwards all day there would be a connection available for the Sligo mainline service into Connolly from Athlone, and it would give Sligo a rail connection (allbeit round the houses) to Galway (via Athlone).

That link from Mullingar to Athlone could strategically tie together three or four routes but sweet fanny adam is being done about it.

This is not rocket science, its CSR (Common Sense Reasoning), the problem with our politicians they really don't see the issues real people face in real lives on a day to day basis.