Parkwest Station

kelzer

Any update on the Parkwest station opening soon? I was visiting a friend there and walked over to it. They look to be not far off completion.

fitzyshea

kelzer wrote: »

Any update on the Parkwest station opening soon? I was visiting a friend there and walked over to it. They look to be not far off completion.

Pass it everyday going home. Looks like its flying up along with all of the new stations. Id say Parkwest will be open before any of them. It looks like its nearly finished. The four tracking has started also but still have to knock a few old bridges especially at clondalkin before that can finish. Looks good though.

kelzer

Will the trains initially use the existing tracks for stopping at parkwest and then move over to the new lines once their finished?

fitzyshea

kelzer wrote: »

Will the trains initially use the existing tracks for stopping at parkwest and then move over to the new lines once their finished?

The new lines are for commuter services and the old lines for intercity thus allowing faster speeds for intercity.

kelzer

Sure, but will we have to wait for the new lines to be built before the new stations are operational?

KC61

kelzer wrote: »

Sure, but will we have to wait for the new lines to be built before the new stations are operational?

No -the station will become operational initially using the existing tracks in the same manner as at Adamstown.

spacetweek

fitzyshea wrote: »

Id say Parkwest will be open before any of them.

Yep - that was the intention from the start. The programme is as follows:

Early 2007 - Adamstown (finished)
Mid 2008 - Park West (should be achievable)
End 2008 - Hazelhatch, Kishogue, Fonthill Rd stations
2010 - 4-tracking - Short and long distance trains separated
2012 - Electrification
2015 - Interconnector

After all that is complete, the Kildare line will be the highest quality transit line in the city.

dogmatix

ParkWest station is due to be fully complete this autumn. But trains wont be stopping for business mid 2008 as above poster says. Interesting to see what happens with local parking when that finally happens - ParkWest business park and the apartments is a private development with private security who will clamp outsiders at the drop of a hat.

murphaph

spacetweek wrote: »

After all that is complete, the Kildare line will be the highest quality transit line in the city.

No it won't. Essential as the Interconnector is, it's much more likely that metroNorth will take the honour of highest quality transit line in the city. The Kildare line will be just one half of a DART route, the other half (north of Spencer Dock) will still be sharing the tracks with Enterprise and outer suburban trains and possibly also seeing conflicts at Howth Junction. The Kildare half can only be as succesful as the other half (which I believe will also need quad tracking sooner or later).

I guarantee that metroNorth suffers from far fewer delays than the DART through the Interconnector. I would go so far as to say the Maynooth-Bray DART may actually ge more reliable as the match between the two halves is spot on.

ardmacha

The conclusion from either from this thread or the other thread discussing mainline speeds on the Belfast route, some quad track on the line from Connolly is very much needed. Messy engineering wise to do it while keeping the line open, but not the most expensive work around.

Irish and Proud

ardmacha wrote: »

The conclusion from either from this thread or the other thread discussing mainline speeds on the Belfast route, some quad track on the line from Connolly is very much needed. Messy engineering wise to do it while keeping the line open, but not the most expensive work around.

Quad-tracking on the North City Dart Line would be very awkward IMO. On an earlier thread, I've been pushing for a North City Rail Tunnel which would diverge at Clontarf Golf Course and pass under the Northside (the best side of course! ) towards a surface interchange station north of Coolock. This tunnel would be around the same length as the DPT. From the Coolock station, the line would split into two surface links - one for the Airport and one for Malahide. This scheme would allow the following possibilities:

1. The airport (over 10k employees as well as 20m+ passengers/pa) would have a fast connection (Dart 4*) to the city centre. The Dart 4 line would commence at Heuston using the proposed underground terminal platforms (alongside the through platforms). From there, it would multiplex with the Dart 2 line (Hazelhatch to Balbriggan) along the inter-connector serving all stations to Spencer Dock. From Spencer Dock, the line would surface at East Wall and follow Dart 2 onto the existing Northern Line (the Northern Line from East Wall to Clontarf would have to be quad-tracked). At Clontarf, the Dart 4 line would diverge from Dart 2 and use the tunnel to Coolock Junction from which it would serve all stations to the Airport (new developments planned for the area may necessitate a couple of interim stations.).

2. The Enterprise and Northern Commuter trains could by-pass the now congested north city Dart line and emerge using the Malahide link just south of Malahide Station. To allow quad-tracking along the Broadmeadow Causeway, the station would have to be relocated south to where there'd be more room to allow multi-tracking. To accommodate express trains, the tunnel itself would have no stations, but I guess it would be far cheaper to build as a result. Also, with the Enterprise, Northern Commuter, Dart 4 and possibly Dart 2 express trains, the tunnel would be very well used and therefore very good value for money.

3. The existing north city Dart line would become a fully electrified rapid transit route (Dart 2) with a headway of 7 minutes between the Clontarf and Howth Junction Stations. This headway could be extended to as far as Malahide depending on what way the Howth spur could be served. Either a 50/50 (more or less the current situation) or a shuttle approach between Howth and Howth Junction could be used. In either case, the overall result would be effectively a new metro system for the Northside. AFAIK, the existing Dart service is very inconsistent, especially when the Enterprise service was introduced around 1996. I have experienced some gaps of up to 20 minutes which is very poor for an electrified rapid transit line.

4. With most if not all trains stopping at Coolock Junction, the airport would be accessible (with one change) by rail from the Belfast side. Just think of the economic and social benefits it might bring. Getting the Enterprise to stop at Coolock could be justified on the grounds that it's effectively an airport stop (with a short hop on Dart 4).

* Dart 3 would be a line from either Broadstone or Docklands (bridge clearance for overhead wires might be a problem from Phibsboro to East Wall) to the M3 P+R north of Dunboyne. I guess the Dart 1 and 2 lines need no explanation at this stage.

Regards!

GerardKeating

Irish and Proud wrote: »

Quad-tracking on the North City Dart Line would be very awkward IMO. On an earlier thread, I've been pushing for a North City Rail Tunnel which would diverge at Clontarf Golf Course and pass under the Northside (the best side of course! ) towards a surface interchange station north of Coolock. This tunnel would be around the same length as the DPT. From the Coolock station, the line would split into two surface links - one for the Airport and one for Malahide. This scheme would allow the following possibilities:

Why not just make Metro North a DART system and 4 track it, it could join the northern line near rush.

All the Drogheda/Dundalk/Belfast services could use a 4 track Metro North to get into the City Centre, and leave the Connolly-Malihide/Howth lines to DART...

anotherlostie

How has a thread about the Parkwest station turned into a debate about the line to the airport? Any chance of getting back on topic so someone can add some useful info?

murphaph

anotherlostie wrote: »

How has a thread about the Parkwest station turned into a debate about the line to the airport? Any chance of getting back on topic so someone can add some useful info?

Somebody has already posted the timetable and answered the OP's original question about Parkwest Station, so what's wrong with the thread developing?