[Article] Plans for underground rail line for Dublin to go on public display

Victor

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0811/1218232689921.html

Plans for underground rail line for Dublin to go on public display

OLIVIA KELLYTHE ROUTE and station plans for the new underground rail line from Heuston Station to Dublin's Docklands, will be put on public display by Iarnród Éireann from tomorrow.

The line, which the company is calling an "underground Dart", will have just five stations along its 5.2km length, at Heuston, Christchurch, St Stephen's Green, Pearse Street and Docklands.

A spokesman for Iarnród Éireann said the company intends to apply for a railway order to build the underground line, which is a Transport 21 project, in autumn 2009 and hopes to complete the project in 2015. While he would not reveal the cost of the project, it has been estimated to be in the region of €2 billion.

The line is one of the most important elements of Transport 21, Iarnród Éireann said, as it will connect a number of services.

At Heuston the line will connect to the Luas Red line; at Stephen's Green it will be linked to the Luas Green line and the proposed Metro North; at Pearse Street it will connect with the Dart and commuter services; while at Docklands it will again connect with the Luas Red line. The Christchurch stop will see this area of the city connected to rail for the first time.

The new line will increase the capacity of Dart and commuter services from 33 million to more than 100 million on completion.

The company is beginning its public consultation phase with a series of four open information meetings to be held over the next two weeks. The meetings will be held by Iarnród Éireann staff between 5pm and 8pm on the following dates:

August 12th: Ashling Hotel, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8
August 13th: Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2
August 19th: St Mary's Youth Club, Strangford Road, Dublin 3
August 20th: Alexander Hotel, Merrion Square, Dublin

IIMII

Irish Times wrote: »

The new line will increase the capacity of Dart and commuter services from 33 million to more than 100 million on completion.

Anyone know how the extra 66 million breaksdown?

Zebra3

Will the public be able to make submissions at these meetings?

Nostradamus

This might 1973 all over again - when the previous underground DART system got a public view before it was dropped.

Consider emigration if you want underground trains seems to an increasing option. I hope I am wrong, but there are some pretty soul destroying mutterings being made in the corridors of power right now surrounding this project.

OTK

Zebra3 wrote: »

Will the public be able to make submissions at these meetings?

The project team will be there to talk to the public. The period for written submissions is supposed to take place next year.

KC61

Zebra3 wrote: »

Will the public be able to make submissions at these meetings?

This is actually the second set of public meetings - the first was last year at Dublin's Civic Offices, and in fairness the design team were asking people for their suggestions at that point as well.

Victor

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=414

DART Underground - Open Information Evenings by Corporate Communications

Iarnród Éireann are holding a series of open information meetings to display route and station plans to residents along the proposed DART Underground line.

DART Underground, a second high-capacity DART line running underground through the heart of the city, is a 5.2 kilometre tunnel which will link the Northern line to the Kildare line, with underground stops at Docklands, Pearse, St Stephen’s Green, Christchurch and Heuston.

Over the next two weeks, Iarnród Éireann will undertake a series of open information evenings along the route, so residents and businesspeople along the route can see plans to serve their communities by DART under the plans, and see details of the route alignment.

Open information meetings take place as follows:

5pm-8pm, Tuesday 12th August: Ashling Hotel, Parkgate St, Dublin 8

5pm-8pm, Wednesday 13th August: Central Hotel, Exchequer St, Dublin 2

5pm-8pm, Tuesday 19th August: St Mary’s Youth Club, Strangford Rd, Dublin 3

5pm-8pm, Wednesday 20th August: Alexander Hotel, Merrion Square, Dublin 2

This is the first in a series of phases of public consultation which will lead up to the application for a Railway Order in Autumn 2009.

Subject to granting of the Railway Order, physical works will commence on the line in late 2010, to be completed by the end of 2015.



A central part of the Government's Transport 21 ten-year transport investment plan, DART Underground will be the single most important piece of infrastructure in the plan to effect a modal shift from private to public transport. It will provide the capacity to ensure that there will be a huge increase in the number of trains running on all rail routes leading into Dublin, and together with electrification work, will see the DART extended to the Northern, Maynooth and Kildare commuter lines.

Passenger numbers on DART and Commuter services, which have already grown from 25 million to 33 million under Transport 21, will increase to over 100 million on completion of DART Underground. It also links all rail modes - DART, Commuter, Intercity, Luas and Metro - to form an integrated cohesive network.

It will result in two DART lines, running without the conflicts and other restrictions which limit the number of services today, meaning more trains for everyone:

- Maynooth/Pace (M3) - Connolly - Pearse - Bray – Greystones

- Howth/Northern Line - Clontarf Road - Docklands - Pearse - St Stephen’s Green - Christchurch - Heuston - Hazelhatch

These lines will have enhanced capacity for a greater frequency of services.

The DART Underground will provide a link to all rail modes:
Docklands - Link to Luas Red line
Pearse - Link to DART and Commuter services
St Stephen’s Green - Links with Luas Green Line and Metro North (Airport)
Heuston - Links to Luas Red line, Intercity and DART Commuter services

For further information on this investment, please visit the project website.

http://www.irishrail.ie/projects/dart_underground.asp

http://www.irishrail.ie/projects/pdf/IE DU PC Meetings.pdf

D.L.R.

thought about some possible names for the two lines, instead of the dry "Dart 1" and "Dart 2":

Dart Underground/Dart Overground

Heuston Line/Connolly Line

City Line/Loop Line

Typewriter

Nostradamus wrote: »

This might 1973 all over again - when the previous underground DART system got a public view before it was dropped.

What were the details of this proposal?

Victor

Much the sameas the current DART proposals, but Heuston-Connolly direct and Sydney Parade-St. Stephen's Green-Broadstone. there would have been branches to Ballymun and Tallaght and busways on the Harcourts Street line and along the Poddle.

Irish and Proud

Victor wrote: »

Much the sameas the current DART proposals, but Heuston-Connolly direct and Sydney Parade-St. Stephen's Green-Broadstone. there would have been branches to Ballymun and Tallaght and busways on the Harcourts Street line and along the Poddle.

If I remember correctly, I saw a 1960's or 1970's proposal to construct an inner loop line which would have started South of Lansdowne Road and continued underground towards the city centre via Morehampton Road or somewhere similar. From the city centre, the line would have curved North-Eastwards towards the Northern Line. I suppose that in conjunction with the current Loop Line, there would have been a lot of extra capacity for the South-Eastern, Northern and Western Lines. I'm not sure where the Southern Line would have come into the plan though.

Regards!

Irish and Proud

D.L.R. wrote: »

thought about some possible names for the two lines, instead of the dry "Dart 1" and "Dart 2":

Dart Underground/Dart Overground

Heuston Line/Connolly Line

City Line/Loop Line

I think the "Heuston Line/Connolly Line" option would be very plausible!

The Metro North could then be very simply called the "Airport Line"!

Regards!

BendiBus

I'll pop into the Central Hotel this evening for a look.