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Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 8,282 ✭✭✭dublinman1990


    Let me ask you this @Peregrine.

    If Peter Walsh ever had a thought in his head that he blurted out the wrong completion date for Metrolink to the media; Why did he ever say it in the 1st place if the statement he gave to the media was in complete contradiction to what the tender for the delivery services partner was actually going to deliver for the project within it's multi stage procurement process?

    Did something change with what his advisers had initially said to him when he said the incorrect completion date to the media or did he not even think about the tender for the project delivery partner being involved when he made that statement to the media last friday?

    If you said that he contradicted his previous statement on this project like this on public record to members of the media or to the PAC. Do you ever think that he would make a major correction on it & mention it straight away to anyone who is involved within the PAC, the NTA, Eamon Ryan's dept & to members of the media?

    Or do you think that the nuclear option should be considered with him leaving his post if he had made a lot of other major errors while his agency is outlining the delivery process of all of the other major pieces of transport infrastructure being proposed by the state?



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,512 ✭✭✭strassenwo!f


    A bit of historical context would be useful here, in relation to the first paragraph of this post.

    For most of the time that metronorth was being discussed and planned, there was no M3 Parkway service, and there were no plans for passenger services through the Phoenix Park tunnel. (At that time we had spectacular events like the Dublin Castle gig in around 2004 where government ministers were falling over themselves to tell everyone that the money for the metronorth and the DART Underground project had been 'ring-fenced'. Those funds would not and could not be touched).

    After the crash, IE and the RPA then went ahead in around 2010 to seek railway orders from ABP for the metro and DART projects which they knew wouldn't be happening, and which ABP knew wouldn't be happening, which is presumably why ABP devoted so little time and effort analysing them before, of course, waving the projects through and giving pointless railway orders which would never be implemented.

    An interesting by-product of this is that Dublin now has a situation where the Maynooth line passes through Drumcondra, as it always has and, in addition, the Phoenix Park tunnel line passes through Drumcondra station too, both on their way to and from Connolly. On top of that the M3 parkway line goes into the current Docklands station, which the other two don't serve and - since the M3 Parkway line shares a lot of track with the Maynooth line - it's hard to see how it couldn't share that route via Drumcondra station too when the new Docklands station comes on stream, and when many of the trains from those three routes will be using that station as their main city terminus.

    Thus, the metronorth could reasonably have been envisaged to serve those three lines - rather than just one - at Drumcondra, at the time of pursuing the Railway Order, but of course with the provisos that the DART Underground wouldn't be built (which it hasn't been) and that the Phoenix Park tunnel would be pressed into service (which, after strenuous opposition from IE, it has been).



  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 14,317 Mod ✭✭✭✭marno21


    Market update published on the project website


    https://www.metrolink.ie/#/news



  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 14,317 Mod ✭✭✭✭marno21


    The NDFA are looking for specialist financial advisory services for the MetroLink PPP


    https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/181439/0/0?returnUrl=ctm/Supplier/publictenders&b=ETENDERS_SIMPLE



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,529 ✭✭✭roadmaster


    Is the below just bull or could it be another possable delay to the metro

    https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/south-dublin-residents-call-metrolink-23186567



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  • Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 26,398 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peregrine


    It's bull. This isn't the first time Ryan has been asked to change the route of MetroLink and it won't be the last. That ship sailed years ago. The design is finalised and the focus is on getting the preliminary business case approved next month and applying for the railway order in the next quarter.

    Post edited by Peregrine on


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,248 ✭✭✭✭salmocab


    Yeah it’s just nonsense to spin a story, even using Ryans image is nonsense as it kinda suggests it’s something to do with him. It’s just a bunch of people making a bit of noise. Thankfully they can be ignored.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,342 ✭✭✭Shedite27


    Got as far as "dublinlive.ie" and that's enough to tell me its BS



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,859 ✭✭✭prunudo


    The problem isn't whether or not it is bull. Many people will believe it and think that it can be redesigned on a whim. It also feeds into the narrative of Metrolink being a bad plan and whether its a waste of money if its being built in the wrong place.

    The Tii or nta or whatever they call themselves these days should be on a huge positive pr drive to get this over the line. The route is decided, thats it, now time for proper plans and get started on building as soon as possible.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,226 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    That sounds really positive. Would be great to at least get it to railway order



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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 19,254 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sam Russell


    My problem is that the Minister for Transport is completely silent about this project which ought to be top of his Green Party projects.

    Why is he ignoring it?



  • Registered Users Posts: 17,483 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    Because firstly that isn’t how government works, and it is going through a statutory process right now which won’t be any faster with Ministerial proclamations.

    Nothing he might have to say right now is going to speed things up, and frankly the less ministerial re-announcements the better.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,859 ✭✭✭prunudo


    Its not that he should be side stepping due process, but his lack of support, certainly publicly, for the project doesn't look good. I'd go as far as to say I don't think he believes in it himself.

    He should be singing from the roof tops at the prospect of a modern public transport project getting the go ahead during his tenure as minister for transport.



  • Registered Users Posts: 17,483 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    When we get to railway order application stage, I’d be quite sure that there will be a lot of PR happening.

    Given the lengthy lead times involved, people will get fed up if they hear Ministers going on and on about investment projects every week.

    The key times are the milestones and the next one of those is cabinet approval of the business case and then the railway order application.



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 19,254 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sam Russell


    It is the way politics works - particularly when you are a junior member of the Gov in charge of the project. A running commentary of his efforts to get this project over the line would help - if only with his own support group. The next step is the business case which is within his dept.



  • Registered Users Posts: 14,643 ✭✭✭✭loyatemu


    if it's politics and optics you're concerned about, bear in mind the Metro is not a Green project; it wasn't started by them and Ryan will probably be long retired when it opens; it's unlikely he'll even still be in Govt when the shovels go in the ground. There's very little political capital in it for him. Unlike Busconnects, cycle lanes, cheaper fares etc all of which should see some tangible progress before the next election.



  • Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 26,398 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peregrine


    All things going well, MetroLink should start construction before the next election. That would be huge for him.

    But, in truth, there's not much he could say. There has been no update since what he said in November other than it's still on track for a business case approval next month and a railway order application next quarter. That doesn't make for a great progress update to anyone except people in this thread. He's not going to criticise his own department and agencies publicly for the delays that happened up until now. It would look silly and would backfire. All that gets dealt with internally.

    Post edited by Peregrine on


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 19,254 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sam Russell


    When did the fact the project was started by someone else stop any politician from claiming credit - whether justified or not.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 8,452 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sierra Oscar


    What timeline are we looking at now for construction actually to get underway - i.e. beyond procurement when we can rest easy knowing that it's actually happening without any political meddling?



  • Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 26,398 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peregrine


    You'll have to add around five months onto everything here. This is from when they were supposed to lodge the railway order application at the end of 2021.




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  • Registered Users Posts: 9,226 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    Mad that we can be 2 years from construction start on a project announced 4 years ago.

    Metrolink aside, we cannot function as a country if major projects can't be planned in reasonable time. Something really needs to change going forward.



  • Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,193 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    Dublin Live continuing to display no journalistic ability at all. Check out these quotes:

    The proposed final stop at Charlemont would also require a second entrance to be built at Darthmouth Square on the other side of the Grand Canal.

    Hmm... No body decided to check the Metrolink docs before pushing that particular turd out. The rest of the article is shot through with similar inaccuracies. Councillor Lacey also hasn't looked at a map of this:

    "You have a station at Charlemont and then immediately across the canal they are proposing this station which I think is about six or seven stories deep.

    Getting the location/setup of the Station wrong, and also complaining about the depth of an underground rail system? Jesus wept.

    In other news, as part of the independent expert analysis of Metrolink, RINA has pried free some docs from the NTA/TII. They're only around for another 19 days, but they're definitely more up to date than anything else we have. They include the vertical and horizontal alignment along the line. I'll upload them here too, just for posterity:

    I got them from the GADRA website, which is proving to be quite the treasure trove of Metrolink info. See the GADRA website here if you want to download them from the original source, but as I mentioned above, they'll only last another 19 days there.



  • Registered Users Posts: 232 ✭✭Heartbreak Hank


    Thanks for posting those. There is a lot of detail there.

    I want to apologize in advance for this because it has probably been discussed to death but I thought the tunnel was stopping north of Beechwood to allow for a future connection to the upgraded green line there. I knew that Charlemont was the last stop but I didn't realize the tunnel was ending just south of the turnback.

    Surely the arrangement as shown means the green line will never be connected as a new TBM will be needed for the c. 1 km of tunnel.

    Again apologies because I am sure this is covered here already.



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,917 Mod ✭✭✭✭spacetweek


    It probably was covered, but it's a shocking omission. Dunno if they've any gameplan for the future extension at all now.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,077 ✭✭✭gjim


    Yeah - it seems to me that there's no proper plan for future extension. Part of the design should not only cover the line to Charlemont but also include a detailed plan for the future extension so that the works can be designed to dovetail with the extension. I can understand the urgency to get something built and avoid NIMBY battles by burying the plan for future extension but it doesn't really look like there is a plan. Without one, it would make more sense to stop at Stephen's Green and provide the interchange with the Green line there and not bother with the expense and aggravation over Charlemont.



  • Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,193 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    I've a feeling that the plan at Charlemont changed when they took the need for ventilation into account, you can see that they've added a ventilation shaft onto Charlemont station. Finishing the tunnel just north of Beechwood would have meant they'd need another intervention/ventilation shaft, ala Albert College Park, except this one wouldn't have a huge park to place it in. It'd also be a lot harder to justify as well, as there won't be a station further on, it'd literally be a shaft stuck at the end of the line.



  • Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 26,398 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peregrine




  • Registered Users Posts: 1,110 ✭✭✭p_haugh



    You should see the exchange between him & the Dublin Commuters Coalition on twitter today, comedic stuff right there!

    Charlemont supposedly has 2 separate stations on each side of the canal as far as Lacey's concerned, a governmental body (the NTA) apparently is unaccountable,.... just two of a good few wild claims he's made so far 😂😂



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,562 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk




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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,645 ✭✭✭yer man!


    What's the likely outcome of this? Will it actually delay anything? Will NTA power on regardless?



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