DART+ (DART Expansion)

I would be in favour of building a bridge over the railway.

The proposal that IE had for Coolmine was never workable and they knew that, it was a total red herring, but a bridge along the existing road would be fine by me.

Failing that, I'm yet to hear a reasonable explanation as to why LCs can't be closed for rush hours and open the other 19 hours of the day.

What is incredibly ironic about some of the protests about the new bridge at Coolmine was that some of the loudest protests came from residents who would benefit from a reduction in noise along Coolmine Road as it would no longer be a through traffic route. Bizarre.

The road reservation was left for it decades ago, it was on the plans for years, until the NIMBYs got to work.

No, that is another lie.

If there are no trains to halt traffic, it flows freely. What is the difficulty you're having here, other than being blinded by self interest.

In fairness, I asked for a reasonable reason why it can't be done. "They aren't a thing" isn't quite what I had in mind. You drop the crossing at 7 am and you raise it at 9, you drop it again at 5pm and you raise it at 7pm. Those are the only times when frequency on the Maynooth line will demand a total closure and for the other 20 hours they go up and down as needed.

I know LCs add complexity to the signal management. That's exactly why IE don't want them but there's no technical impediment to keeping them.

You are asking for something that neither the Irish or British railway networks do anywhere else.

I am asking you why you think you should be entitled to that?

Just for those posters who aren't familiar, the above is absolutely untrue.

This exact argument has been done to death and was even given its own thread because it completely enveloped this thread;

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058122299/dart-coolmine-lc-closure-issues#latest

What station would you have built Blanch Center at. Considering it was built in the mid 90s. Most of old Blanch/Castleknock was built 60/70s. So was well established by that point. Villages predate the railway and canals.

I think might need a time machine to get the density Tetris you're thinking of.

Blanch SC for sure built in a odd location with odd links to infrastructure, even the links to the M3 are poor and cause congestion.

On the contrary, the Luas was tendered out to private operators who faced financial penalties if promised service levels were not achieved.

If IE decide that 1-2 trains per hour is enough or it's all they can manage, then that's exactly what they'll provide and anyone who doesn't like it will just have to suck it up.

There's a very apt & relevant question to be asked in this discussion when we are trying to apply logic to this context when talking about Coolmine. And that relevant question being asked is.............

"Why not just build a bridge and get over it?".

When we are looking at all of the dynamics of this discussion; this sort of question being asked right now is the perfect icebreaker to try and address these apparent self created issues regarding the LC at Coolmine.

If the NIMBYs at Coolmine are so concerned with this LC at Coolmine. What is the main issue with getting rid of it while trying to prevent the betterment of others by attempting to use other means of transport to help get them to simply get to their place of work/place of leisure on time?

If a bridge was eventually built over that LC at Coolmine. Both car owners and rail passengers will see huge improvements in their quality of life in getting to their destinations on time if that were possible during the working week.

If the LC at that location was kept as normal while no bridge was built over it; what do you think would be the desired outcome in the future? To quote The Fat Controller from Thomas The Tank Engine if you create no proper solution for people who want to use either keep using the LC with no changes applied to it with no improvements being provided the other infrastructure; you are just going to have to face up to a reality of going through confusion and delay while maintaining one side of the argument to keep themselves ignorant of the other obstacles placed around them.

You have the biggest gift imaginable of having one major solution being provided to you by a major semi state rail operator in this country. And you're faced with the grim reality of one side wanting to see that solution to keep their and the quality of life much more bearable. However the other side apparently does not want to see those benefits realised at all just to keep themselves and those on the other side miserable because they just say...........I don't know...........reasons!

Why does level of infighting actually happen all the time in Ireland? It frustrates the hell of me that such a small and simple issue like a LC in Coolmine can much so much outcry among certain people on a major rail infrastructure project that will be providing a major increase in rail services on critically important railway lines all across the GDA.

I had to read about 40 posts on this very thread that was discussing this current hot potato issue about the LC at Coolmine. It just boggles my mind for the want of a better word. Why is this is such an important issue at this current time for so many people on this thread? It's utter madness tbh.

I'm going to state that creating both solutions of constructing the bridge while closing down the level crossing would be the easiest solution possible to me. It actually provides some certainty in maintaining the maximum level of rail service provision to keep the other parts of the DART+ ticking over for the rail lines in Dublin as intended.

You can remove the LC and facilitate rail improvements. You don't have to build the bridge. If your sole interest is rail improvements, you've got all you need once the LC is closed.

The arguments for the bridge are almost entirely to facilitate more cars. Thats a discussion that's got nothing to do with rail.