Country is a joke. A complete and utter shambolic farce.
It started (actually was relaunched) in 2015 so we are 8 years in now with another 2 until construction starts in 2025.
But if you consider Metro North to have laid a lot of the groundwork for this, then since that started around 2005 then we’ll actually be 20 years in by the time construction starts. China would have completed an 8-line system in that timeframe.
I don't think Metro North laid any groundwork for Metrolink in practical terms.
How much money was burned on it?
Spain would have completed an 8 line system, democratically, with a good safety record and no defects.
How this is allowed happen with the Greens in Govt oh yea 2 words… Eamonn Ryan!
😆 ...
I mean at least they're actually doing something, we just plan. And this is one blunder after building the world's second longest high speed rail network and a dramatic expansion of metros across the country. Germany has blunders too, ever5 country has. In Ireland we built a connection between 2 tram lines and effectively shut down the bus network in doing so.
How did we effectively shut down the bus network in building Luas cross city? (which was built on time and on budget I might add).
There were no changes made to bus routes or private traffic to accommodate it so basically every Dublin bus route was subject to chronic delays for months because they all cross the city at that single point
If they weren't in government I would imagine there'd be even less chance of it ever happening
Doubtful.
Wasnt it ER that was out with crayons looking for more votes off his constituents.
The project keeps missing it’s deadlines and opening date pushed out from 2027 to 2034 - at best now.
Wasn’t he also against the original plan to tie ML in with an upgrade of the Green line to Metro?
He seems more interested in devoting time to rail projects in rural areas that have zero to little chance of coming to fruition.
I agree, and I have real fears that a SF/FF/Rural Independent government would cancel it after the next election.
The other parties will just build roads if they think it'll get them elected, I mean it worked for 100 years, ignoring public transport and then some people still blame the Greens for how poor it is after 5 mins in government
The original Metro plan originated under an FF government. The current metrolink plan has gotten this far firstly under a FF backed FG government and the under the FF/FG/Green coalition.
I can't see why FF would suddenly drop it after being involved in various versions of the project for two decades years.
Yeah cause ff or fg had nothing to do with the Luas, bus connects, Dublin airport terminal 2, etc etc. 🙄
Greens have done absolutely nothing NEW to improve PT in Ireland.
ER hasn’t even brought in ANPR cameras for bus lane enforcement- not a peep out of him about a plan to improve ABP which is the one of the main reasons holding this country’s infrastructure back.
The electorate expected more from a green transport minister and he hasn’t delivered.
Why would he have a plan to improve to ABP when he's not in charge of it? It's under Darragh O'Brien.
Like, I get people don't like the Greens, but some of the reasons are just ridiculous. They've brought in a bus service for every town in Ireland with more than 10000 people, and massively staffed up the teams in charge of developing active transport around all the councils. The idea that a group could come in and do more on short notice is just stupid. Every major public transport project under his command has been progressed to the best of his ability, what do you really expect him to do? Just sign the contracts without planning?
Ridiculous.
He’s the transport minister.
Surely he should be highlighting why all transport projects are stuck in a bottle neck!
Im also we’ll aware it’s darragh o Brien’s portfolio and I can’t understand how he hasn’t been put under massive pressure to get it sorted especially by the guy who is tasked to provide transport infrastructure.
No doubt all the rail projects will be put in the bin. It's a terrifying vista approaching.
I would have put money on it you were a Green voter. I'm one of the few who thinks they're doing a good job, but it's a low bar to be fair.
Well one time I would have been but I’ve been very let down by them. I expected a lot more with regards to major PT infrastructure tbh.
Anyway I’m getting off track (pardon the pun).
Mod: Can we return to the topic - Metrolink, please.
Politics is best kept to the politics forum.
The usual negative ML coverage from IT. In an article about regenerating O’Connell street, their sub headline quotes Frank “The Crank” McD who’s more worried about the facade of the Carlton Cinema than the metro station that will be behind it.
Consultants appointed to oversee delivery
A slightly strange and inaccurate sub heading. I mean did they actually research it?
"The almost 20km Dublin MetroLink was originally mooted in 2005 and a public consultation finally started in 2018"
It's actually more accurate than the absolute crap the IT usually prints in relation to Metrolink. I'd say "slightly strange and inaccurate" is a step in the right direction at least. Who knows, maybe in the 2030s they might have actually progress to producing a fully accurate and fact-based article on it!
I know its fairly useless commentary but it really is desperate how long its taking them to drag ML through ABP.
This was advertised as a 200 million euro contract with a 13 year timeframe. This is huge news.
It is indeed huge news. And good news too. From what I can see, this is a delivery management contract, and that means something is going to be built.
However, this also highlights one reason why our infrastructure is so poor. We will hire a team of project managers for 13 years to deliver this project. At the end of that period, they will all go off to different assignments, and we’ll end up with nobody on hand who has the first-hand knowledge of delivering a metro. So, when it comes to the next metro line (and there will immediately be calls for one once the first opens), we’ll have to start from scratch again.
As an example of the better way to do things, the City of Prague has a permanent office to design and plan the future of the Prague Metro. This guarantees a pipeline of shovel-ready projects of all sizes, from station refurbishment to whole new lines. That way, whenever the government has money to spend on the metro, they can pick and choose from a range of options that can get started within their term in office.
It’s unlikely we could do the Prague model, but we could at least start to build a pipeline: get projects through planning, have them ready. Now that MetroLink is heading toward delivery, it is time to start working on the next Metro line. Traffic in Dublin is proof enough that it’s needed.
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