there's not much going on on-site, they've dumped a load of gravel either side of the track which is possibly a base for the platforms but I haven't seen much else happening.
The adjacent big housing development is shooting up.
The DLR site seems to imply planning was granded.
(Mods can delete posts for you. Looks like someone already did.)
If the loads of gravel are present on either side of the station. Does it give us a clue as to when this work on the new station will start at Woodbrook? Would it right to say that it could take place either before or after Christmas or something unless they are going to be built as separate projects.
Any idea when the Coastal South route is going out for public consultation?
The oral hearing for DART+ West is underway from today and should last at least 2 more weeks. Nothing earth shattering on the first day, only issues are some belly aching from politicians. Katherine Murphy was particularly obstructive, in favour of the project but blithering on about a patch of green space being used for a temporary construction compound. As if it could be built by magic over night. Some nobody councilors whinging into their cornflakes over construction noise and traffic, despite the extensive traffic modelling carried out and printed in black and white on front of them.
Thanks for the update! How are you following it?
Its not available on line, in person only
East wall residents want smart noise cancelling and window blacking out devices for privacy and quiet as in Tokyo. But beside a railway that's been there for 150 years. Similar to people who buy houses next to an airport imo.
Can we buy a few of their houses and create an interchange with Connolly?
Would be great but we'll outside scope for the present project
I know, was tongue in cheek in response to their complaints.
Does anyone know how the oral hearing is going?
Doesn't seem to be attracting much in the way of media coverage.
These hearings are rather dry procedural events, normally last 3-5 days. First day is usually quite funny as no one in the room has ever been to one (hasn't been a railway works order oral hearing in +10 years) so working out how it works procedurally is fun.
The only entertainment is typically a local politician who goes off on a rant and makes themselves look foolish.
As described mostly a dry affair. I havent sat through the whole thing, just snippets. First few days were lengthy speeches from 70+ year olds about their childhoods and how they don't fancy a change, despite the fact they won't survive to see project completion and by n large the project won't impact them in any real sense. Fascinating from a psychological point of view given that their lives include the second half of the 20th century, arguably the most change inducing 50 year period since humanity began but sure look.
There were some submissions from people who bought houses next to a 160 year old active railway and are unhappy with noise.
A tiny number of people have submitted that they are genuinely impacted by cpo
It'll run for another week at least, finishing Friday 13th
Is it available to view online?
It is not.
In person only
So 65 new battery-electric trains will be based in Drogheda as of next year and are due into service in 2025. What will this mean for service patterns on the northern line and are any existing dart or commuter fleet going to be retired as a result?
They will be based at Fairview initially
Its 37 trains, 6 of which do not have a battery fitted so those won't be going to Drogheda until 2030+?
Good chance the first batch will never get to Drogheda as the original DART fleet is falling apart (rust, breakdowns etc) and the order was sized to replace them 1:1
With the new commuter arrangement for dart South West how do Irish rail plan to avoid conflicts for portlaois commuter trains presumably they'll use to fast line post dart expansion and stop at hazelhatch first then all stations to portlaois surely this will cause huge problems for existing Intercity train who previously could overtake them on the 4 track section before the merge.
Good timetabling would help, but I struggle to see that working in reality. Do any stations have more than 4 platforms / lines? Perhaps some stations between PortLaoise and HH would need a 3rd (or 3rd and 4th) passing loop. Of course there are no plans for passing loops west of HH so it doesn't answer your question.
Kildare has a passing loop
You’re talking about one train per hour off-peak here, with another to Newbridge or potentially Kildare.
That’s perfectly manageable to fit in with an hourly path to Cork, Galway and Waterford.
In the peaks, some of the Limerick, Galway and Waterford line Intercity services double up as commuters so again they will cope with that too.
The timetable will presumably be recast to deal with the revised service patterns.
Don't think it'll be a major issue for the timetabling. The rail strategy proposes a new intercity line from Hazelhatch to Portarlington so I guess that's the long term solution. Presumably by then the intercity trains will be much more frequent
Not DART+ itself but Kishoge Station has been brought up here before so thought I'd put this here. SDCC have a consultation running to add bus lanes and cycle lanes to R136 Grange Castle Road out side the eventually to open Kishoge Station. Presumably this is to facilitate interchange between rail and bus once the station finally opens.
While it is good intentioned the the bus + cycle lanes, adding a heap of parking spaces to the side of the road is a complete waste of space. There is a large car park there already plus lots of space to expand it if desired. The extra space should be used to plant schrubs and trees to remove the motorway feel from that road. They also want to add a forest of bollards to prevent cars parking where they shouldn't! I'd also have bi-directional cycle lanes on each side of the road to facilitate cycling to and from the station.
I am opposed to this, they are removing a traffic lane each way. Yes the road has a motorway feel because that is the idea. Some routes actually need motorways, they are not some inconvenience to be removed just because there's a train station there. Most of the space freed up by removing a lane each way will be wasted as they are just going to hatch it off and festoon it with bollards.
If they want space for bidirectional bike lanes they could remove the central barrier (which makes it harder to cross the road).
The R136 is not a motorway, full stop.
When Kishogue station opens there will have to be a pedestrian crossing installed at the station.
Woodbrook tender awarded
Estimated cost €5m - somehow we build train stations vastly cheaper here than in the UK even taking in to account how barren the designs can be.
Our tendering process isn't based on giving the job to a party donor or a chap you were at Eton with... the UK has become a very corrupt country in the last decade or so, while we have largely cleaned up our act.
