Only a quarter of SF's current seats are in Dublin, and several of those are in south Dublin where voters might not feel ML presents any benefits for them.
People are going to have to accept that just because a project goes through their neighbourhood, doesn't mean that they have the right to block or delay something that is for the greater good, ie. Public transport projects.
There is a similar mindset in Bray with regards to the n11 buslane project. In all reality, the project benefits the people and commuters south of Bray and along the eastern Wicklow and Wexford corridor. But its very possible those shouting loudest in Bray will scupper the project.
Mod: This is not the politics forum. This is Metrolink.
Saw this on an ad board coming up to the Botanic pub. Gave me a chuckle after reading this thread earlier today.
Noted you say coming up to the Botanic and not the old Sunnybank building :( R.I.P. The Sunnybank Hotel.
Roll on Metrolink connecting Swords-Airport-City will still be a huge step forward for the country.
Is it built yet?
It is! Hop in!
Mod :Off topic..
Wrong thread
Mod: Off topic.
Mod: There are plenty of threads about Metrolink that are off topic in this thread.
Otherwise start a new one.
Update to market on the Prior Information Notices published by TII recently
Also, they plan to issue a PIN shortly on the M100 MetroLink Advance Works contract.
Exciting times. The oral hearing for DART+ West is finished as of this week, the board will now consider the oral submissions. It's been decided to grant some, but not all bus connects corridors without oral hearing, but no grant date yet and the second anniversary of the first corridor going to planning is coming up rapidly. Hopefully there'll now be capacity for the metrolink oral hearing. One hopes in December but realistically at this point we're probably talking Jan or Feb.
There's some understanding that rail projects have been prioritised under pressure from government, perhaps an indication that they intend to have some major boots on the ground on big ticket projects before an election and building a bus lane just isn't a headliner, and why should it be really, it shouldn't take 2 years to get planning anyway and most of them don't technically require planning permission but that's just my 2 cents.
I spoke to some people at DART+West Oral Hearing who are working on the metrolink project, they were there in solidarity and taking notes about what they might be in for, they expect to be given a date soon.
Thanks for heading along to the oral hearings @cgcsb, can't have been all that much fun. Was there anything that stood out submission wise? Like, not just your run of the mill "I don't like change" complaints?
No problem there were some tedious submissions, many submissions seemed to be based on information given to residents groups by their county councilor, and was most often incorrect.
The sticking points are:
-the lands at the depot are a flood zone and the owner has hired some fancy experts to ensure that point is hammered home. Irish Rail's answer was that flood attenuation is a detailed design issue, which is standard but I don't think they came across well there.
-Ashtown stables. The stable owners made fools of themselves, they looked and acted like a shower of agressive crusties, no substance in their claim at all as they're only loosing less than 4% of their land and they were caught out lying multiple times, they're barely affected by the project thanks to a last minute decision to route the road through land owned by a motor show room and land owned by a building supply company. The building supply company will have to cease trading as a result and the motor show room will be severely impacted but may still operate. They made a great case against the current option, pointing out the impacts to their business, employees etc all to save the Ashtown stables which frankly is a bit of a waste of space, but Leo backed the stables up (much to his regret now as they're still not happy and they've been harassing his office and dumping horsesh!t at train stations in protest, so it is what it is.
Latest article on metrolink. Planning permission now delayed until Xmas 2024. Cost between 7.2 to 12.25 Billion. Construction start may now be delayed to 2027.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41254546.html
So the RO application was lodged in September 2022 and we won’t have a decision by ABP (which can still be challenged by JR) by “Xmas 2024.
wow.
Completion might not be til 2036 or 2037.
It's so frustrating. We could be dead by then.
There's no point even discussing or thinking about this project.
There is literally no news there. We still haven't even had an oral hearing. There was never a chance of the RO being granted anytime soon. Two years at ABP for a project of this scale is (unfortunately) the norm right now. Even small developments are taking over a year.
What were the reasons given for the delay?
CIE lodged a railway order application with ABP in May 2021 to close/upgrade seven level crossings on the Cork-Dublin line. This case has yet to be decided.
Please use this as a yardstick when forming expectations around the biggest planning application in the history of the state.
https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/310286
From the article the following paragraph.
A project brief and procurement strategy submission has now been delayed from the second quarter of 2023 until the end of the year, pre-tender approval for the needed contracts has been delayed until the start of 2024, and most notably the timeline for receiving approval for construction from An Bord Pleanala has now been pushed out by nine months until the end of next year.
It is, however, just further evidence of the appalling state that ABP has been allowed devolve into.
Again, it's not news. The oral hearing hasn't happened yet. Christmas next year is actually optimistic.
The longer this gets dragged out for, the more the needs of the city will change, until such time that Metrolink is no longer fit for purpose (see Metro North). Fact is, the whole project is already looking that way as is.
Fact is, the whole project is already looking that way as is.
How so?
My kingdom for a thread which is just dry progress updates (I know I'm adding to the chaff here but still)
Because demand projections anticipate that green line will need to be upgraded to metro and the longer it takes to deliver current Metrolink, the less Metrolink makes sense as a northside only service.
Ah, that's a relatively easy fix that will almost certainly be done in the future anyway. The Green Line upgrade is an inevitability, the delay just makes removing it from the plan seem a lot sillier. Doesn't change the fundamentals Metrolink.
Hardly a surprise that the whole thing is so far up the left that we'll be fortunate to see the damn thing before 2040. Who benefits?
That surprises me since DART+ got to oral hearing 14 months after lodging,
