Not require a hearing I presume you mean?
They've applied a railway order so it's a tad late to go back and just do normal planning.
Apologies, yes you are correct
Vitally important that we see contract awards before a general election. Can't be cancelled then by any incoming government.
I wonder was that news published anywhere. The Dart south west will impact on our garden and we didn't hear anything.
From the looks of the latest polls its looking likely we'll see a return of the current government in any case
Won't be made officialfor a couple of weeks yet
Election could be in two months if FFG decide that it's time to make SF try catch a falling knife
I have two fears, firstly that an election could be called early as you suggest, secondly, that the Social Democrats and/or Labour replace the Greens in the next government, thus watering down some of the public transport proposals. Best that the current government lasts the pace, gets the contracts awarded and shovels in the ground. Even if the Greens are voted out, they can get back in the election after next for another round of public transport.
Both Labour and Social Democrats would be very much aligned with the Greens on the specific issue of public transport.
Even Sinn Féin would be more for than against, as it won't "take money from people's pockets" (that's their objection to other Green policies)
The real opponents to public transport spending are the true economic right-wing (not centre-right) parties, and they haven't been a big enough force here to change policies since the days of the PDs.
Duncan Smith knows his onions but I wouldn’t trust Ivana at all.
I also would not trust the do nothing Soc Dems types who prefer to sit on the sideline.
If there is any budget tightening I think all parties with the exception of the Greens would put the squeeze on these projects.
I can see Fine Gael being a little bit more in favour if only because they’ve been around so long that they want some sort of legacy.
Sinn Fein are the ones raising questions at Dail committees about Metrolink and digging up the old chestnut of a heavy rail link from Clongriffin.
The sooner the better a railway order is granted, the sooner 'Dart spur from Clongriffen' can be put to bed. Every time I read it being touted as cheaper alternative to Metrolink I can feel my blood pressure rise.
Not saying the route shouldn't be looked at in the future, but not at the expense of Metrolink and should be saved for a much bigger project imo.
DURING the first quarter of this year, Irish Rail (IÉ) is due to begin tendering for the €1.75bn Dart+ Programme, a major investment project which aims to triple the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (Dart) network from its current length of 50km to 150km.
This will involve electrifying at 1.5kV dc diesel-operated commuter routes to the west and southwest of the city, extending the current Dart route at its northern end from Malahide to Drogheda, and carrying out capacity enhancements at its southern end between Bray and Greystones. Passenger capacity will be more than doubled on most lines, and for its expanding Dart network IÉ has so far ordered 185 EMU and BEMU cars from Alstom under a framework contract for up to 750, which it describes as the largest single investment ever made in a public transport fleet in Ireland.
This is “a hugely exciting time for rail in Ireland,” according to IÉ CEO, Mr Jim Meade. The national railway is expecting total passenger traffic to reach 50.5 million passenger-journeys this year, beating the previous record of 50.1 million set in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, and then rise to 53 million in 2025.
To meet rising demand and help achieve its climate change targets, the Irish government has allocated €35bn to transport from the €165bn to be invested under the National Development Plan for 2021-2030. “For every euro spent on the roads, two euros are spent on public transport,” says Mr Gary O’Halloran, commercial and planning manager for Dart+ at IÉ. “These are not just concepts.”
To help deliver its ambitious investment programme, IÉ is turning to the supply industry beyond Ireland, conducting market consultation as it refines its procurement strategy through a series of roadshows held in Dublin, Madrid, Lisbon and London. A programme briefing held in London on November 13 2023, hosted by the Railway Industry Association (RIA), attracted over 130 attendees. The interest from potential suppliers in Britain was such that RIA was obliged to move the event to a larger venue.
There is a lot more details at the link.
https://www.railjournal.com/analysis/growing-dublins-electric-commuter-network/
https://archive.ph/USPcz#selection-1117.0-1137.500
That article was an excellent read; although it didn't mention the newly proposed Station along with the new turnback facilities at Dún Laoghaire Station for Dart+ Coastal South. Is that work still going ahead, as a separate tender process, within that part of the project in the near future?
South is nowhere near tender ready. DL already has turn back facilities.
Is there any indication of service plans/mock timetable for Dart+ West beyond the 'up to 12 trains per hour', and how they might be split between Spencer Dock and Connolly/Loop line bridge?
The TSS (document which sets out frequency and service pattern) was system wide for the new DART+ network but now that DART Coastal South is all but cancelled/indefinitely postponed that TSS is now undeliverable. It is not yet known if a new TSS will be drawn up or will there be some ammendment. The NTA/Irish Rail have yet to publicly fess up on the cancellation.
Any update on this? February has come and gone! Will March see a Railway Order?..
Still waiting ABP could grant any day now.
Again, not strictly related to Dart+, plus it's behind a paywall, though this was a refreshing headline to read:
Somewhat related to Dart+, the study into the quad-tracking the Northern Line "FourNorth" which recently got awarded EU funding, I am now hearing will go out to tender April 2024, with tender awarded August/September 2024.
Not DART+ and that topic is deserving of it's own thread anyway.
https://archive.ph/2024.02.24-120806/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2024/02/24/if-ireland-is-to-develop-in-a-less-dublin-centric-way-cork-must-grow/
Depressing line from this:
“Even at the inauguration of the Dart, then taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, a transport economist, stressed the decision to finance the Dart was taken by the previous government, when asked about lack of investment in the West.”
A summary of everything that’s wrong with public infrastructure investment in Ireland.
If the question was about investment inWest, why was GF's answer apparently about the financing of DART? 😕
They were really depressing times that most voters, even old ones don't seem to remember
I assume he meant “sorry that we spent money on this project in Dublin, we’ll give the west money too I swear” as if that was the way it worked.
I feel déja vu saying this, but it's relevant to every Dublin infrastructure topic; a lot of people underestimate how strong the feeling is outside of Dublin, that any investment in Dublin is simply theft from the rest of the country.
If Dublin's transfers to other parts of the country ended, that attitude would change pretty damn quick.
In LPT terms, I believe Clare is the only county that isn't GDA or has its own city that was able to support itself on the old transfer system; and that's Limerick overspill + Shannon.
I thought it was Cork.
Anyway the local links stuff around the country should put a lot of complaints to bed.
And not before time. Lack of public transport across at lot of the state was shameful. Towns and villages up north far better served.
Yeah, pretty sure it's cork. If I recall correctly, Limerick was an unusual one because social welfare went through there, making the figures meaningless for the region.
