DART+ (DART Expansion)

don't know if this is the right thread but these look pretty swanky

Trains expected to start arriving at the end of the year. Drivers already being trained up for them, big work going on in Inchicore at the moment for facilities to commission them, and paths for testing being worked out.

Crank up the cranks with their cut and paste objections!

God, Europe would never have managed to electrify most of its railways if it had to contend with planning Irish-style. Modern 25kv masts are relatively lightweight an unobtrusive, but I wonder at the rcent very clunky studd recently installed on the Great Western main line in the UK.

No need for pessimism. I was only saying that the idea we could override the planning process just because it's a railway is a non-starter. (Not least because letting a government suspend laws to get its "plans" implemented isn't a great idea..)

That doesn't mean the thing will get bogged down. It will all be happening on private land, and the substations etc will be located in areas that already have buildings in place. You'll get a crank or two complaining about the view, but they'll be ignored. One or two people will have legitimate complaints and the plan will be adjusted to accommodate them. All business as usual. But the likes of FIE will have no grounds to obstruct this, as the land is already taken and in any case electrification will remove the pollution associated with diesel fuelled trains and allow some of our most heavily used railway servives to run on renewable energy.

Coastal North was ready in December. Read into that what you like

Coastal South being scrapped is very disappointing. If we're pulling Rosslare services, at the very least we should be working to improving frequency on that line.

The expectation is that something will be done with Bray-Greystones and Dart will be extended to Wicklow using battery trains. What's being long-fingered is the level-crossing closures as they're too contentious and would bog the other bits of the project down.

LA planning doesn't apply to projects that are big enough to go straight to ABP. This is one.

The ability of complainers to instigate JR proceedings has been greatly restricted in the new planning acts.

But mostly our issues with planning are not a problem of what planning law allows, but of understaffing at ABP. Hopefully this has been resolved.

There's a temptation to use Metrolink as a benchmark, and yes, Metrolink has taken ages, but Metrolink is a far larger project, building a completely new railwat on new land-take and under existing buildings... there's potential for huge impacts if it goes wrong, so the detailed consultation process is to be expected.

DART+, though, takes place almost entirely on lands already owned by IÉ, and so almost no land take or loss of access is involved. Even the environmental cost is tiny compared to the emissions saved by electrification. All of this means it should clear the planning process much more quickly.

There are just too many friendly judges who would approve a jr against level crossing closure in D4. The only outcome at this point is for IÉ to close the crossings for 16 hours a day and provide no pedestrian or cyclist alternative.

This is beyond ridiculous. As Sam states, "it is a very simple project". The public consultation took place in 2019 and plans were modified subsequently. The railway order was applied for in 2021 with the oral hearing scheduled for Sept 2022. By agreement with ABP an EIA procedure was conducted in advance. And pretty much nothing since. The status of the case on the ABP website is "Requires Further Consideration". A straightforward project, re-routing roads, constructing a small number of bridges etc. Greatly improving safety for both road and rail users, improving the rail journey time between Cork-Dublin and Cork-Limerick and underpinning those services for the future. Sure there is some inconvenience for local traffic which was aired during the public consultation, and some alterations were made to retain connectivity, convenience etc. But overall a simple project, hugely grounded in the common good, that didn't appear to generate much hostility or opposition. It really shows-up the lip service to public transport in official circles that this is allowed to languish. If ever there was a case for ministerial intervention to get the ball rolling this has to be it.

And if it is so tortuously difficult to get this simple project over the line, what chance is there for Merrion Gates, where the opposition is a lot more vocal, vociferous, well healed, well resourced and any worthwhile solution considerable more complicated and impactful. Having spent many hours in the past sat in a queue of traffic on Strand Road and Merrion Road waiting for the barriers to rise it's absolutely ludicrous that this isn't tackled.