Luas Finglas

The railway order for DART+ North is due to be decided on Monday (a bank holiday). So given that nothing has happened to day and no communication on the matter, it's safe to say that the 6 month duration is pure fiction/comedy. 2 years is the minimum time for a railway order (or bus based transport project), some recently have taken 4 years (closing a few level crossings). Metrolink is coming up on 2.5 years, a total sh1tshow. We just have to accept 2 years is the basic minimum for such a project and a year or 2 for judicial reviews which can be taken indiscriminately for any reason, real or imaginary.

I think saying that it will be a minimum of 2 years because it hasn't been approved on the exact day given is a bit overly pessimistic. But I can't say I expect them to make a decision next week. Again like I said, D+N should be the first significant RO grantet that has been more recently submitted, and will give us an idea of how long future ROs might take. Even if it isn't decided Tuesday, even if it isn't approved for another 6 months, it will still be an improvement and a good sign for future projects to come. Unfortunately we just wont know how long it will take until it is approved.

"Complexity" is a real catch all for Irish officialdom. It's complexity that has stopped DCC implementing further changes from it's own city centre traffic management plan, and complexity is what caused a railway order for closing a few level crossings to take 4 years. I think there's just no competitent decision making ability.

That’s good to see.
Do we know what the likelihood of JR is on this project?

I know there's a section of houses that it passes quite close to at the Mellowes Rd. I don't know if they'll raise one, but could happen.

And 10 months is nothing to be proud of for such a short and straightforward scheme. It’s 4km of light rail through bland suburbia. More like 3-6 months.

10 months is pretty damn good in my opinion. 4.5km of new rail alignment covers far more surface area and disruption and involves many interfaces with roads, bridges, utilities, etc. than the likes of an apartment or office complex. Even if it's mostly going through suburbia the number of people "affected" by the construction is far greater.

And that's while they're also dealing with multiple ROs for DART+, metrolink, busconnects, etc.

I've just heard from a separate source that the decision will be made 'in the autumn', all very positive. I just hope that the NTA/TII can get mobilised quickly and get building. keeping mind we're also expecting a metrolink decision shortly and DART+ are looking to start enabling works before the end of 2025.