Metrolink - Alternative Routes - See post one for restrictions.

I'm afraid I don't really follow you.

It's very important to have interchanges between the metrolink and other rail services, e.g. DART. The point I am trying to make is that such interchanges would not need to happen at Glasnevin. They could, it appears, happen at Drumcondra, as envisaged by the metronorth plan for an interchange at that location, and a routing like that would have the added benefit that metrolink would serve a much higher local population than is available - or ever likely to be available - at Glasnevin.

I would, of course, like a bit of tweaking to the earlier plan, to bring the metro station closer to the DART station.

Tweaking to improve the efficiency of such an interchange is hardly 'crayonism', as alleged by the poster L1011. That plan was approved by ABP. And I can confirm to that poster that I do not live in the country and haven't done so for many years, though I would use a metro service between the airport and the city about 30 times a year (about 15 return journeys), and would have already done so hundreds of times, if Ireland had been able to stick to its original metro timetable.

But it seems that the proposed rejigging of the current rail line layout through Glasnevin Junction will allow all those lines (PPT, Maynooth, Dunboyne) to use the current Drumcondra Station, which itself has ready access to both Connolly and Spencer Dock.

So, as it stands, the plan is to remove the Sligo/Longford trains from a critical section and bring them into Heuston, and thus free up paths via Drumcondra's current station. You should then be feasibly able to run many more suburban trains through Drumcondra: so why build the metrolink through the underpopulated and distinctly unbusy Glasnevin, when you could achieve the same rail-metro interchange at a busier, more populated Drumcondra?

Now, frankly, I am doubtful, and I would be very pleasantly surprised if Sligo trains are going into Heuston by 2040. I think there's a lot to be said, in the interim, for an underground station under Drumcondra Road, with access to the current Drumcondra Station and a clearly feasible and desirable future one on the Midland line, for interchange with both those lines, the proposed Balgriffin LUAS and, of course, all the buses that serve that area. Along with the much higher residential and population in Drumcondra - relative to Glasnevin Junction - this would be a nice way for metrolink to connect with all those rail lines and maximise its uptake of passengers. The residential and working population around Glasnevin is relatively very low.