Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

bk · 03-09-2020 1:17pm

donvito99 wrote: »

The impact on the Maynooth / Kildare lines is also significant.

Yes, Dart+ would be a much weaker project without it. The presence of Metrolink significantly improve the business case.

The Airport is the cherry on top, it is what makes Metrolink easy to sell to the public. But it really isn't anywhere close to the main purpose of Metrolink.

Brian CivilEng · 03-09-2020 2:53pm

tobsey wrote: »

There are very few times when it’d take you longer than 30 minutes from the airport to O’Connell bridge.

There are regular times where it has taken me longer than 30mins to simply get on an "every 10mins" 747 bus.

bk wrote:

Oh and dragging the whole family with heavy luggage onto a Metro is typically not a great idea. Hungry, tired 4 year old crammed onto a Metro is NOT a good idea. Even other Metro users would prefer if you had taken the coach.

Have had this argument with my wife many times. She prefers the bus, I prefer rail or metro every time. Even with our 4 year old.

Once you miss a bus or coach despite being on time due to it filling it's 90 seats before you make it to the top of the queue you instantly get converted into being a Metro fan. I've chosen not to get on a train due to it being overcrowded, rare enough but it has happened. With the bus the choice is made for you, a quick shrug by the driver and you are waiting 30mins for the next one.

Sam Russell · 03-09-2020 3:12pm

Brian CivilEng wrote: »

There are regular times where it has taken me longer than 30mins to simply get on an "every 10mins" 747 bus.

Have had this argument with my wife many times. She prefers the bus, I prefer rail or metro every time. Even with our 4 year old.

Once you miss a bus or coach despite being on time due to it filling it's 90 seats before you make it to the top of the queue you instantly get converted into being a Metro fan. I've chosen not to get on a train due to it being overcrowded, rare enough but it has happened. With the bus the choice is made for you, a quick shrug by the driver and you are waiting 30mins for the next one.

Plus the bus not even appearing. Once, my sister had to get a flight at 7:45 am from Dublin Airport, and the Aircoach runs close by, so I usually drop her for the 6:30 coach which gets her there in time. Coach did not show, so I had to drive there which was fine, but not convenient, and not the only time the early morning coaches failed to appear.

If Metrolink is more frequent than every 10 mins, that will be fine. Better that every five minutes, that will be excellent.

It is frequency and reliability that is the major selling point of a Metro service.

AngryLips · 03-09-2020 3:29pm

Seriously, where are all these scare stories about the bus coming from? The bus to the airport is completely reliable and always within 30 minutes. End of story. If it's ever anything otherwise it's the rare exception rather than the rule but that's not been my experience in the many years catching it almost every month.

Sam Russell · 03-09-2020 4:38pm

AngryLips wrote: »

Seriously, where are all these scare stories about the bus coming from? The bus to the airport is completely reliable and always within 30 minutes. End of story. If it's ever anything otherwise it's the rare exception rather than the rule but that's not been my experience in the many years catching it almost every month.

That is not my experience for the Bray/Greystones/Dalkey coaches. They are frequently late, and more often very late. (obviously pre-Covid). When they took the route away from the East Link, the reliability disappeared. If it is not reliable, it is useless.

AngryLips · 03-09-2020 4:57pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

That is not my experience for the Bray/Greystones/Dalkey coaches. They are frequently late, and more often very late. (obviously pre-Covid). When they took the route away from the East Link, the reliability disappeared. If it is not reliable, it is useless.

Oh sorry I thought we were talking about Airlink

dublinman1990 · 03-09-2020 6:04pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

That is not my experience for the Bray/Greystones/Dalkey coaches. They are frequently late, and more often very late. (obviously pre-Covid). When they took the route away from the East Link, the reliability disappeared. If it is not reliable, it is useless.

Oh; that's not good news to hear about Aircoach being frequently late on these routes. Do they run longer than 30 minutes late?

I'm just asking this because these are the nearest Aircoach routes to me.

If BusConnects is implemented in Dublin; it would give the Aircoach some advantage in getting their journey times reduced to make it more reliable. The one big disadvantage with Aircoach on the 703 is that there is no extra bus lane available from Dalkey to Temple Hill in Blackrock to overtake other buses or cars to make it's journey go much faster than it wanted. If an Aircoach gets stuck in very heavy traffic along big sections of that route with no other suitable traffic alleviation measures to make it run quicker; it would be a disaster for the Aircoach to maintain the schedule on that route even if it left the terminus on time to try & get to the Airport.

Another advantage from BusConnects for the 703 is on the Blackrock by-pass once it get's the new bus lane & bus priority signalling implemented on either side of that road. If there was heavy traffic on the by-pass without including those things; it would delay the route even further than expected. You could be stuck sitting there in heavy traffic for 20 to 30 minutes at a time each day if the traffic on that stretch of road was in gridlock pre-covid.

Other bus routes along with the cars like the 4, 7 & 84 will be delayed on that stretch of road as well if they approached the same situation. Further out could be substantially worse though if the traffic is not progressing well at all. If the Aircoach was gridlocked from say Dalkey or Dun Laoghaire on it's way to the Airport; the passengers on the bus & the driver would be in big trouble if it was't able to turn up for the important flights running on time from Dublin Airport by being missed for the working day.

That is one big reason why Dart+ CS along with Metrolink are two highly critical & important pieces of infrastructure that have to be prioritized for Airport passengers living along this stretch of line if the NTA & the government get them implemented asap. If people have the added option of arriving at the Airport on time by rail from their own home along with using the Dart; they will be able to make the choice of getting the Dart from near their home & than get the metro from Tara St to the Airport quite easily rather than relying on a private bus that is stuck in heavy traffic for nearly some/most of it's route. But that only happens if the Dart has no other delays on the line as well.

I also don't understand why the 702 is late while it's running from Greystones. That is very disappointing.

Is it that the route takes too long for it to make it comply with it's running time? It uses a much longer stretch of the bus lane on the N11 from Loughlinstown Hospital to Mount Merrion Ave once it's goes down to the Rock Road QBC; it wouldn't have to wait very long in the traffic in any case.

AngryLips · 03-09-2020 6:31pm

The thing is, there's no point in complaining about the Aircoach taking longer than 30 minutes to get to O'Connell Street when there is a service using the port tunnel that consistently gets to OCS in under 30 (Airlink).

tobsey · 03-09-2020 6:37pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

That is not my experience for the Bray/Greystones/Dalkey coaches. They are frequently late, and more often very late. (obviously pre-Covid). When they took the route away from the East Link, the reliability disappeared. If it is not reliable, it is useless.

Metrolink wont help those routes though. The bus service from the airport to CC is very fast and reliable. Rush hour in the morning getting from the port to past the convention centre is the only issue. Similar problems going the other way along the quays but that’s the only hold up. The port tunnel makes the bus very fast and reliable. Berlin has two main airports neither of which is served by any of the main train lines and there’s no issue with the buses.

Lord Glentoran · 03-09-2020 6:53pm

AngryLips wrote: »

The thing is, there's no point in complaining about the Aircoach taking longer than 30 minutes to get to O'Connell Street when there is a service using the port tunnel that consistently gets to OCS in under 30 (Airlink).

Does it still meander forever around the south city before it gets to Heuston as an afterthought?

Lord Glentoran · 03-09-2020 6:56pm

tobsey wrote: »

Metrolink wont help those routes though. The bus service from the airport to CC is very fast and reliable. Rush hour in the morning getting from the port to past the convention centre is the only issue. Similar problems going the other way along the quays but that’s the only hold up. The port tunnel makes the bus very fast and reliable. Berlin has two main airports neither of which is served by any of the main train lines and there’s no issue with the buses.

Tegel needs a bus connection, but Schöenfeld is on the S-Bahn, as will the new main airport at Brandenburg when it is finished. That will replace Tegel and Schönefeld anyway.

Sam Russell · 03-09-2020 8:22pm

Mod: Can e get back on track with Metrolink, please.

Getting to the airport by Metrolink will be facilitated by connection with Dart at Tara St, Luas at SSG, and Maynooth (Dart +) at Cross Guns. That should allow a large number of pubic transport users to make use it.

The bus/coach services will still continue to be of use, but Metrolink will be popular as it should be available 24 hrs a day, or at least to satisfy the airport demand. I would see most airport workers using it.

1huge1 · 04-09-2020 2:56pm

So where are we at now in terms of a timeline.

In terms of the original timeline announced, construction was to start in 2021 (a mere 4 months away) and be operational by 2027.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to the website below, they are only planning to issue invitations to tender in Q4 2021 and this was a pre covid timeline. Are we already 2 years behind the already painfully slow schedule? No construction until 2023?

Current Status
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=705d581a-4672-487e-9102-a7598bbb7508
On 18 December 2019 the deadline closed for submissions to the preliminary market consultation conducted by TII relating to the procurement of the design, construction, delivery, maintenance and operations of the Dublin MetroLink project.

TII are seeking to finalise the overall procurement strategy for the MetroLink scheme in Q1 of 2020. The estimated date of publication of the contract notice is 30 September 2020 for the above contract opportunities and Q2 of 2021 for the issue of the Invitations to Tender and first appointments in Q4 of 2021, subject to the necessary planning consents being in place.

marno21 · 04-09-2020 3:45pm

1huge1 wrote: »

So where are we at now in terms of a timeline.

In terms of the original timeline announced, construction was to start in 2021 (a mere 4 months away) and be operational by 2027.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to the website below, they are only planning to issue invitations to tender in Q4 2021 and this was a pre covid timeline. Are we already 2 years behind the already painfully slow schedule? No construction until 2023?

That reads to me as first appointments in Q4 2021 no?

1huge1 · 04-09-2020 5:04pm

Apologies, you are right, misread that. I'm not from a construction background myself but would first appointments immediately precede construction?

As you can probably tell, I am eager for them to actually get the shovels in the ground on this one.

marno21 · 04-09-2020 5:29pm

1huge1 wrote: »

Apologies, you are right, misread that. I'm not from a construction background myself but would first appointments immediately precede construction?

As you can probably tell, I am eager for them to actually get the shovels in the ground on this one.

No need to apologise, it is Friday after all.

That was what I also read from those timelines when I saw them. They are going to run procurement and ABP in parallel and hit the ground running (or hit the ground boring) once planning is confirmed.

Fingal County Council have been in pre-railway order consultation with ABP since June 2018 so hopefully by the time they actually file a planning application they will have all their ducks in a row and there won't be too many issues to iron out

1huge1 · 08-09-2020 2:58pm

FYI

https://twitter.com/MetroLink_ie/status/1303330941780348928

cgcsb · 08-09-2020 3:44pm

It's interesting they're actually saying that on twitter before quietly slipping the time line on their website:

https://www.metrolink.ie/#/Timeline

6 to 9 months is a big slip. More than you can really blame on corona especially since lockdown only started at the end of Q1 and the submission was to be made in Q2. There won't be any need to put a spin on it though because the Irish public ceased taking these things seriously some time ago.

1huge1 · 08-09-2020 9:50pm

Interestingly though, they still have it as "operational" by 2027 on that timeline.

1huge1 · 09-09-2020 10:22am

https://twitter.com/MetroLink_ie/status/1303623068611497985

While disappointed at any delay, I'm quietly confident that the project will finally happen this time.

Kevtherev1 · 25-09-2020 7:17pm

A Saint stevens green underground loop. More govt and nta speculative statements. Transports statements being used by govt as marketing tools.

A govt marketing and public consultation to occur in 2021. The greens pippa hackett using transport statements to promote herself. From irish times article here. Yawn.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/underground-loop-at-st-stephen-s-green-potential-option-linking-metrolink-to-luas-1.4364010

Peregrine · 25-09-2020 7:25pm

Kevtherev1 wrote: »

A Saint stevens green underground loop. More govt and nta speculative statements. Transports statements being used by govt as marketing tools.

A govt marketing and public consultation to occur in 2021. The greens pippa hackett using transport statements to promote herself. From irish times article here. Yawn.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/underground-loop-at-st-stephen-s-green-potential-option-linking-metrolink-to-luas-1.4364010

We've known about this public consultation since 2015. It's an essential part of the Strategy.

Sam Russell · 25-09-2020 7:43pm

Kevtherev1 wrote: »

A Saint stevens green underground loop. More govt and nta speculative statements. Transports statements being used by govt as marketing tools.

A govt marketing and public consultation to occur in 2021. The greens pippa hackett using transport statements to promote herself. From irish times article here. Yawn.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/underground-loop-at-st-stephen-s-green-potential-option-linking-metrolink-to-luas-1.4364010

Plenty of opportunity for going around in circles then.

dublinman1990 · 25-09-2020 8:17pm

The Dublin Commuter Coalition will tell you different if you don't like these consultations.

https://twitter.com/DublinCommuters/status/1309502959198384128

Qrt · 25-09-2020 9:52pm

Kevtherev1 wrote: »

A Saint stevens green underground loop. More govt and nta speculative statements. Transports statements being used by govt as marketing tools.

A govt marketing and public consultation to occur in 2021. The greens pippa hackett using transport statements to promote herself. From irish times article here. Yawn.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/underground-loop-at-st-stephen-s-green-potential-option-linking-metrolink-to-luas-1.4364010

A loop? What would that even do?

marno21 · 25-09-2020 10:16pm

Eamon Ryan wrote:

On MetroLink, the finalised business case is expected to be submitted to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport during the first quarter of 2021 and brought to Government for its approval in line with the public spending code. It is expected that the railway order and planning permission application will be lodged with An Bord Pleanála next year also. Construction will begin once that procedure is completed.

Ryan in the Dail yesterday.

https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2020-09-24a.88

Rulmeq · 26-09-2020 8:08am

dublinman1990 wrote: »

The Dublin Commuter Coalition will tell you different if you don't like these consultations.

https://twitter.com/DublinCommuters/status/1309502959198384128

McDowell is an unelected gob****e (and no, I don't count the Seanad, it's about as undemocratic it gets in this country), he should have gone away when he was told where to go by the electorate, instead he's railing against the most important piece of infrastructure that can be built this country.

DumbBrunette · 26-09-2020 8:48am

It's encouraging to read the entire exchange.

Ryan is clearly strongly in favour of Metrolink and expresses frustration that it has taken so long to get to this stage. He seems to understand the huge benefits it can bring, not just the old 'it's a train to the airport' s**te.

marno21 wrote: »

Ryan in the Dail yesterday.

https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2020-09-24a.88

prunudo · 26-09-2020 9:05am

Rulmeq wrote: »

McDowell is an unelected gob****e (and no, I don't count the Seanad, it's about as undemocratic it gets in this country), he should have gone away when he was told where to go by the electorate, instead he's railing against the most important piece of infrastructure that can be built this country.

Always a worthwhile reminder that when his name is mentioned regarding anti metro south news that he has a property adjoining the current green line in Ranalagh which will be effected by any possible upgrades.

Edited (thought it was Rathmines)

Sam Russell · 26-09-2020 9:42am

Rulmeq wrote: »

McDowell is an unelected gob****e (and no, I don't count the Seanad, it's about as undemocratic it gets in this country), he should have gone away when he was told where to go by the electorate, instead he's railing against the most important piece of infrastructure that can be built this country.

Actually, he was elected a TD many moons ago. So he was elected once as a TD.

He has a vested interest in that he owns an apartment backing onto Ranalagh Luas stop that would be affected by the Metro upgrade.

Eamonn Ryan cited the difference between Dublin and Copenhagan as far as Metros are concerned. Both began looking at providing a metro about 1990, we have none, and likely wont have one for another decade, while Copenhagan now have three lines.

We ended up with two tram lines that are jammed most of the time, and are not connected - they merely cross each other in O'Connell St.

We have very serious problems with the provision of infrastructure - particularly when it involves public transport. If the money spent on planning various infrastructure projects was actually spent providing it, we would have a great city.

dublinman1990 · 26-09-2020 7:22pm

Our planning system is a major source of frustration with firms wanting to build a lot of decent infrastructure in this country.

One firm who are not involved in building transport here, The Irish Wind Energy Association, who were attempting to build more wind farms in Ireland have said to the Irish Examiner very recently that our planning laws are part of a 'broken' system and were implying that the system would need to be fundamentally rebuilt from scratch. Their view was that the length of time for appeals to go through the planning system here were taking too long to get resolved. I would have a lot of sympathy for them expressing that view.

I'm sure other firms who are involved in building projects like the Metrolink & BusConnects would agree with the IWEA on that opinion.

If we had a better planning system set up here in Ireland that was able to deal with big projects like Metrolink in getting built very quickly along with Dart+ & BusConnects; we would be very happy to see that intention fulfilled with the reduced time they would take to get these projects built quicker. However all of the people who have the task of building Metrolink are still trying to get very important planning documents submitted as they were apparently talking to some posters here on Boards via their Twitter account recently.

But all of that work that was being done at that point was apparently hampering their progress in getting it submitted on time.

AngryLips · 26-09-2020 8:57pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

Eamonn Ryan cited the difference between Dublin and Copenhagan as far as Metros are concerned. Both began looking at providing a metro about 1990, we have none, and likely wont have one for another decade, while Copenhagan now have three lines.

We ended up with two tram lines that are jammed most of the time, and are not connected - they merely cross each other in O'Connell St.

Nobody disagrees that our PT doesn't compare to CPH, but there's no need for hyperbole. The Luas lines do connect ...that's what crossing each other with adjacent stops is - a connection.

Sam Russell · 26-09-2020 10:07pm

AngryLips wrote: »

Nobody disagrees that our PT doesn't compare to CPH, but there's no need for hyperbole. The Luas lines do connect ...that's what crossing each other with adjacent stops is - a connection.

You must have a different understanding of 'connect'.

Lines that cross does not make a connection, but you can walk from one stop to the other - even if it is raining. They should have made it possible to go from SSG to Heuston, or SSG to The Point.

Missed opportunity.

MJohnston · 26-09-2020 10:12pm

Interchanges are perfectly fine for transport systems the world over. I don’t see any benefits in a literal connection, especially given the frequency of the services

Zebra3 · 26-09-2020 10:41pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

You must have a different understanding of 'connect'.

Lines that cross does not make a connection, but you can walk from one stop to the other - even if it is raining. They should have made it possible to go from SSG to Heuston, or SSG to The Point.

Missed opportunity.

To the average punter on the street, it's a connection because it's a seamless transfer.

BonnieSituation · 27-09-2020 2:42am

Zebra3 wrote: »

To the average punter on the street, it's a connection because it's a seamless transfer.

It's not really though.

If you're going Northbound you get off the tram at GPO, cross the southbound OCS lane and then cross awkwardly over half of Abbey St to the Eastbound island platform or cross Abbey St to the Westbound platform.

If you're going Southbound you have to get off at Marlborough and do the same journey in reverse.

It's not seamless. It's not the most inconvenient transfer, but in a city that's devoid of logic when it comes to PT, I guess it's passably convenient.

MICKEYG · 27-09-2020 7:34am

You do the same on all metro systems in the world. The only difference is you are underground so it feels more integrated.

LXFlyer · 27-09-2020 7:57am

Sam Russell wrote: »

You must have a different understanding of 'connect'.

Lines that cross does not make a connection, but you can walk from one stop to the other - even if it is raining. They should have made it possible to go from SSG to Heuston, or SSG to The Point.

Missed opportunity.

This has been done to death before, yet you keep bringing it up again.

I explained it to you three months ago.

There was insufficient roadspace at the junction of Abbey Street and Marlborough Street to fit the track geometry for a connection from Abbey Street coming from the west to the southbound track without demolishing listed buildings.

It wasn't possible. Full stop. The documentation at the time of LUAS BXD went into some detail about it and how it would not be possible.

Having two separate lines delivers a relatively consistent product on both, and keeps the service simple.

Interchanges are the norm the world over in public transport, and you cannot expect direct services to everywhere. Let's be honest, it is a relatively simple connection to make.

Incidentally, even if it is raining, you can take the 145 bus from SSG to Heuston directly.

Can we please move on from this now?

gjim · 27-09-2020 10:27am

LXFlyer wrote: »

This has been done to death before, yet you keep bringing it up again.

I explained it to you three months ago.

There was insufficient roadspace at the junction of Abbey Street and Marlborough Street to fit the track geometry for a connection from Abbey Street coming from the west to the southbound track without demolishing listed buildings.

The big mistake was splitting the green line to use Marlborough street in the first place. This added about 70% to the cost of getting from SSG to Dominick St according to the costings done using the "public consultation" phase for the extension. It would have been far less disruptive, cheaper, more operationally efficient (shorter distances) to use the most obvious option - keep the two lines together and run them down Westmoreland St, across O'Connell bridge and have them hug the median in O'Connell street. You could hardly wish for a more perfect route between A and B in the city to connect by tram-lines - straight wide streets all the way.

Incidentally the current convoluted route wasn't even presented as an option during the consultation. The whole process stank - the NTA (and anyone sane) wanted to go with the simplest, most efficient and obvious route but the DCC threatened to block and effectively forced the NTA to pick this convoluted route. The reason for the current route was to be able to include the new bridge boondoogle - a bridge DCC traffic engineers have been lusting after for years but never could justify on a cost/benefit basis. The opportunity to raid PT capital funds to get their new toy was irresistible and of course it mean not giving up any further precious car lanes on Westmoreland st or O'Connell st. so effectively the NTA was blackmailed by threats of bogging the whole thing down in a planning quagmire (not that the NTA put up much of a fight).

With the original preferred route, it would have been fairly easy to have had a full diamond interchange on O'Connell street if desired. Certainly it was a lost opportunity to civilise Westmoreland Street with a central reservation with trees or whatever between a pair of Luas lines allowing just a single lane for cars with the rest of it's considerable width used for bus/cycle lanes and widened footpaths. Instead Westmoreland Street remains a shabby un-urban traffic dominated thoroughfare - the traffic engineers won in that regard.

LXFlyer · 27-09-2020 10:34am

gjim wrote: »

The big mistake was splitting the green line to use Marlborough street in the first place. This added about 70% to the cost of getting from SSG to Dominick St according to the costings done using the "public consultation" phase for the extension. It would have been far less disruptive, cheaper, more operationally efficient (shorter distances) to use the most obvious option - keep the two lines together and run them down Westmoreland St, across O'Connell bridge and have them hug the median in O'Connell street. You could hardly wish for a more perfect route between A and B in the city to connect by tram-lines - straight wide streets all the way.

Incidentally the current convoluted route wasn't even presented as an option during the consultation. The whole process stank - the NTA (and anyone sane) wanted to go with the simplest, most efficient and obvious route but the DCC threatened to block and effectively forced the NTA to pick this convoluted route. The reason for the current route was to be able to include the new bridge boondoogle - a bridge DCC traffic engineers have been lusting after for years but never could justify on a cost/benefit basis. The opportunity to raid PT capital funds to get their new toy was irresistible and of course it mean not giving up any further precious car lanes on Westmoreland st or O'Connell st. so effectively the NTA was blackmailed by threats of bogging the whole thing down in a planning quagmire (not that the NTA put up much of a fight).

With the original preferred route, it would have been fairly easy to have had a full diamond interchange on O'Connell street if desired. Certainly it was a lost opportunity to civilise Westmoreland Street with a central reservation with trees or whatever between a pair of Luas lines allowing just a single lane for cars with the rest of it's considerable width used for bus/cycle lanes and widened footpaths. Instead Westmoreland Street remains a shabby un-urban traffic dominated thoroughfare - the traffic engineers won in that regard.

I am no fan of the LUAS BXD route due to the negative impact it has had on cross-city bus services, which was diminished in the business case and not properly assessed.

But one reason for only one direction using O'Connell Street was to reduce the impact of the line on bus services during construction , and a second was the need for a turnback facility to allow the focus of services to be on the Parnell-Sandyford section where demand would be highest. The current route allows trams to turn around at Parnel without having drivers changing ends.

cgcsb · 27-09-2020 7:26pm

BonnieSituation wrote: »

It's not really though.

If you're going Northbound you get off the tram at GPO, cross the southbound OCS lane and then cross awkwardly over half of Abbey St to the Eastbound island platform or cross Abbey St to the Westbound platform.

If you're going Southbound you have to get off at Marlborough and do the same journey in reverse.

It's not seamless. It's not the most inconvenient transfer, but in a city that's devoid of logic when it comes to PT, I guess it's passably convenient.

This is a very handy interchange. If u want to see awkward: Chatelet Les Halls in Paris or Pasaige de Gracia in Barcelona

tallaghtfornia · 28-09-2020 11:46am

Notice over the last two week there is a Metrolink survey vehicle parked outside Fingallians GAA again - it was parked there pre the crisis but I notice it there again the last few weeks.

jd · 01-10-2020 10:58pm

From
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/plans-for-2bn-dart-expansion-lure-bombardier-to-dublin-1.4368746

Mr di Perna said that Bombardier was also weighing a bid for the proposed Metro service.

This will tie Dublin city centre with the airport, providing a service for both air travellers and commuters.

However, various governments have toyed with the idea for decades without making any progress. “We think it’s real this time, there’s momentum behind it,” Mr di Perna said.

Bombardier believes its Aventra lightweight electric train would be an ideal fit for projects that the State is now considering.

Built at the group’s works in Derby in the UK, the train is used on networks including London’s Crossrail and overground.

Are Aventra trains operating on a GOA4 rail system?

bk · 01-10-2020 11:34pm

jd wrote: »

Are Aventra trains operating on a GOA4 rail system?

I could be wrong, but I'd assume that there Aventra would be for the Dart+ project and that they would offer one of their Metro type trains (e.g. Movia family) for Metrolink.

jd · 02-10-2020 12:03am

bk wrote: »

I could be wrong, but I'd assume that there Aventra would be for the Dart+ project and that they would offer one of their Metro type trains (e.g. Movia family) for Metrolink.

Yes, I was wondering. That would make sense. The article mentioned Aventra straight after talking about a metro.

bk · 02-10-2020 3:33pm

jd wrote: »

Yes, I was wondering. That would make sense. The article mentioned Aventra straight after talking about a metro.

I'd suspect just a poorly written article. Bombardier probably told the journalist that they are putting the Aventra forward for the Dart+ project and that they also might compete in the future Metro project too (without specifying which train they'd offer) and the journalist just smashed the two together.

CatInABox · 02-10-2020 3:55pm

bk wrote: »

I'd suspect just a poorly written article. Bombardier probably told the journalist that they are putting the Aventra forward for the Dart+ project and that they also might compete in the future Metro project too (without specifying which train they'd offer) and the journalist just smashed the two together.

Yes, after that debacle with the Irish Times and the BusConnects blind person, I have zero faith in the Irish media to report anything transport related accurately.

tobsey · 02-10-2020 4:23pm

CatInABox wrote: »

Yes, after that debacle with the Irish Times and the BusConnects blind person, I have zero faith in the Irish media to report anything transport related accurately.

What was that about?

MJohnston · 02-10-2020 4:50pm

They wrote an article filled with inaccuracies about the changes BusConnects would bring to the commute of a blind man who lived on Collins Avenue. Previously he would have had to take a 14 to Connolly and then change to the Luas to get to his workplace at Spencer Dock.

They claimed his two part journey would become a "six-stage ordeal". Actually, under the BusConnects plan at the time (and maybe still now) he would have gone from a two part journey to a single trip on the N4 bus.

I presumed the journalist involved, Brian Hutton, was simply too lazy to do his own checking of what he heard from the man, and simply repeated the incorrect assertion. I requested if the IT and Brian himself could at least reach out to the man to ensure his anxiety over the route changes wouldn't continue, if they weren't going to do a correction.

Heard nothing at all.

It's rare to come across real journalism in this country anymore, and this was an example of very bad journalism with a real victim. I'll never take anything printed in the Irish Times on faith ever again.

CatInABox · 02-10-2020 5:02pm

MJohnston wrote: »

They claimed his two part journey would become a "six-stage ordeal". Actually, under the BusConnects plan at the time (and maybe still now) he would have gone from a two part journey to a single trip on the N4 bus.

Yes, it's one of the orbitals, the N2 or the N4, so that's something at least.

Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

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