Luas Finglas

43m in 2016, 49m in 2019.

I use it a couple of times a week probably. I mix up my commute modes depending on my mood so not sure I’m the best example.

It's usually quiet enough north of OCS which is great you can even sit down. Most people actually dont like being sardined into trams.

Does the train wait if a Luas is just pulling up?

Someone asked about this on Twitter recently and the official answer was a very definitive no. Not just no but a ‘how could you expect it to work that way’ kind of no.

Tough one really.

Luas could argue that their frequency is so high that anyone who misses a tram has only a small amount of time to wait for the next one.

Irish Rail could argue that waiting say an extra 2 minutes when they see a tram about to pull in could cause a knock-on delay on the next Sligo train departing Connolly, which ends up affecting the Dart etc. Or that fundamentally the Luas frequency is so high that people have no real excuse for not being at the station 10 minutes earlier which would have enabled them to get their train. In general we wouldn't have any sympathy for people who turned up at the starting station 30 seconds after time-tabled departure, so why should it be any different at an intermediate stop?

TFI is the NTA - why would they bid for their own tender?

I guess their point was that Irish Rail could tender for the Operations contract. I wonder if they will, it would make a lot of sense. Having read some of the 24/07/22 RAIU report, I couldn’t think of anyone I’d hate more to win that tender than Irish Rail.

A big difference being Tallaght is 40minutes on the Luas to Abbey Street versus 12minutes from the GPO to Cabra, or only 25minutes from Cabra to Ranelagh.

The East side of Tallaght has definitely gentrified a good bit. You would say it's middle class. Maybe upper working class/lower middle class

The west side of Tallaght not as much but it's definitely improved a lot. The likes of Jobstown and Killinardan have a long way to go but they're going in the right direction.

There's loads of social programs and access programs and early intervention etc to help people. The likes of Lynn Ruane are great to have in politics as they will direct their energy to deprived communities.

One benefit of the housing crisis is that huge areas of Dublin are being gentrified at the same time. I'm think that's a good thing although it obviously prices out locals.

It would be great if the government could build public infrastructure quicker as it accelerates this process.

It will be interesting to see what will happen to Finglas once the Luas and Metrolink are built. East Finglas is already gentrified but prices will go up.

Right now west and south Finglas is still considered too deprived for most people. Most people there are decent but the headlines are terrible - it's all shootings and drugs and criminality and gangs.

But if 90% of the houses are privately owned, it could gentrify in a generation.

When you see the likes of this, you know Cabra very gentrified. This house is right next to Broombridge which was almost a no go area not too long ago.

They are selling up though so maybe it's not too great there still.

There needs to be a mix of residents. The Tennant purchase scheme should be reopened for areas where there's a greater than 60% social housing. And The same over concentration should never happen again

I agree 100%.

The more mixed, the better. We shouldn't have the likes of Foxrock and Darndale in the same city. I know rich people pay a lot to be away from poor people but we should learn to live amongst one another.

I've noticed all the halting sites in Dublin are in the most deprived areas like Darndale, Finglas, Ballyfermot, Clondalkin. I don't see why they can't be spread out more.

We are moving towards that at least. Apparently south and west Finglas is mostly privately owned ex council houses so can gentrify quickly.

Ballymun on the other hand isn't. It's 50 to 60% council so the Metrolink won't do much good there.

Jane Jacobs the American urban planner was big on mixed neighbourhoods and medium density. We are definitely moving towards that but really Dublin is very class segregated.

I agree that mixed neighbourhoods are the way to go but a few points.

Not at all halting sites are in deprived areas. Carrickmines and Sandyford have them.

Also I think it is unfair to say that rich people pay a lot to be away from poor people. They pay for a nice area with nice hoises and also one that is convenient for them. The end result is that it means higher incomes stay together but I don't believe the driver is to be away from poor people. If that was the case the old council estate in Forock would have driven the rich people out of that area

The Carrickmines halting site was by the old dump. There is a small halting site in Dundrum though but in general they are in bad areas.

I know people aren't literally paying to live away from poor people.

Mostly people pay more for good schools, low crime, good amenities and facilities.

The quality of the houses doesn't matter that much. It's the location. It's raising their kids in a good neighborhood with no bad influences etc. Houses in Stillorgan aren't particularly nice but cost a fortune.