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Transport 21 is a €34 billion infrastructure plan announced on 1 November 2005 in Dublin Castle by the Irish Minister for Transport Martin Cullen to greatly expand Ireland's transport network. It includes massive investment in the rail network, an Interconnector tunnel under the city centre connecting Heuston Station with Spencer Dock, several new Luas lines, a metro line from the centre of Dublin to Dublin Airport, expansion of the DART network, reopening of a rail link to Navan, completion of the motorway system, and better integration of all transport systems.

Rail projects previously planned

A number of railway projects were already under consideration prior to the publication of this ten year plan. These include:

Luas extensions

Stephen's Green to Luas Red Line

• Map

The original plan to join Dublin's two separate tram systems will now proceed. The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) has announced the Green Line extension (line BX) from Stephen's Green to the Luas Red line and has sought public comments on five options for the route. The options are:

• Route A (The original option and the RPA's preferrred route): Dawson St, Westmoreland St and O'Connell St (joining the Red line before the Abbey St stop)
• Route B: Stephen's Green North, Merrion Sq, Pearse Station, Trinity College, Liffey (joining the Red line after the Abbey St stop)
• Route C: (heading down South King St) George's St, Dame St, O'Connell St (joining the Red line before the Abbey St stop)
• Route D: Dawson St, Trinity, (heading down Hawkins St) Liffey (joining the Red line after the Abbey St stop)
• Route E is the same as Route A except that a one-way system will operate, with trams heading north up Dawson St and south down Kildare St.

Connolly to Point Depot

• Line C1 map 1
• Line C1 map 2
• Line C1 map 3

The route for the Red Line extension (Line C1) from Connolly to the Point Depot has already been chosen by the RPA and will have stops at George's Dock, Mayor Sq, Spencer Dock and the Point Depot.

Sandyford to Cherrywood

• Line B1 Maps

The route for the Green Line extension (Line B1) from Sandyford to Cherrywood has already been chosen by the RPA and will have the following Stops:

(Please note: Bold Text = Elevated Stations, Standard Text = Street Level Stations)

Central Pk, Glencairn, The Gallops, Leopardstown Valley, Ballyogan Wood, Racecourse (only open for racedays at Leopardstown Raceourse), Carrickmines, Brennanstown, Loughlinstown, Cherrywood, Brides Glen

The Transport 21 plan also ambitiously calls for this to continue to Bray (as did the original Harcourt Street railway line) however there have been no plans released showing the exact route or stops, and no funding has been identified for such an extension.

A number of issues have been identified with this route, some linked to the possibility of upgrading the line in the future to true Metro standards.

Such an upgrade would be impossible if the Luas line is constructed to run along existing streets. A standard (heavy) metro must be segregated from the street as it is not designed for on-street running like a tram. However since the announcement by the Railway Procurement Agency that the Metro North and West system would be a Light Metro (effectively a tram), through running between the Metro and the on-street Luas may after all be possible. However the on-street nature of the Luas line, and the number of level crossings, means that services on this line will not be able to achieve frequencies close to the 90-second frequency planned for the Metro North line. If the Luas extension were instead to follow the old Harcourt St line, avoiding the need for so many road crossings, then this higher frequency would be possible. However there are fewer people living along the route of the old Harcourt St line.

Another issue is the proposed demolition of Clonlea House which is a listed building. This proposal may potentially lead to legal action.

Spencer Dock

A new railway station, Spencer Dock east of Connolly Station in the docklands. This would connect to the MGWR railway lines from Sligo, Maynooth and Navan, via the Phoenix Park tunnel, Kildare. As such it will allow a central location for commuter services to serve the city centre of Dublin. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new station were held on March 9 2006, with the first shovelfuls of dirt turned by Minister for Transport Martin Cullen.

The scope of the Spencer Dock surface station seems to have been changed. It no longer has a direct interchange with Luas and only connects to the Midland line meaning only Sligo/Maynooth/Navan trains will be able to use it. This is far short of what Iarnród Éireann had led the public to believe would be built. - Map

DART extensions

In Iarnród Éireann's (IE) Dublin Integrated Rail Plan (DRP), the DART was supposed to go as far as Maynooth on the Sligo Line, Drogheda on the Northern Line as well as Kildare on the Cork/Limerick Line. However the DART extensions in the Transport 21 plan were somewhat curtailed relative to the DRP. Under Transport 21, while a DART extension to Maynooth on the Sligo line was included, DART service was proposed only as far as Balbriggan on the Northern Line and as far as Hazelhatch (Dublin/Kildare border) on the Cork/Limerick line. IE still wishes to extend the DART as far as Drogheda and Kildare.

Transport 21 also left out other DRP DART projects such as a new Dublin Airport link and the DART extension to the M3 north of Dunboyne on a reopened section of the Navan line (total cost in 2004 at €440m)

Interconnector

See full article: Interconnector

The Interconnector (which was in the DRP), is a tunnel, currently costed at €1.3bn, which connects the Northern DART line to Heuston Station. It will have underground stations at Spencer Dock, Pearse Station, Stephens Green and Heuston Station. There were plans to have a stop in the Liberties at the Digital Hub but this now appears to be shelved.

The Interconnector is one of the most important public transport projects in the entire Greater Dublin Area. It will fundamentally change the DART system from the coastally-focused north/south line which currently exists, to a two-line system which crosses the city.

One of these lines would run from Maynooth to Greystones via Connolly station, while the other would run from Drogheda (Balbriggan) to Kildare (Hazelhatch) via the Interconnector. The latter of the two is based on the Paris RER system and if ever required, will have a potential of operating trains up to a maximum of 12 double decker carriages which will be able to carry over 100,000 passengers an hour. The DART currently carries over 100,000 passengers a day.

Although this DART system could carry passengers in far greater numbers that the Light Metro System or Luas, the Transport 21 plan has not set a high priority on the Interconnector and the DART extension and has put these off till last (expected opening date 2015).

It has been noted that the roads to Drogheda (M1) and Kildare (N/M7) are the two busiest commuting routes into Dublin city from outside the M50, and that over 64% of Dublin traffic comes from outside Dublin (DTO 2002 report). Groups such as Platform 11 point out that the DART extensions could dramatically reduce the number of vehicles commuting in and out of Dublin.

Kildare Route Expansion

In order to allow the extra commuter trains/DART service, as well as existing commuter services and possible expansions to locations further out, a plan exists to quadruple-track the line out of Heuston Station. This line also currently hosts services from Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Kilkenny. This particular plan was due to start several years ago. The inquiry into the application for a Railway Order is under way. An objection to the project has been lodged. - Map - EIS (Zip File)

Navan Railway

This is likely not to proceed the 42 kilometres (26 miles) to Navan in County Meath in the short or medium term as the delivery date has been set as 2015. It will however run the 7.4 kilometres (4.7 miles) to Dunboyne and Pace on the N3 road by 2009.

There are grave misgivings about this in Meath as the Duboyne Park and ride site will be located immediately after the second M3 toll. As well as paying up to 2 tolls, Meath commuters seeking to use this will also have to pay their train tickets and parking charges, making the Dunboyne Park and Ride facility less than appealing to prospective users from areas such as Navan and north Meath.

The Navan railway line was previously announced in 2000 under the Dublin Transportation Office's "Platform for Change" programme, where Minister Noel Dempsey gave deadlines of 2003 for planning the line, 2006 for Phase 1 to Dunboyne and 2010 for the line to reach Navan.

At the time Minister Dempsey said the Platform for Change announcement was the "culmination of a campaign he has led for many years," and said that "this is the first time ever that details of the link, including a timescale, have been clearly laid out."

Navan rail campaigners are sceptical whether the government really intends to deliver the Navan rail link this time around as, like the last announcement 5 years ago almost exactly, it precedes a general election.

There are efforts by Meath on Track to have the 2015 Navan date brought forward, and to ensure that the Navan line becomes a reality this time around.

Indeed, to date only the 7.4 kilometres to Dunboyne has been confirmed for design.

Western Railway Corridor

The immediate section of the Western Railway Corridor which is due to be reopened is from Ennis to Athenry, allowing Limerick–Galway intercity services. A commuter service is intended for Galway to Athenry, serving Oranmore. - Map

Cork to Midleton

This project, to reopen part of the Cork–Youghal railway line, as far as Midleton, was announced some time ago. The project is currently being processed and work is likely to begin in the near future.

New railway plans

Dublin Light Metro

Map

Although a metro for Dublin had been discussed for many years, plans are now in place to go ahead with a light rail metro system similar to the Porto Metro in Portugal.

A light rail metro can offer a cheaper solution to the standard (heavy) metro systems found in cities such as New York, Paris, Madrid and Sydney. It is argued that if a cheaper system is constructed, more funding will be available for new lines elsewhere. However, a light rail system has its downsides. One negative point is where the system runs through a street. Traffic delays and collisions with road vehicles can cause major disruptions to service, something which has already been experienced on the Luas Red Line. Another limitation of a light rail metro is its limited passenger capacity relative to a heavy rail system. With Dublin's future population projected to reach 2 million in about 15 to 20 years, only time will tell if a light rail metro is the correct option.

Under the Transport 21 plan, two lines have been announced, described in detail in the Dublin Metro article.

• Metro North, running from St. Stephen's Green to Swords, via Dublin Airport
• Metro West, from the Metro North line south of Dublin Airport via Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley, and Clondalkin to join the Red Luas line at Cookstown where it will continue towards Tallaght.

New Luas lines

Citywest - Map

The RPA has announced a new spur off the Luas Red line near the Cookstown stop heading towards Citywest. Stops are planned at Fettercairn, Cheeverstown/Outer Ring Road (Park & Ride), Citywest Campus and Fortunestown.

Also a new Luas line was announced for Lucan, but to date no detailed plans have been released by the RPA. However it is believed that it will join the future Green line extension to O'Connell St at College Green and will travel down Dame St.as well as passing by Christchurch.

Roads projects

In contrast to the National Development Plan, there is less emphasis on roads in the Transport 21 plan. The completion of the intercity (i.e. from Dublin to other cities) motorway links is planned, but this was intended under the NDP anyway. Apart from that, the M50 motorway will be upgraded to three lanes each way and freer flowing interchanges. Also an "Atlantic Highway" from Donegal to Limerick and Waterford is intended, although much of it will only be upgraded two-lane or 2+1 road. Limerick to Ennis (soon to be north of that) is already dual carriageway.

Criticism

Transport 21's focus on public transport was welcomed. However, there were two common criticisms from opposition parties and lobby groups:

• Many of the projects contained in Transport 21 had already been announced, and in some cases were actually being delayed (the Navan railway above being a case in point);
• The major projects such as the Interconnector were pushed to the end of the 10-year timeframe and their credibility was therefore questionable.

References

1. IOL (March 9 2006), Cullen turns sod on new Dublin city railway station. Retrieved March 9 2006.

External links

• Platform 11 Information on Transport 21
• Department of Transport Press Release
• Iarnród Éireann Press Release

Launch Documents

• Transport 21 Summary
• Speech by An Tánaiste, Mary Harney
• Speech by Minister for Transport Martin Cullen
• Transport 21 Timetable
• Department of Transport Rest of Ireland Map
• Department of Transport Greater Dublin Plan Map
• Meath on Track campaign

• Rail transport in Ireland