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Progress of Heuston to Pearse Tunnel?

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  • 23-12-2008 1:48pm
    #1
    Amadeus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭


    Hi,
    It was in the news a while back that there will eventually be a continuos Dart line going from Hazelhatch to Heuston to Stephens Green to Pearse Station to Howth after the construction of the Heuston to Pearse Station Tunnell. I can’t remember the expected time frame for this to be completed and I suspect that this initial timeframe will be inaccurate anyway. AFAIK the tunnel work has already started.

    I’m just wondering is there anyone on this forum who can shed some light on when this continuos dart line is likely to come into being? (eg someone working in the NDP or on the project itself). Any update, no matter how small will be most welcome

    Thanks and have a lovely Christmas


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    #2
    Typewriter
    Registered Users Posts: 577 ✭✭✭Typewriter


    Some links...

    http://www.dublincity.ie/YourCouncil/Documents/Taking_the_Dart_underground.pdf

    http://www.irishrail.ie/projects/dart_underground.asp

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interconnector_(rail_tunnel)

    http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0226/dart.html

    http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/dublindart/

    http://www.independent.ie/national-news/budget-2009/news/dart-gets-8364900m-fleet--investment-for-430-new-carriages-1510815.html

    Not sure if that's any help.


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    #3
    GerardKeating
    Registered Users Posts: 7,638 ✭✭✭GerardKeating


    Amadeus wrote: »
    AFAIK the tunnel work has already started.

    No work has started, apart from plans, it is listed in Transport 21, but no railway order has been approved yet.

    Some work was done during the summer at Pearse Station on an unrelated project, and some minor provision was made for the eventually arrival of the underground, the media made a big deal of this and announced it as the start of contruction...


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    #4
    sdanseo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,233 ✭✭✭sdanseo


    Better map here

    http://www.transport21.ie/Maps/upload/Image/DrulinRailMapBG.jpg


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    #5
    strassenwolf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 642 ✭✭✭strassenwolf


    I doubt if anyone should be holding their breath about this project.

    Irish Rail don't seem to have figured out how they are going to use the massive capacity of the tunnel. They have spoken about running 20 trains per hour through the tunnel in each direction, but the plans which have been released so far don't seem to give any indication of how this is to be achieved, particular at the Eastern end of things.

    In addition, 20 tph is fine and dandy if there are a number of lines being served through the tunnel. Realistically, here, there's only one (Hazelhatch-Howth/Malahide), so it's very hard to see this figure being needed or achieved, even at peak times.

    It could make sense if there were plans to develop other termini, especially in the West of the city. Tallaght had been spoken of in the past as a possible terminus for a line which would use such a tunnel, but there do not appear to be any plans to do this now.

    (with the result, of course, that direct journeys between Tallaght and Central Dublin will remain for the foreseeable future at around 45-50 minutes, rather than the 20 or so minutes which might have been possible with a rapid rail connection between Tallaght and the City Centre via, perhaps, Clondalkin).

    The current plans are thus likely to see realistic use of the tunnel amounting to up to around 12 trains per hour in each direction at peak (comfortably less than half the theoretical capacity of such a tunnel).

    Under the current economic conditions, one would imagine that no government is going to commit 2 billion euro (or more) toward a project which will be seriously underutilised. Particularly as it will be seen as a "Dublin" project, "while the rest of the country is losing jobs, with their babes in their arms, etc., etc., etc."

    It's a pity that real plans did not go into the issue of how best to utilise this tunnel - for example with construction of an adequate station at Spencer Dock and construction of a branch or branches off the Hazelhatch line (e.g to Tallaght) - instead of wasting time and money on ludicrous projects like the metrowest, where the main focus seemed to be on "getting people from Tallaght to the Airport", even if it meant bringing people across empty fields to get them there.:rolleyes:

    Now that the money is gone, and commuter numbers are falling, it's not going to happen anytime soon.


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