Hansfield Station

CIE

Herald ("Herald or Press", remember those days?)

Off-topic: With Ongar all built up nowadays, I did wonder why there was no bus extension beyond to Dunboyne.

Victor

I'm not sure if there is much demand for travel from Ongar to Dunboyne as they are both largely residential. You can get the 39/a Ongar-Blanchardstown and the 70 to Dunboyne.

munchkin_utd

In August last year, the Herald reported that the opening of the station was being delayed because two property companies had not built an agreed access road.

Discussions have been taking place in recent months between Fingal, Iarnrod Eireann, developers Manor Park Homebuilders and the Department of Transport to resolve the situation.

Mr McGuinness described the process as "painfully slow" but now progress has been made.

It is understood funding for the access road will now be provided through the Department of Transport, with the intention that the monies will be eventually recouped.

At least the Government is taking the initiative and getting things done rather than wait for an uninterested and possibly bankrupt developer to act - which might never happen anyways leading to the taxpayer having to plump up the same cash only after years of unnessary misery for the locals.

By rights the developer end of the station access should have been provided as the first stage of their development - along with shops playgrounds and other comunity services.

Then again, in Adamstown they built the station in advance and all link roads and whatnot and still people were whingin that they built a station in the middle of nowhere with nothing near it !!
If you do something right in Ireland you still get berated. Better to let things decend into chaos first and then act I suppose!!

AlekSmart

munchkin_utd wrote: »

By rights the developer end of the station access should have been provided as the first stage of their development - along with shops playgrounds and other comunity services.

Then again, in Adamstown they built the station in advance and all link roads and whatnot and still people were whingin that they built a station in the middle of nowhere with nothing near it !!

If you do something right in Ireland you still get berated. Better to let things decend into chaos first and then act I suppose!!

I think you mean,do it like real Europeans .....?

dowlingm

Park, ride one stop, change at Clonsilla. Sure why wouldn't you?

Losty Dublin

dowlingm wrote: »

Park, ride one stop, change at Clonsilla. Sure why wouldn't you?

You have obviously not tried to park your car at Clonsilla Station, have you?:)

PseudoFamous

Losty Dublin wrote: »

You have obviously not tried to park your car at Clonsilla Station, have you?:)

Being in Toronto might prevent that, I suppose.

dowlingm

just an observation on the coming "shuttlefication" of Clonsilla-Dunboyne

TheChrisD

dowlingm wrote: »

Park, ride one stop, change at Clonsilla. Sure why wouldn't you?

Because then you have to rely on two different train timetables, just like if you're trying to go to/from M3 Parkway/Dunboyne to Drumcondra during peak times, or Tara Street/Pearse at all times?

LXFlyer

I would imagine that the shuttle will be purely an off-peak service in the evenings.

Jehuty42

Probably. Bear in mind the line is already shuttleised in the evening- accomplished by a clunky shunting movement in Clonsilla. There seems to be a train ready to meet the 19:59, 20:59 and 21:55 trains out of Pearse to Maynooth(and sees fair patronage).

So I doubt the timetable will actually change with the new platform, it will just be operated with the new trackwork saving the need for two operations of the level crossing.

The problem I have with Hansfield is that even when it is connected up, it will still be in the middle of nowhere. It's a fair walk from the nearest houses or main road. So even though it's slightly closer to me, I'll still be walking to Clonsilla to get the Pearse train. It just doesn't offer a big enough time improvement to me.

ongarboy

A few months back I did time the walk from Ongar to Hansfield station (I know it was trespassing but the barricades had been knocked down ) and was disappointed at how long it took from my door to the station (12 + minutes) whereas Clonsilla takes about 16 mins.

The station looks a lot nearer to Ongar than it actually is.
I've heard they are inserting an entrance to Clonsilla station at the western end so you won't actually have to walk all the way down to the humpback bridge which should reduce that trek by about 3 minutes at least) so I'm not sure I will be gaining much value from using Hansfield after all even though I've been waiting years for it!

I commute to Docklands so at least I will get direct services.

Victor

I imagine running a shuttle bus something like this would be useful: http://maps.google.ie/maps?saddr=Unknown+road&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&ll=53.399503,-6.425972&spn=0.025127,0.084028&sll=53.389894,-6.439683&sspn=0.006283,0.021007&geocode=FRLfLgMdCCOe_w%3BFfitLgMdcq-d_w&vpsrc=6&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=16&t=m&z=14

Stonewolf

I've recently moved to near Hansfield station and although I'd describe my train usage as "occasional" it's handy enough for work (IFSC) and visitors whereas Clonsilla is a half hours walk away.

I'm aware that the reason this station isn't open is that there isn't a proper road to it and that although there have been some developments on that this year no work is actually progressing at the moment. Does anyone know what the status of this is?

Why though is there not a temporary solution? It should be relatively cheap and quick to simply lay down a strip of concrete slabs or cheap asphalt that's good enough for pedestrians and cyclists on a short term basis. Even without that if I wanted to use it for work I don't see an issue with bringing a change of shoes and using the existing construction track (provided it's not in use by traffic). I also own a land rover and I know many people here drive similar vehicles which shouldn't have any trouble using a construction track or similar temporary surface while a proper road is built.

It strikes me that this "no access road" excuse is fairly thin when there's an expensive station going to waste within a short distance of a viable market unlike many open stations around the country.

Dravokivich

From what i heard, the companies that built the estates were meant to build the facilities around the station such as the road. They went bust, never got done.

Victor

Reliable emergency access may be an issue.

However, it is intended to open the station in the short term.

Stonewolf

Dravokivich wrote: »

From what i heard, the companies that built the estates were meant to build the facilities around the station such as the road. They went bust, never got done.

I'm aware of that part but I also understood that land had been acquired for it.

Of course, in hindsight, it should have been a condition that the road be built before the estate.

thomasj

This is the third yearly timetable that has a "Hansfield will open at a later date" note on it.

In that time we have seen nonstop services to docklands replaced by all stop services to connolly/docklands/pearse. If and when Hansfield does open in the next year they will have to change trains in clonsilla mostly. They will however be able to avail of later services.

From hearing some horror stories regarding the 39 and 39a services (buses taking upto 20 minutes to get out of ongar) people are crying out for the station to open!

ongarboy

The latest opening date mooted is Spring 2013. Leo Varadkar did say construction teams would be onsite in October to commence the road construction. I'm guessing that has yet to happen? However, I'm pretty confident that things will start very soon as all the legal/planning/ownership disputes and issues have all finally been resolved.

I'm not sure how appealing hopping on a train in Hansfield will be if you have to change 2 minutes later in Clonsilla and wait maybe 10 minutes for a connection? I see the newly extended platform at Clonsilla is pretty much ready to go to facilitate this type of shuttle/lay over type service.

Still, if you are an IFSC or Docklands worker, the service to Docklands is excellent compared to the services to Connolly - always on time (maybe 5 delays of note in the 5 years I've been using it from Clonsilla)

admiralofthefleet

Dravokivich wrote: »

From what i heard, the companies that built the estates were meant to build the facilities around the station such as the road. They went bust, never got done.

a sort of ballymun 2.0

ongarboy

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

a sort of ballymun 2.0

Not sure what the analogy with Ballymun is. The Ongar/Hansfield area is probably one of the best served in terms of infrastructure/retail/amenities/schools of any Celtic Tiger era development. The train station is the notable exception.

In this case neither the estates nor the road was built by the developer (since in receivership). Therefore, the road will be built in isolation out to the station with no development on either side of the road. There are some earlier developments (Barnwell Hansfield) some bit over but construction halted on them when they stopped selling. Some sections of that estate are occupied though.

I heard Educate Together secondary school has secured a site that was to be used for homes adjacent the new train station road to build for a 2014 opening so at least it won't be a wasteland.

TheChrisD

ongarboy wrote: »

I'm not sure how appealing hopping on a train in Hansfield will be if you have to change 2 minutes later in Clonsilla and wait maybe 10 minutes for a connection?

Especially given the 2013 draft timetable has every off-peak service forcing a change at Clonsilla.

ongarboy

I thought my eyes were playing tricks with me as I came home this evening! The site of the new access road to Hansfield train station has diggers/JCBs and various other construction gear set up since this morning. Finally, some progress so maybe a Spring 2013 opening could now be a reality!

The last official report I heard from Varadkar was that diggers would be on site from Oct so I guess another 2 month slippage is not too bad considering how many years patience we've had to endure already.

Hilly Bill

Heard last week that it will be opening sometime in January.

Infini

Bout time they got around to sorting it out.

n0brain3r

Looks like June http://www.rte.ie/news/player/2013/0109/3465785-railway-station-to-open-in-dublin-almost-three-years-after-completion/

ongarboy

Finally, a definitive date for the opening of Hansfield - June 28th.

I didn't think it would only be 2 weeks away but I've noticed activity is really buzzing up there now. The access road has been tarmac'ed and the street lighting is up - just some landscaping/footpath completion left to do. The article below in the Indo says it will provide a direct rail link for Mulhuddart..that's a bit of a stretch considering Mulhuddart is miles from this station... residents there would be better served by Clonsilla, I would've thought. Great news though for Clonee, Ongar, Little Pace and Castaheany residents!

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/railway-station-built-three-years-ago-to-open-29334495.html

dowlingm

hope there will be no ribbon cutting or other bollox by Leo. It's an embarrassment to the country that this has dragged on. Just open the gates and move on.

Polar101

Is the station actually needed for anything any more, since the train now only goes to Clonsilla? I guess it's useful, if you live in Hansfield or want to go to Dunboyne. But I think I'll just go straight to Clonsilla station instead.

LXFlyer

Peak hour services operate direct to Docklands.

Victor

Hansfield is between Clonsilla and Dunboyne and will be served by 1trains to/from M3 Parkway.

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_news.jsp?i=4857&p=116&n=237

Hansfield Station opens on Friday 28th June
21 June 2013

Hansfield Station, on the M3 Parkway to Dublin line, will open on Friday 28th June.

You can find journey times from the new station to Clonsilla, Docklands, Dublin Connolly and other stations by searching times above, or you can access our printable timetable.

The new station will be served by 45 trains daily, and offers a typical journey time of 25 minutes to/from Docklands Station at peak.