Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

The Luas is a great system and I'm glad of it's implementation and extension over the years so I'm not knocking it.

But Dublin needs to move away from the Luas imo...that's the wrong phrase. At least stop seeing it as an alternative to a metro. Sure, build more Luas lines in conjunction with metro, but not instead of.

The Luas already has various pinch points, particularly College green and the back of Pearse Street Garda Station at Townsend Street. It'll get a proceed light coming from Hawkins Street but will stop at the next set of signals coming up to Trinity Luas Stop.

As a result it sits in the junction and cars coming from Fleet street with a green light or turning right from D'olier street onto Townsend street with a green light cannot progress as there's a Luas across the street.

Public transport is certainly about providing alternatives to the car. But I think Dublin is ready for a method of public transport that has no impact on traffic or other forms of transport such as busses.

It's the best of both: no impact on street level transport, and quicker, more reliable commute times underground in its own tunnel.

Arhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Make it stop

Ah ok.

I meant more the area of Northwood where the station will be.

I'd consider the Little Venice area more Santry.

One interesting aspect of this Swords to Charlemont metro line is that the planners seem to have decided to effectively 'mark' the LUAS Green Line, for whatever reason.

A lot of money was spent building the LUAS cross-city section.

I can find only one bit, on its journey between the canals (fully 4 km), where the proposed metrolink is more than 400 metres away from the LUAS. (That's the part near Broadstone, where the separation is around 500 metres).

Thus, the metrolink will be adjacent to the LUAS Green Line through its entire journey across the Canal section of Dublin.

Could some kind person on the board enlighten me as to the logic here?

To some extent, it might have been caused by the desire to connect with (and initially, to carry on through to) the existing Luas Green line, with the Dart and with the suburban Irish Rail network. It’s hard to do that without a lot of overlap with the cross city Luas line.

Arguably it’s also caused by short sighted planning. If we knew that a metro was going ahead, the route of BXD should have taken account of that to avoid duplication. We had the same problem with the stub into Connolly when the extension to the Point was built. But that’s not how we roll in Ireland. Each project takes so long to bring to fruition that there’s no point in considering the future. Los Angeles is a great example of how this could have been done. In 2016, they drew up a high level map of what a 2040 system should look like, went to voters and asked them to pay an increased tax to pay for it and they’ve been consistently executing that plan ever since.

Like everywhere in the country, there is an obsession with traffic lights. Should he free flow Junction into the airport at least and likewise with the other Junction onto the m1...

I’m not suggesting that BXD isn’t useful or that it shouldn’t be kept. But if we knew that the metro was coming and would serve the same areas, that money could have been better spent elsewhere. BXD isn’t some legacy of ancient history, it was being built while MetroNorth was being planned.

I would happily rip up the Luas cross city when the metro is completed.

Just from Charlemont to OCS.

The Metro will be way faster and have higher capacity and more frequency, so this part of the Luas will be unnecessary.

You're only losing the Dawson and Harcourt St stops. The Metro will have stops at Tara, SSG and Charlemont.

Also it blocks all the traffic and buses along the quays and around Trinity and College Green.

It sounds retrograde to remove public transport but it creates space for buses which are more important than the Luas. They carry far more people.

It'll never happen but they should consider it.

Also there's a plan to pedestrianise college green and have a plaza. It would be much nicer without a Luas going through it every few minutes.

The Luas is so slow in the city center, I'd imagine people will be switching to the Metro anyway.

It's worth considering.

It clogs up the entire city center.

Both are possible.

Remove cars and the Luas. It's just between Charlemont and OCS.

The Metro overlaps the same route.

Maybe it would be better to put 2 stops between Tara St and Charlemont.

Maybe Dawson St and then Harcourt.

Indeed, ripping up luas lines to make room for buses is a truly bizarre suggestion.

Other cities with decent PT use trams for shortish trips around their city centres and use buses to cover outer suburban areas. Except for the two central Luas sections, Dublin does it arseways - with most of its expensive tram infrastructure located far from the centre while funnelling convoys of heavy 16 tonne 4.5m tall buses through the centre of the city - creating an unpleasant and dangerous environment for pedestrians and cyclists as well as ruining some of what should be classic views of the city.

The long term plan should be to criss-cross the centre with tram lines replacing the necessity to have heavy traffic - double decker buses - clogging up the streets in the centre. And to use buses exclusively for connecting outer suburbs either with the outer core or to provide orbital routes.

It's not bizarre. The Metro covers the exact same route and is much faster, frequent, higher capacity.

If I was going from the south side to OCS, I'd change at Charlemont onto the Metro.

We're going to be reliant on buses for decades.

Maybe in 10 years, self driving buses will be a reality. It's certainly possible.

Maybe just sever the part between St Stephens Green to OCS.