Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

Boston has an excellent and complex underground system supplemented with trams and a well spread out commuter rail network. So there, that's McCarthy, the recurring herpes sore, satisfied.

Honestly he must be 200 years old. Do they keep him in a crynogenic state and then defrost him anytime a some money is being spent on rail transport?

I agree it shouldn’t hold it up but this is twaddle.

It has some of the nicest houses in the country including the gorgeous Dartmouth Square. Alongside that, Ranelagh Gardens is very pleasant. It has a range of independent coffee shops and small chains that are regularly packed- Nick’s, One Kinda Folk and Project Black- I can’t think of generic Starbucks, Costa or Neros there. It has some excellent restaraunts and eateries (Gigi’s, Host, Butchers Grill, Nightgarden, Rita’s, Kinara, name but a few ) and some very good pubs that I won’t bother naming. Even the mini chains it has like Bunsen, Brother Hubbard and 3fe are not exactly bog standard in Dublin. Added to that a nice boutique hotel and cinema, along with the obvious transit link. You’ll go there at 10am or 10pm and it will be busy and there are not very many places that can say that.

After the Luas was built it became a spot again but then got the inevitable backlash but no serious list of best Dublin neighbourhoods leaves it out.

OK, Im sorry for suggesting that Ranelagh is not the greatest place on earth, but none of the places you mentioned are going to be in any way impacted by the terminus in Charlemont. The biggest complaint is its going to lower the standard or vibe of the area.

Its not just rail he is against Bus Connects too, basically any change or addition to dublin's public transport system is a bad idea to him.... until the next one is suggested and he extols the values of all the ones he previously was against as being a reason to not go forward with any new ones.

I'm sure he's as big a rail enthusiast as McDonald, who likes to mention playing with train sets as a kid!! Obviously none of those projects were 'the right' ones, but I'm sure he's fully supportive of improving rail 🙄

Its so insufferable...

Irish Times reporting on McCarthy’s submission at the oral hearing:

Economist Colm McCarthy said Metrolink would be “colossally expensive”. The benefits of the line “look to me to be insecure”, he said. “Is accessibility of Dublin Airport a big problem? No, it isn’t,” he said. “Metro, it seems to me, is a solution in search of a problem.” (My emphasis)

The same Dublin Airport that Fingal Co Co has refused planning permission to citing insufficient capacity of the local road network. The man is a sad deeply unfunny joke who has done untold damage to this country for decades. If only there was an equivalent of perjury for planning hearings.

McDowell and O'Callaghan can **** off as well.

He's a dinosaur, who can't see beyond Metrolink being a link from the city centre to the Airport.

He only speaks to a select few, and if the media contuine to give him and his mates attention, the further they will sink as the upcoming generations don't care for him or the likes of the Irish times.

Okay folks. I'm getting drawn in again. I've been accused of being a nay sayer in the past. But I wanted this kind of infrastructure built. I always have. However I was involved to a degree 20 years ago. Getting involved does not mean posting on forums or making submissions to public consultations. I mean no disrespect in any way. I was lucky enough to get to the coalface 20 odd years ago.

Like I said in the Navan thread I have detailed knowledge of the Metro project too since it's inception. Both projects were very controversial in the mid 2000s. I was consulted for the O'Reilly report on MN circa 2005. That report recommended further investigation of a route via Glasnevin junction to connect with heavy rail. An idea put forward by a colleague and I under the banner of a campaign group back then. As a result the RPA invited me to meetings to discuss it. Rory O'Connor was the man in charge at the time. Their compromise was an interchange at Drumcondra station despite their original route having a station at the old Smurfit building closer to cross guns bridge and not considering an interchange with heavy rail. They came across like scared rabbits in the headlights and not wanting to admit they had missed an opportunity. Thankfully Metrolink included my idea of the potential at Glasnevin junction. I would also pay credit to my colleague at the time.

Now to make this post relevant. During this time I met with many politicians and it was an eye opening experience. They look for problems not solutions. They want to score points in the chamber. I expected it from the opposition but got loads from those in Government at the time. They only care about their next election. They will talk out of both sides of the mouths. Therefore I have no faith in them to deliver these big projects.

I'll leave you with this. I and a few former colleagues are responsible for the Glasnevin metro interchange, the PPT reopening and the dropping of DART underground because the PPT reopened. I wanted them all but your politicians cherry pick to score the proverbial points and then reserve the right to justify. It. You may slag of Arcadia junction and their apparent outlandish comments, but I wouldn't dispell it completely. The great people in TII and elsewhere in the process are like puppets like the RPA before them.

Are people out there who are against ML are either forgetting, afraid of or ignorant of the fact that they would have to learn an extra bit of research into how they will have to complement it with other modes of transport once it's begins operation in Dublin around the mid 2030's?

ML will just be another option to them in Dublin if they want to use it. It's not going to be forced upon them if they don't want to take it. There will also be plenty of bus routes in Dublin for them that will now act as a complement to ML. However Luas and Dart will complement it as well. It might turn out to be a great benefit to them if they want to put in the effort of getting A to B in a quick amount of time rather than relying on the other PT modes that we have now which may give them a slower & much less pleasant journey overall.

People just have to be clever in how they use Metrolink to their own advantage if they want to use it for a quick commute or for other leisure routes if they so wish. If they are any Irish people out there who are against ML. Could they give any reasons to you or to other people as to why they are against it while other Metro rail systems are practically the norm across other parts of Europe and in other countries outside of it?

Thks, interesting, presumably a Donnybrook Luas would follow the canal disrupting this traffic artery also? Is the tunnel trajectory south of Chareloment terminating close to the Ranelagh Luas station indicative of any future plan /route or does this alignment stand on its own ?

FYI here's the alignment at Charlemont. The left side is the canal towards town. You can see the Metro platforms between the two sets of stairs and the Luas station on the bottom left over the canal.

It is clearly lined up to connect with the Green Line but absolutely no reason it has to happen that way. Personally I think the fine people of Ranelagh et. al. should suffer a slow, over capacity, Green line ad infinitum, and some other areas of Dublin should benefit from future investment in a Metro.

I'm sure there are plenty of people in Ranelagh who would like to be able to hop on a Metro direct to the airport without having to schlep their luggage up to the canal first.

Agreed the NTA have learned to pick their battles and the sad truth is there are far too many friendly judges for South side nimby residence associations to choose from. The tie in needs to be a completely separate project which can be fought out in courts for years. The same applies to sandymount level crossings and sandymount cycleway