Irish Railway Record Society

Irish Railway News  - Journal 161

LUAS EXTENSIONS

Line A1 (Belgard-Citywest)  Heads of Agreement concerning the funding and construction of the line have been signed by the RPA and a consortium of developers with property interests in west Dublin. Each member of the consortium, Brendan Hickey of Davy Hickey Properties, Pat Doherty of Harcourt Developments, and Jim Mansfield of the Citywest Hotel and Conference Centre, has committed €13m, in cash and land to fund the 4-km spur.

The consortium will be responsible for delivering the civil infrastructure, including land, trackbed, track, platforms, platform furniture and overhead line supports. The RPA will install the overhead line, power supplies systems, including sub-stations, expand the existing radio system and provide customer information displays, ticketing equipment and CCTV systems at the new stops. The RPA will also be responsible for the physical connection between the new line and the existing Red Line and for the provision of five new 40-metre trams.

Work in advance of submitting a Railway Order application to the Minister is in hand, including the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement and the public consultation process.

Line B1 (Sandyford-Brides Glen)  The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen TD, presented a signed copy of the Railway Order for Line B1 to Mr. Darragh Byrne, Secretary of the RPA, on 14 August. To allow for a possible application for a judicial review of the Minister’s decision, there is a two-month delay following the signing of the Railway Order before it comes into force.

The Exchequer financial contribution for the Sandyford to Cherrywood Extension is included in Transport 21, the Government’s 10-year investment programme announced in November 2005. However, through a funding agreement between RPA, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and a group of private developers, more than half the cost of the extension will be provided through private sector contributions, thereby significantly reducing the demand on the public purse.

The new line will extend the length of the Green Line from 9 km to 16.5 km. The extension is expected to increase the number of passengers on the Green Line from more than 10m a year at present to over 18m passengers a year when it is in operation. The journey-time from Cherrywood will be 18 minutes to Sandyford and 40 minutes to St. Stephen’s Green. There will be ten new stops on the route, serving The Gallops, Ballyogan Road, Brennanstown, Laughanstown and Cherrywood areas. There will also be a stop at Leopardstown Racecourse, which will be used on race days. Existing Park & Ride facilities will be enhanced through the inclusion of a 300-vehicle facility at Carrickmines. It is estimated that the line will be completed in 2010.

Line B2 (Brides Glen-Bray Area)  The RPA has produced three possible routes for the extension of the Green Line from Brides Glen, at the outer end of Line B1, to the Bray area:

§    Option 1: from Brides Glen the line would cross the Loughlinstown River and the M50 on new bridges and then continue along the western (inland) side of the M50 and M11 motorways to a point just south of the Wilford Interchange. It would then turn westwards, away from the motorway and pass through Old Connaught before terminating at Fassaroe;

§    Option 2: the line would follow the course of the former Harcourt Street railway, crossing the Loughlinstown River on the Brides Glen viaduct. It would cross the M11 on a new bridge before turning southwards along the eastern (seaward) side of the motorway. At the Wilford Interchange the line would cross to the western side of the M11 and would then follow the route described in Option 1;

§    Option 3: this route would also follow the course of the former Harcourt Street line. Having passed under the M11, it would continue along the former railway alignment, through Shankill, to Shanganagh? The line would then parallel the DART line to a possible interchange at Woodbrook. At Corke Abbey, south of Woodbrook Golf Course, the line would turn inland to cross the M11 at the Wilford Interchange, from where it would follow the route described in Option 1.

An option of a branch, known as Branch Option A, has also been put forward. This would diverge from the alignments of either Options 1 or 2 in the vicinity of Crinken Lane and run eastwards to terminate at the proposed Woodbrook station on the DART line.

Line BX (St Stephen’s Green-City Centre)  Detailed consideration of the five route options outlined at the start of the public consultation process (see JOURNAL 159) is on going. Consideration is also being given to a hybrid option, which emerged during the process. This would consist of a double track alignment running from St Stephen’s Green to College Green, as per original options A and D. From College Green the line would follow a single track alignment via Westmorland St, O’Connell Bridge, O’Connell St, Cathal Bruagh St, Marlborough St, a new bridge over the River Liffey, Hawkins St and College St back to College Green.

Line C1 (Connolly Station - Point Depot) Following a preliminary hearing on 22 May, the Public Inquiry into the RPA's application to the Minister for Transport for a Railway Order in respect of the proposed extension of the Luas network to The Point Depot was held between 29 May and 2 June. Mr James Connolly SC was appointed Inspector for the Inquiry. He submitted his report to the Minister on 17 July and it was published on 6 August.

The Inquiry examined the need and viability of the extension, the adequacy of the public consultation process and the Railway Order application made by the RPA. The Inquiry was satisfied that the need for the extension had been shown and that the project would be viable and that there had been adequate public consultation prior to the submission of the Railway Order application. The Inquiry was also satisfied that the formal and procedural requirements of the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001 had been met and that the Environmental Impact Statement adequately addresses the matters set out in the Act.

The Inquiry then considered all the written and oral submissions, objections and representations received by it. These related to the possible disruption to business in the International Financial Services Centre during construction work, disruption of utilities (telephone, electricity, gas), the impact of the project on local communities, the effect on traffic in the area and environmental considerations and also revisited the question of alternative routes and modes.

The Inquiry, having considered all the evidence presented to it, as well as all the submissions, objections and representations, recommended that the Railway Order be approved by the Minister. The Inquiry recommended that the Minister impose 16 conditions, nine relating to the period before the start of construction and 7 for the construction phase. These conditions include the requirement to carry out an audit of all utilities in the IFSC, ensuring uninterrupted utilities’ supply, to consult with the Garda Siochana and Dublin County Council (DCC) in relation to the road traffic system to be operated during the construction phase, to appoint a manager to liaise with businesses, to establish an ‘around the clock’ emergency call-out repair service in case of disruption to utilities or drainage systems, to obtain the approval of the Docklands Development and DCC before commencement of construction works, to conduct a study in conjunction with IÉ, Dublin Bus and the Dublin Transportation Office on the delivery of public transport services in the rest of Dublin and to ensure that the design of the project does not impede further extensions beyond the Point terminus.

STOCK

In an effort to make trams on both the Green and Red lines more easily noticed by motorists and persons with impaired vision, broad yellow bands have been applied below the windows. The work was undertaken between early July and mid-August.

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 161, published October 2006.

Copyright © 2007 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: January 09, 2007 .