If we are talking about fantasy investments, I think that if this amount of money were to be spent on local transport in Dublin, we should be considering a supplementary tax for people living in Dublin to cover it as 60% of the taxpayers will never derive any meaningful benefit from it.
By if this amount were to be spent, it could possibly be spent a lot more effectively. For example, one of the main justifications for the development of a second interconnector between the city centre stations is that the existing one cannot be used effectively due to platform constraints at Connolly. But Connolly has a huge amount of under-used space in the form of maintenance sheds and sidings. Surely, it would be possible for a fraction of the cost of DART underground to add 3 or 4 new platforms to Connolly and redevelop the storage and maintenance facilities in Docklands which nobody wants to go to as an actual station. It might require a loop across the canal but this would probably achieve most of the objectives for a fraction of the money. It would also create enough space to terminate more Northern line and Maynooth line trains at Connolly and relieve some of the pressure on the Loop line.
Personally I think that the best solution to Dublin's public transport issues is to plaster the city with trams. We need to be thinking about cheaper, simpler solutions rather than massive engineering projects that aren't affordable. In terms of the services I use, the biggest improvement for my transport needs over the last few years has been Dublin Bikes.
If I had to choose between all the railway "improvements" over the last 10 years and Dublin Bikes, I would take the latter. And that cost the city pretty much nothing.
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