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Unread 01-10-2015, 20:45   #34
Inniskeen
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Join Date: Oct 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson View Post
Tunnel yes, bridge at Conyngham Rd no

Routing everything to Connolly would be a nightmare as you then would have 4 inbound routes (Maynooth/Kildare/Drogheda/DART) and only one outbound

The DART underground provided separation to avoid conflicts and paired off the routes
The DART Underground/DART Expansion proposals ignore the fact that the northern line is already congested and proposes a service frequency which would be challenging to achieve on a tramway let alone a double track, mixed traffic, heavy rail route. The business case also appears to assume crush loading on trains running at 3½ minute intervals. This is only possible if every train either stops at every station or follows a signal section behind a train stopping at every station. Hence journey times from stations north of Malahide will be extended, the worse affected being Drogheda and Dundalk commuters as well as Enterprise users who will face an extension of up to 30 minutes in journey time.

Further many, if not most, of existing northern line users will be forced to make at least one change to reach their destination thus further adding to journey times and creating another dis-incentive to usage.
The effect of miserably slow journey times can be seen at south eastern line stations south of Greystones where usage has declined significantly, particularly since the introduction of the half-hourly DART services to Greystones. Last Monday after the morning peak there were no more than twenty cars in the large car park at Arklow, a good indication of light usage and probably a good predictor of future usage at outer suburban stations beyond Malahide.

As for the mooted spur from Clongriffin to Dublin Airport this makes little sense in the context of congested infrastructure as in the absence of express or semi-fast services trains would not be competitive with buses running via the port tunnel and hence be likely to attract only minimal patronage.
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