The Proposed Metro is Flawed
Date: 19 March, 2005
From: Mark Gleeson - Technical Advisor, Platform 11
Issued by: Platform 11 Press Office
While Platform 11 supports the concept of a Metro system for Dublin, we believe that Iarnród Eireann's Dublin Rail Plan, which incorporates the Heuston - Spencer Dock "Interconnector" tunnel, and a DART connection to Dublin Airport to be the key infrastructural project for the Greater Dublin Region. We believe this proposal would bring much wider benefits for a lower capital cost (2,3).
We have produced our own study (1) into key specification and technical issues which are likely to severely impact upon the proposed Metro project. Based on this study we have produced a list of recommendations, all of which are simple common sense points, which have been ignored in the past. We have identified that the Metro at only 12 km in length is likely to cost approximately 5 billion Euro. Copies of this study have been sent to the Minister for Transport, Mr Martin Cullen TD, as well as to the Chief Executive of the Rail Procurement Agency, Mr Frank Allen and the Dublin Transportation Office.
We believe the people of Dublin and Ireland deserve the very best public transport system. Our investigation has revealed a proposal with little regard of the needs of those who will use it. Obvious interchange locations such as Glasnevin Junction on the Maynooth rail line are ignored. If the people of Dublin expect a world-class efficient, fully integrated, high-capacity Metro system then they are sadly misinformed. What information we discovered during our investigation points to a heavily cut-down Metro with limited capacity, poor integration and limited scope for expansion. Our investigation has also discovered numerous safety concerns many of which are linked to cost costing attempts via reducing specification.
There are many key issues concerning the Metro which remain to be addressed:
- The number and location of stations have yet to be decided
- We still don't know where the Metro will terminate (Dublin Airport or Swords?)
- Accessibility at stations, since it appears escalators have been eliminated from the current plans.
Over the last year, Platform 11 has highlighted a number of key concerns with the Dublin Metro project. We have highlighted the limited benefit and poor integration (3). We also determined that Metro would have little impact on journey time for the majority of Dublin commuters (4).
We call on the Rail Procurement Agency to address the concerns we have highlighted in our report (1), to openly discuss the Metro project, and to engage in an open debate with the people of Dublin. We should heed the lessons of the Luas project, proper integration and sufficient capacity is key. The Luas system has neither, nor will the proposed Metro unless swift action is taken.
ENDS