Traffic chaos could be on its way back to Dublin with the building of the proposed 18km-long Metro North railway, but its project manager claims the multi-billion-euro plan will cause minimal disruption to those living around – and above– the construction. The main contract for the stations and the drilling of the tunnel will be awarded towards the end of 2011 with most of the heavy works beginning in 2012. The target date for completion is 2016. This will be followed by a period of trial runs with passengers anticipated by early 2017.
Showing posts with label metro north. Show all posts
Showing posts with label metro north. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Metro Safe as Key road and rail projects axed
FORTY major road projects and key rail and Luas projects have been scrapped because there is no money to build them.
Nine new motorway rest areas planned for the M7 (Limerick), M8 (Cork), M9 (Waterford), M3 (Cavan) and N11 (Wexford) have also been mothballed by the Government, an Irish Independent investigation has found. The National Roads Authority (NRA) has run out of money to build the 40 roads, which include bypasses and dual carriageways.
It has been "directed" by the Government not to build the remaining rest areas along motorways, sources revealed.
The axed projects will be confirmed in a government mid-term review of the National Development Plan (NDP), which is expected to be completed within weeks.
The investigation also found:
The Government has almost halved funding for infrastructure between now and 2013, from €39.6bn to €22.9bn.
The NRA will begin just three projects next year, and all are in partnership with the private sector, with monies to be paid back over 30 years.
A series of projects under the NDP also face the axe, including several of the capital's Luas links.
The only projects considered "safe" under the NDP are Metro North, the Atlantic Corridor Road project linking Letterkenny to Waterford, and the underground DART.
Nine new motorway rest areas planned for the M7 (Limerick), M8 (Cork), M9 (Waterford), M3 (Cavan) and N11 (Wexford) have also been mothballed by the Government, an Irish Independent investigation has found. The National Roads Authority (NRA) has run out of money to build the 40 roads, which include bypasses and dual carriageways.
It has been "directed" by the Government not to build the remaining rest areas along motorways, sources revealed.
The axed projects will be confirmed in a government mid-term review of the National Development Plan (NDP), which is expected to be completed within weeks.
The investigation also found:
The Government has almost halved funding for infrastructure between now and 2013, from €39.6bn to €22.9bn.
The NRA will begin just three projects next year, and all are in partnership with the private sector, with monies to be paid back over 30 years.
A series of projects under the NDP also face the axe, including several of the capital's Luas links.
The only projects considered "safe" under the NDP are Metro North, the Atlantic Corridor Road project linking Letterkenny to Waterford, and the underground DART.
Monday, May 17, 2010
€500m loan for Metro project approved
THE DUBLIN metro project was given a significant boost yesterday when the European Investment Bank announced it had approved a €500 million loan in principle. The bank’s vice president with responsibility for Ireland, Plutarchos Sakellaris, said yesterday that the project represented a significant contribution to sustainable urban transport for Dublin. It will be a public-private partnership (PPP) project with a provisional completion date of 2016. “It will be the backbone for a future integrated public transport network in the Irish capital,” said Mr Sakellaris. Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey welcomed the decision and said it was an important signal of confidence in a priority public transport project for Dublin. “Metro North is now well on track for delivery in 2016,” he said.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Metro North hearings put back to March so public can view changes
AN BORD Pleanála hearings into Metro North, the proposed underground rail link between St Stephen’s Green and Swords, have been suspended, at least until March.
The suspension is to allow the public and interested parties to review changes to three aspects of the project’s design. The changes cover the Mater hospital, Ballymun and Seatown stops.
The suspension is to allow the public and interested parties to review changes to three aspects of the project’s design. The changes cover the Mater hospital, Ballymun and Seatown stops.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Metro rail delay as board seeks new details
AN BORD Pleanála is now unlikely to make a decision on the Dublin Metro North project until early next year following its request for a raft of further information on the project from its promoters, the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA).
An RPA spokesman has conceded that the board’s request will result in a delay in determining its Railway Order application, but he said the agency would work hard to meet the October 1st deadline for submitting the new information.
An RPA spokesman has conceded that the board’s request will result in a delay in determining its Railway Order application, but he said the agency would work hard to meet the October 1st deadline for submitting the new information.
Friday, July 3, 2009
RPA selects two bidders for Metro North project
TWO GROUPS backed by a series of multinationals are set to bid for the right to build and operate a new rail network valued at up to €5 billion.
The State agency charged with developing the Republic’s rail networks announced yesterday that it has chosen two bidders for the Metro North project, the underground rail line which will link Dublin’s city centre with its airport and northern suburb of Swords.
The State agency charged with developing the Republic’s rail networks announced yesterday that it has chosen two bidders for the Metro North project, the underground rail line which will link Dublin’s city centre with its airport and northern suburb of Swords.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Metro North timetable derailed
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) recently wrote to the four groups that have tendered for the multibillion-euro infrastructure project to inform them that An Bord Pleanála would not be in a position to give a decision on the railway order application until September 4th.
This is some six months behind the original estimate and means that the deadline for “best and final offers” from the shortlisted tenderers has been pushed back from December this year to February 2010.
This is some six months behind the original estimate and means that the deadline for “best and final offers” from the shortlisted tenderers has been pushed back from December this year to February 2010.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Metro North project questioned - report
THE CONSTRUCTION of Dublin’s controversial Metro North rail system will not guarantee maximum accessibility to Dublin airport.
Moreover, it will not ensure the airport’s future as a vital travel hub, a new planning report argues.
A Spatial Vision for Dublin was published yesterday at the Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club, by members of the Dublin City Business Association, which commissioned the report, and author Hendrik van der Kamp.
Although Metro North has been touted by the Government as central to Dublin’s economic development, speculation intensified at the beginning of the year that the project would be shelved due to an estimated cost of some €5 billion.
Moreover, it will not ensure the airport’s future as a vital travel hub, a new planning report argues.
A Spatial Vision for Dublin was published yesterday at the Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club, by members of the Dublin City Business Association, which commissioned the report, and author Hendrik van der Kamp.
Although Metro North has been touted by the Government as central to Dublin’s economic development, speculation intensified at the beginning of the year that the project would be shelved due to an estimated cost of some €5 billion.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Metro key part of Dublin's economic future - Ryan
MINISTER FOR Communications Eamon Ryan has strongly defended plans to build Metro North, describing the proposed €5 billion project as a key element of Dublin’s economic future.
Mr Ryan told the annual conference of the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) it would be “blind stupidity” not to recognise that the development of a metro and the proposed Dart underground link between Heuston and Docklands were essential for Dublin to compete in the world economy.
“Failing to make that investment, losing our bottle, will leave us with a car-based transport system. So it has to go ahead, even in these difficult times.”
Equally, failing to build an electricity grid to cater for a huge increase in wind energy along the western seaboard would render Ireland insecure. He said it wasn’t technically feasible to put this underground, so “by and large, it will be overhead power lines”.
IPI president Andrew Hind said reform of the “almost crazily fragmented and confused” local government system in Ireland was needed to make the country more competitive.
“We need a planning system that itself is efficient, effective and sustainable and, in turn, will deliver an economy that is more competitive and more sustainable in the future.”
He told the depleted ranks of planners attending the conference – down by 50 per cent since the peak of the boom – that Ireland needed a planning system that stopped bad development but also placed fewer impediments in the way of good development.
Many people saw the current system as “nothing but unnecessary red tape” because it sometimes put at least as many obstacles in the way of development that should be encouraged as it placed in the path of the development that should be refused.
“There will be significant benefits both to users of the planning system and to the rebuilding of our economy if we can remove impediments to sustainable development without compromising our ability to resist development that is inappropriate or unsustainable,” he said.
Referring to the fact that 88 of the 114 local authorities exercise planning functions, Mr Hind said this was “too many” for a population of just over four million. As a result, users of the system found it “almost crazily fragmented and confused”.
“What signal is this giving to those who want to invest in the development of our country,” he asked, saying this needed to be tackled “if we are to present a coherent front” to investors creating sustainable employment and economic growth.
He suggested that the process of making local area plans should be improved.
If this was done, “then it might be possible to allow planning applications that were consistent with them to be approved without the risk of appeal by a third party”.
In order to achieve this, there would need to be an independent assessment by An Bord Pleanála of objections made by the public as well as elements of any plan changed by elected members against official advice, on land rezoning, for example.
Referring to the fact that processing of even an average planning application is subsidised by €1,500, Mr Hind said the cost should be met by the charges paid by applicants, “thereby releasing taxpayers’ money for purposes that are more urgent”.
Dealing with transport, Mr Hind said “we seem to think we get better value for money from lavish road schemes directed almost exclusively at the private car” than by investing in low-cost projects to improve accessibility for those walking or cycling to work.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Ryan told the annual conference of the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) it would be “blind stupidity” not to recognise that the development of a metro and the proposed Dart underground link between Heuston and Docklands were essential for Dublin to compete in the world economy.
“Failing to make that investment, losing our bottle, will leave us with a car-based transport system. So it has to go ahead, even in these difficult times.”
Equally, failing to build an electricity grid to cater for a huge increase in wind energy along the western seaboard would render Ireland insecure. He said it wasn’t technically feasible to put this underground, so “by and large, it will be overhead power lines”.
IPI president Andrew Hind said reform of the “almost crazily fragmented and confused” local government system in Ireland was needed to make the country more competitive.
“We need a planning system that itself is efficient, effective and sustainable and, in turn, will deliver an economy that is more competitive and more sustainable in the future.”
He told the depleted ranks of planners attending the conference – down by 50 per cent since the peak of the boom – that Ireland needed a planning system that stopped bad development but also placed fewer impediments in the way of good development.
Many people saw the current system as “nothing but unnecessary red tape” because it sometimes put at least as many obstacles in the way of development that should be encouraged as it placed in the path of the development that should be refused.
“There will be significant benefits both to users of the planning system and to the rebuilding of our economy if we can remove impediments to sustainable development without compromising our ability to resist development that is inappropriate or unsustainable,” he said.
Referring to the fact that 88 of the 114 local authorities exercise planning functions, Mr Hind said this was “too many” for a population of just over four million. As a result, users of the system found it “almost crazily fragmented and confused”.
“What signal is this giving to those who want to invest in the development of our country,” he asked, saying this needed to be tackled “if we are to present a coherent front” to investors creating sustainable employment and economic growth.
He suggested that the process of making local area plans should be improved.
If this was done, “then it might be possible to allow planning applications that were consistent with them to be approved without the risk of appeal by a third party”.
In order to achieve this, there would need to be an independent assessment by An Bord Pleanála of objections made by the public as well as elements of any plan changed by elected members against official advice, on land rezoning, for example.
Referring to the fact that processing of even an average planning application is subsidised by €1,500, Mr Hind said the cost should be met by the charges paid by applicants, “thereby releasing taxpayers’ money for purposes that are more urgent”.
Dealing with transport, Mr Hind said “we seem to think we get better value for money from lavish road schemes directed almost exclusively at the private car” than by investing in low-cost projects to improve accessibility for those walking or cycling to work.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
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