Extending the Luas
The extension from Sandyford to Cherrywood is underway, but Metro North and the link between the Red & Green lines is still a long way off.
The route for the city centre link up of the Red and Green Luas Lines (Line BX) has been decided but construction is still a long way away. In fact, the Metro North line which will run from the city centre to Swords via Dublin airport will be completed before construction of the BX line begins in 2013.
Construction for the two projects are interlinked and have to be jointly considered in order to minimize disruption to traffic and local business in the city centre.
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) will lodge planning applications or ‘railway orders’ for both projects this summer. If all goes according to plan, construction on Metro North will start in 2009 and finish in 2013. After this date, the focus of construction work in the city centre will shift to linking the Red and Green lines but could take up to 3 years to complete.
Once complete, the Line BX will take 8 minutes and link the main shopping areas around St Stephen’s Green and O’Connell St. The route will run from St Stephens Green to College Green, where it will change onto a single track. From here, the line will run in a loop from Westmoreland St, down O’Connell St, onto Cathal Brugha St, south along Marlborough St, cross the river Liffey on a new bridge, along Hawkins St and College St, to join up with the double track section at College Green.
One criticism of the route is that it will conflict with the recent upgrading of O’Connell St. It will also involved changes to traffic flow including no right turn from Dawson St to Nassau St and making Kildare St two way.
Metro north will connect Swords, Lissenhall and the airport with Dublin city centre. It will be 17 kms long and go underground for the majority of the route. It will connect Dublin Airport with the city centre in less than 20 minutes, run trams every 4 minutes during peak times and have over 2,000 Park & Ride Spaces.
Underground stops will be located at St. Stephen's Green, O'Connell Bridge, Parnell Square, Mater, Drumcondra, Griffith Avenue, Dublin City University, Ballymun and Dublin Airport. Overground stops will be located at Santry Demesne, Metropark, Fosterstown, Swords, Seatown and Lissenhall.
Construction is underway on the Green Line extension from Sandyford to Cherrywood and Bride's Glen. The line extension will serve 11 new stops and take 19 minutes to travel the additional 7.5 kms. The estimated completion date is the end of 2010.
Construction works of this scale inevitably cause some disruption to motorists. Anyone who gets the LUAS at the Sandyford Industrial Estate will be aware of how difficult it can be to find parking. The Sandyford Park & Ride closed in early January to facilitate the Luas extension with the loss of 100 spaces. The Stillorgan Stop is the alternative for Park & Ride, with 200 spaces available in Car Park 1 and 150 spaces in Car Park 2.
Another option is Pay and Display on street parking, costing a day rate of either €3 or €5 depending on how far you are from the tram. The rate covers any amount of time from 8am to 7pm. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council introduced this rate to better manage the traffic in the area but at the same time encourage people to use public transport. Once the Sandyford to Cherrywood extension is completed, 350 additional P&R spaces will be available. Many of these will be at the proposed Carrickmines Stop. Luas stops will be located at Central Park, Glencarin, The Gallops, Lepoardstown Valley, Ballyogan Wood, Lepoardstown Race Course, Carrickmines, Brennanstown, Laughanstown, Cherrywood and Brides Glen.
Workers in the IFSC in the Docklands will know about the recent construction work for Line C1 which will connect the Red Line from Connolly to the Point Depot. To facilitate the works, access to Mayor St is one way from Amiens St and from Spencer Dock Bridge toward the Point until the end of February. Access to the car park in Commons St is still available from the Quays side though. The opening date for this line is 2010.
