By Tim O'Brien, Regional Development Correspondent
The Government has approved the development of a £4.3
billion metro system for Dublin, one fifth of which will be under
ground. The 70km metro is being planned in addition to the
proposed Luas light-rail system, which is on schedule for
completion by the summer of 2003.
The aggregate cost of both projects is estimated at close to £5
billion.
The Government has decided to opt for a metro system
because it now accepts that Luas alone would not have the
capacity to cope with the growth of the city.
The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said the
metro would differ from Luas in that it would comprise a
permanent segregated route which did not include junctions
with any other traffic. As such, it would not be subject to traffic
lights and would not have to yield right of way at any stage of
its route. On-street light rail, as proposed in the Luas system,
can cope with just 6,500 passengers per hour. Buses and
Quality Bus Corridors can take another 5,000 passengers per
hour.
By contrast, the capacity of a system separated from other
traffic, such as the proposed metro, is 56,000 passengers per
hour, according to the Department of Public Enterprise.
Ms O'Rourke said yesterday that she expects the metro
system to take between seven and 15 years to plan and build.
The first Luas line, Line A from Tallaght to Abbey Street, is on
schedule to be operational in the winter of 2002. Public private
partnership (PPP) operators are to be chosen to operate both
the Luas and metro systems.
The circular metro route will take in Kimmage, Tallaght,
Quarryvale, Blanchardstown and Connolly and Tara Street
stations in the city centre, integrating with the DART, Arrow,
mainline rail and Luas services as well as with Dublin Bus and
Bus Éireann services.
It includes spurs to Swords via the airport, and to the DART
line at Shanganagh, near Bray, via the former Harcourt Street
line. A smaller spur will serve Citywest from Cookstown.
The former Harcourt Street line is to be reopened as Luas Line
B between St Stephen's Green and Sandyford, as planned, but
will at a later date be reclassified as metro and extended to
Shanganagh. Carriages will then have the option of travelling on
surface all the way into the city centre or of going underground
at Ranelagh.
Initial indications are that the metro will have to go
underground at Clondalkin, beneath the existing Kildare line,
and in the vicinity of the airport.
The Luas Line A from Tallaght to Abbey Street is already
under construction and will interchange with suburban and
mainline bus and rail services at Heuston station. Luas Line C
from Abbey Street to Connolly Station will provide another
interchange with mainline and suburban rail.
Total peak-hour trips in Dublin city grew by 78,000, or 45 per
cent, between 1991 and 1997. However, the bulk of this
growth was accounted for by private car journeys, which
increased by 71,100 trips during the period.
Instancing other European cities which have introduced metro
systems, Ms O'Rourke said their benefit was that they were
separate, dedicated systems which could operate
independently of other traffic and were not slowed by
junctions.
It was for this reason that the dedicated Harcourt Street line
between Ranelagh and Shan ganagh would be subsumed into
the metro system, as it was unlike other aspects of the light rail
in that it was not on-street.
Commenting on the timeframe for the plan, Ms O'Rourke said:
"We are rushing to catch up."
She announced that her Department had already appointed a
consortium of consultants to design and run a competition to
select the Luas operator. This competition is expected to be
finalised in 12 months.
Legislation to establish an independent statutory agency with
responsibility for the procurement of both PPP operators is
expected to be introduced to the Dáil early next year.
MAIN POINTS
Dublin's proposed metro is part of an overall plan for public
transport in the city which includes:
A £2.2 billion provision for light rail (LRT), new buses, new
bus routes and expanded Dart and Arrow services contained
in the National Development Plan 2000 to 2006.
An estimated £4.3 billion investment from the public/private
partnership in the proposed metro system.
An integrated public transport system allowing numerous
opportunities to make complex journeys between bus, rail,
Luas and LRT.
An integrated ticketing system which allows the passenger to
purchase a single ticket for complex journeys involving bus,
train or light rail. The system to also allow passengers to break
their journey, for example parents delivering children to school,
and resume without buying a new ticket.
The possibility of competitive services between bus, rail and
LRT
The servicing of zoned land for housing, providing new
transport routes which will allow housing to be developed at
higher density, thus helping to ease the current housing crisis
A new independent statutory agency with responsibility for
the procurement of all major railbased public transport. The
work of the Light Rail project office and planning for the metro
will be assumed into this agency.
A new Bill to provide the framework for the Government's
proposed PPPs which will involve the private sector in
designing, building, operating and financing key road, rail and
other services.
The Taoiseach Mr Ahern is to announce further details of
transport initiatives for the Dublin region next September.