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OVER THE PAST several months, Fora has taken a look at some of the more notable big-ticket projects that were planned during the Celtic Tiger period – or in the aftermath of its demise.
Most recently, we detailed the story behind the intended construction of a massive shopping complex in the heart of Limerick.
A large chunk of the city centre has lain idle for years after the recession grounded plans to build a retail mecca.
However, since then the site has been taken over by the council which recently unveiled plans to develop the area.
In this installment, we’re going back to Dublin. We previously looked at the many delays to the proposed Metro North, so it seems only right that we take a look at what is meant to be its sister project: the Dart Underground.
What is it?
The Dart Underground is a proposed railway line that would run under the heart of Dublin city centre and would link all rail, Dart and Luas services in the capital.
The 7.6km line would connect the northern track to Heuston Station and from there to the Kildare rail lines.
It has been envisaged that the line will go under Spencer Dock and through the city with stops at Pearse Station, St Stephen’s Green, Christchurch and Heuston, as well as a ground-level station at Inchicore.
The intent was that this would free up trains to go through Connolly Station and would link Dublin’s main rail lines.
The projected cost of the Dart expansion project was €4 billion, €3 billion of which was dedicated to the underground project. It was expected to take about six years to build.
It was hoped that the Dart Underground would have extended the passenger capacity of Dublin’s commuter rail services to 100 million journeys yearly, from 33 million in 2010.
When was it first suggested?
The idea to build some form of underground rail line to connect the main stations in Dublin city centre has been seriously considered since the 70s.
The Dublin Rapid Rail Transportation Study, published by the CIÉ Group in 1975, recommended building a tunnel to link Connolly and Heuston stations.
What happened?
With the onset of the 80s recession, the 1975 report wasn’t acted on. However, in 2001 a transport strategy was published for the greater Dublin area which again recommended linking Connolly and Heuston.
After this, Irish Rail started seriously looking at the project. It first carried out a feasibility study between July 2002 to June 2003.
Then, from November 2006 to May 2008, it worked on a preliminary design for the project to develop the tunnel, railway system and stations.
In 2011, An Bord Pleanála granted permission for the Dart Underground, however by this stage Ireland was mired in the depths of the recession, and the project was put on hold.
What’s the latest?
When the economy started to pick back up, it looked like the Dart Underground could again be on track.
In May 2015, Irish Rail started issuing letters to 5,000 home and business owners about acquiring the land needed for the project under compulsory purchase orders.
However, the next year the project was put on ice again. Then transport minister Paschal Donohoe said that the project would not proceed “as currently designed”.
The state started looking for a “lower-cost technical solution” for the initiative.
Last year Transport Minister Shane Ross said that plans for the Dart Underground are still “alive” and added that it is “being designed and will certainly be eligible for EU funds”.
Plans for the Dart Underground were also included in the recently published National Transport Authority plan for the greater Dublin area for 2016-2035.
In October last year, the Irish Independent reported that transport officials were considering scaling down the project through various means, such as by having part of the line run overground instead.
Irish Rail has provisionally mentioned starting some form of construction work by 2020, however, as with the Metro North, the Dart Underground has been talked about for years with very little progress to show for it.
Don’t be completely surprised to see a re-hash of this article in 2027.
Written by Paul O’Donoghue and posted on Fora.ie
All of these prior plans have yielded profit for the consultants and designers only. Sure, let’s plan a scaled back version and revisit the option in 2027.
@Rathminder: or just build it!
This will never happen. Unless the planning issues are addressed at the top Ireland will be the laughing stock of western Europe when it comes to infrastructure. The monumental waste when it comes to getting I good idea through its planning stages in this country are just embarrassing. Multi nationals like Google and Amazon will have better campaigns for 5G infrastructure for the drone delivery services and self driving cars before anything like an underground system can be realized here.
The added benefit would be the intercity connectivity, Belfast to cork, Galway to wexford, kerry to sligo etc. This would be an amazing project for the country
@Sham Rogue: I agree, it would be an amazing project.
I would also add that the Dublin is in need of a metro / underground airport link to the train system. With the technological advances in underground space & tunnelling, an underground ‘hub’ station would be possible in the capital with little disruption to the surface if correctly planned. Designers can ‘future proof’ the stations to allow for further underground connections between stations if needs be.
It is quite ironic to see talented Irish Engineers, Project Managers, Miners, and labour all over the world building other countries’ high speed rail and metro systems while our own government is lacking and backtracking on ‘plans’ which get shelved after the initial proposal. As @Rathminder mentioned so far the only one benefiting from this has been consultants & designers.
@Matt Corrigan: If the designers of Luas Cross City are to believed, there isn’t enough space for a couple of metal cabinets under the city, let alone a transport hub.
@Matt Corrigan: That was the intention Matt, with St. Stephens’ Green being the Intermodal Hub for Luas, Metro North and Dart Underground, all converging at that point (Metro North and Dart Underground being, well, underground, and the Luas remaining at ground-level).
They’ve subtly improved over the last year. You can now get a train from Sallins/Naas to either Heuston or the Grand Canal Dock without involving getting the luas. The Grand Canal Dock train goes underground through the Phoenix Park Tunnel. So technically, they could link Belfast to Cork via improvements on the tunnel and then run a track to the airport so Ireland is finally linked up somewhat? I still don’t understand why there’s no rail link to the airport in 2017.
@User: If the airport was Baldonnel rather than Swords (Southside rather than North), I’m sure the underground would have been built decades ago..
@Paul Tao: It’s a pity people from the southside don’t use Dublin Airport and take an interest.
@Paul Tao: just one? They’d have a metro, a Mainline railway and a monorail, ffs. Swords may as well he Timbuktu.
@Paul Tao: That’s right Paul. The bloody northsiders are holding us all back. If we moved the north side of the city over the Liffey to the south side, we’d have mighty skyscrapers by now also.
@Paul Tao: why can’t we build another airport at baldonnel? Most other countries have multiple capital airports, why not Ireland too…
@Luke Victory: I would speculate it is not financially viable
@User: It’s a good point you make. Why cannot this track be upgraded? It is right now possible to go from Cork to belfast direct using this route.
Nothing in the article about the Japanese company who offered to build a Dublin underground for free back in 2000.
@Towger: Where is your link for source?
@Towger: the japanese plan was an offer in the recession hit 80′s if memory serves me correctly and was covered on late late show i believe
As you say they apparently offered to build at their cost for the revenue for 30 years
If it had happened by Now we would have an underground which would be generating revenue
Instead we as a nation paid a huge sum to purchase the toll bridge section of the M50 which at points of tge day is a car park as people traverse the city on roads and not underground
Foresight lacking
Hindsight is still not forcing us to look for innovative solutions
@Peter: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/moscow-company-interested-in-dublin-metro-plan-1.300379?mode=amp
@Towger: look we all know how these things work in practice. The contract is put out to tender and then “won” by a friend of the government or someone who has paid off enough high level officials. NTR reaped over €1 billion for building the West Link toll after an initial outlay of €48m. How this works out as good value for the taxpayer is beyond me. The government should fund infrastructure projects not some fairytale godmother company from abroad who are only interested in making their own fairytale of endless riches come true.
‘Talked about for 40 years’! That’s the calibre of our governments, in a nutshell.
@Paul Culligan: More like they listened to voters and nodded, and spent the money on anything but public transport. For forty years. At least we know they didn’t waste it on replacing any waterpipes. Odd how they managed to get through all that revenue without investing in public transport, isn’t it?
I laugh when people point out that you can just hop on a Luas to get from Hueston to Conolly. i frequently travel by train from Athy to Wicklow, and if I get to Heuston duromg the morning rush I get on a 145 out to Bray and wait for the train there, rather than trying to cram myself onto a Luas.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: Yeah….the 145 takes an eternity to get from Hueston to Bray tho
Head over to Copenhagen and see how the Danes do it. So efficient . We’ve copied their bridge management system, so why not copy their PT system?!
Just allow a private company fully or partially fund it and earn the revenue. The cost of 10 year money has never been lower. Interest rates probably averaged closer to 10% in the first 20 years this project was discussed. Imagine the relief it would take off house prices in the city if there was a proper means to travel to the city center. Most people are pretty happy if their commute is less than an hour.
Roll on another 40 years of nothing so..
Didn’t some developer buy a building knowing it would be needed for development during this project. Brown envelope job
@Hello there friend: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/dart-underground-could-be-derailed-by-plans-for-office-block-1.2958453
Corrupt to the core
@Hello there friend:
Rails Investment Ltd, a Maltese-registered company, has applied to Dublin City Councilto demolish a 1930s warehouse it bought last year on Sandwith Street, just off Pearse Street, and replace it with a seven-storey office block.
In a submission to the council in December, Iarnród Éireann said the site was “critical to the construction of the station” and the proposed office block would occupy “ lands necessary” for the station.
It said it was contacted last September by engineers working on behalf of the site owner, yet the planning application made no reference to Dart Underground.
With the opening Of The Phoenix park tunnel. This would be a waist of money. Just electrify the line through the tunnel from Connolly to kildare. Then run darts through it!
@oliverjumelle: Yes! This!! I honestly don’t understand why this isn’t being done
@oliverjumelle: Connolly Station is a bottleneck, and the Phoenix Park Tunnel does absolutely nothing to alleviate this. By creating two intersecting lines (Drogheda to Inchicore and Maynooth to Greystones), IR would be able to significantly improve frequency of scheduled rail services. As it stands, they can only lay on trains from Celbridge or Hazelhatch to Grand Canal Dock at peak hours with no services off-peak. That’s hardly a decent quality of service for those living along that track.
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