Irish Transport Union Transport Proposals

Last year, the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) has called for the multi-billion euro MetroLink and BusConnects plans to be scrapped and replaced with cheaper alternatives due to COVID-19.

In a letter to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the leaders of all the major political parties, NBRU general secretary Dermot O'Leary said planning future transport needs should be 'based on what is achievable, not on what is desired'.

DART to Dublin Airport:

The NBRU suggested a DART extension from Clongriffin to Dublin Airport, with bus rapid transit in north Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway and increased walking and cycling space in urban centres. One immediate response is, why Clongriffin, why not Swords and then Dublin Airport? Swords badly needs a rail link to the city centre, open fields (Clongriffin) do not.

Clongriffin and Bundled Lots:

Clongriffin was mooted to be the next large town built north of Dublin city., though whether by city planners or developers is unclear with over 3,000 homes, a shopping centre, a train station and other amenities planned in 2003.

Promises to Keep:

However, the economic crash of 2008 halted those plans, In September of last year, Tristan Capital and Twinlite announced plans to sell two build-to-rent apartment schemes in Clongriffin which had 650 apartments in total either built and occupied or under construction.

The price tag was €300 million-plus with foreign pension and vulture funds showing strong interest in buying the scheme.

The only people to lose from Swords to City Centre rather than Clongriffin to City Centre are developers and taxi drivers (the highly lucrative city centre to airport route).

The NTA have a current proposal for a spur DART line to Clongriffin/Clontarf but not to the airport or Swords.

This state funded rezoning only benefits developers, and does nothing to address current needs, rather than an aspirational future (the developer heaven of Ireland 2040).

Navan and Western Rail Corridors:

Mr O'Leary also said the government should look into building the Navan rail corridor, completing the western rail corridor, developing the Liffey tunnel linking Heuston and Connolly stations.

Privatisation of Bus Services by Stealth:

Unmentioned by the Bus-connects cheerleaders is the cost of what will essentially be a privatised bus service at a considerable level of taxpayers expense. In 2017, the NTA granted a British Bus Company, Go Ahead, 24 routes previously held by Dublin Bus, including 3 in the Dublin South West area.

The point is that by the time Bus Connects is finished, it will be a largely privatised bus service.

Road Widening on Navan Road:

The NBRU's largely pallative proposals fail to address how cars are to be reduced and their destructive influence eliminated from the city centre in the long - term. The National Transportation Authority proposes to eliminate local Dublin 7 routes in favours of a grand route from Hartstown/Blanchardstown down the Navan 'Regional' road (read dual carraigeway). The Navan Road will itself be conveniently widened in order to facilitate this process.

Mandated Top Speeds:

It is difficult to see how this is anything other than a road - widening process, and would produce anything other than a large dual-carraigeway funnelling traffic into Dublin City Centre. Another point are mandated top speeds for buses (and cars) into Dublin City. A large petrol station recently opened on the Old Cabra Road, further reinforcing its role as a major regional road. In other words Government rhetoric about reducing traffic into the city is rhetoric, planners granted permission with the objective of facilitating car traffic into and out of the city. In other orders, the old urban road has become a suburban motorway in planners eyes with services provided to facilitate fixed and permanent traffic.

Alternative Transport Proposals:

1. Simply increase, not decrease the number of bus routes around and down the Navan Road, buses are supposed to be alternative to cars, not to complement them.

2. Dedicate Blackhorse Avenue as a bus-only route.

3. Run a tram line down either Blackhorse Avenue or the Old Cabra Road running to Castleknock and Blanchardstown, with more bus routes. When it is asked how is this to be paid? the answer is to cancel the Bus-Connects project

4. In the medium to long-term, electrify the New Cabra Road line as a DART line with stations on the Old Cabra and New Cabra Roads. It is to be emphasised that the original DART proposal was for a station on the New Cabra Road and Blanchardstown.

https://extra.ie/2020/05/13/business/irish/union-call-busconnects-metrolink-scrapped