In the foothills of the Dublin mountains, there is a new development of elegant houses hidden away in a part of Rathfarnham, but the air feels fresher there. There’s just one obvious problem: a lack of public-transport options. There is no train, Luas or Dart service nearby. There is only a bus stop and that is a 10-minute walk away.
It could take quite a while to travel the 10km to the city centre, especially at rush hour. The lack of choice is a problem familiar to Dublin commuters, even those with services nearby. “In the downturn, there was no investment, so we are trying to make up for that now,” says Dermot O’Gara, head of public affairs at the National Transport Authority (NTA). “There are capacity, overcrowding and congestion issues.”
The National Development Plan, which was published last year, outlines how these issues are being tackled. It lists a number of plans to invest in public transport infrastructure to improve services for commuters and create a more integrated and sustainable transport system, with an eye to “sustainable mobility” and compact growth. Sustainable mobility involves moving away from “carbon-intensive” propulsion such as diesel trains to electric rail systems such as the Dart. Projects include expansion of the Luas and the Dart, a new Metro service and a revamped bus system called BusConnects. Most of those are not due to be completed before 2027 at the earliest, however, and some, such as new Luas lines, well after that.
In the meantime, small changes are being made to help today’s commuters, says O’Gara. “New and extended trams are being added to the Luas green line,” he says. From October, there will be more extended trams on the line and eight new ones will go into service next year. Almost 42 million journeys were made by tram last year when seven trams were added, boosting capacity by 11 per cent, according to the NTA.
Changes are also being made to bus services too. “There have been small improvements to a large number of routes,” says O’Gara. There are plans to buy more low-emission vehicles.
BusConnects, a programme involving the creation of 16 bus corridors and cycle tracks to and from the city centre, is just getting started. The aim is to reduce congestion and create safer cycling facilities along its 230km of routes, according to the NTA. Noel Rock, Fine Gael TD and Oireachtas transport committee member, would like to see legislation to allow for “micromobility” vehicles, such as scooters. “Every major artery will have a cycle track that could take e-scooters and bicycles, but that needs legislation.” This project is not expected to be completed before 2035, however.
Fraught
Public consultations on the first of these routes have been fraught. A revised version will be available next month and more plans will be available for public consultation in November.
Preliminary investigations have begun too on MetroLink. This rail system, which will be mostly underground, is to run from Swords past the airport, through the city centre and on to Charlemont station near Ranelagh. It will meet the Luas Green line there. “We have a lot of work to do on that including rounds of consultations,” says O’Gara. That won’t be finished before 2027. Plans to continue to Sandyford have been shelved.
The procurement process to get additional carriages for Irish Rail is under way. “Work will be incremental and improvements will be seen from 2024,” says O’Gara. The Dart expansion scheme is expected to double capacity to 52,000, though not before 2027. The electric rail service, which goes from Malahide to Greystones, will be extended north to Drogheda and west to Maynooth and Celbridge. “The advantage of electric rail systems over diesel is that they tend to be more reliable, can go at higher speeds and are safer,” says Rock. Commuters hoping to hop on a Luas from Lucan, Finglas, Castleknock and Blanchardstown will have to wait even longer, according to the NTA.
Green Party transport spokesman Patrick Costello says the balance of investment is skewed. “We need to invest at least twice as much into public transport as into road projects,” he says, adding that the opposite is happening. “Too much money is going on expanding the road system for cars.” For commuters in some estates, such as White Pines, however, there is little choice for now.