Metro line rerouted for holy well

A FIFTH-century holy well established by St Brigid to baptise pagans will not be demolished to make way for the Metro West light-rail system.

The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) announced the route of the tram system will be altered so the holy well -- the water from which is said to be a cure for sore eyes -- is saved.

Located beside the Fonthill Road in Clondalkin, the RPA had proposed relocating it, but instead decided to slightly alter the route of the tram after the public expressed concerns.

Yesterday, a spokesman said that planning permission for Metro West would be sought next year, and it expected to have the projected opened by its 2015 deadline -- assuming planning was granted and the necessary finance was in place.

The final route of the system was announced yesterday, which will see 25.5km of track built, linking Tallaght to Dardistown in north Dublin, via Clondalkin, Liffey Valley and Blanchardstown.

It will link with the Luas Red Line and extension to Citywest, Iarnrod Eireann services on the Kildare and Maynooth/Dunboyne line and the proposed Luas extension to Lucan and Metro North.

The route makes provision for initial and future stops, with the RPA saying that future stops would be opened as the surrounding land was developed.

It starts in Tallaght East on the Belgard Road and will serve the Tallaght Institute of Technology and Tallaght village.

Potential

A track link will be provided to join Metro West with the Luas Red Line, which will allow trams to switch between the Luas and Metro West routes. From Tallaght, the route follows Belgard Road northward to a potential future stop at Colbert's Fort.

After this, the line crosses the Luas Red Line where an interchange stop, Belgard, will be provided which will allow passengers to travel into the city centre or to Citywest.

The route continues to serve Rowlagh and then Liffey Valley from a stop at Quarryvale, with a link to the proposed Lucan Luas line. It crosses the River Liffey and Liffey Valley on a new bridge before continuing to Porterstown.

The remaining stops are Ballycoolin, Abbottstown, Cappagh, Huntstown and Meakstown.

Finally, the route will link with Metro North at Dardistown. From here, passengers will be able to travel northwards to the airport and Swords, or southwards to the city centre.

Paul Melia

www.buckplanning.ie