DUBLIN’S metro system could be fully operational by 2015 if planning permission for the e5 billion project is granted this year.
A public hearing of An Bord Pleanála yesterday heard that the controversial underground light rail system is the biggest public infrastructural project in the history of the state.
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) — overseeing the planning of the metro — said it would create 4,000 jobs during the construction phase, and another 2,000 indirectly. "If approved, it will bring a myriad of benefits to our capital city," said James Connolly SC, for the RPA.
Separately, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey hit out at critics yesterday who suggested the project should not go ahead due to the economic downturn.
Addressing a conference in north Dublin, Mr Dempsey said opponents of the metro had made "ill-informed" and "ignorant" remarks in claiming it required future growth to justify its construction. Mr Dempsey said he would be recommending that the Government approve funding. .
"I can assure you that I’ll be recommending it go ahead if it represents good value for the taxpayer. Every analysis, internal and external, says there is a very strong economic case," said Mr Dempsey.
The minister pointed out that average car journey time between Swords and the city centre was 81 minutes, compared with around 30 minutes by the metro.
Meanwhile, Mr Connolly told the hearing it was hoped construction could begin next year, with completion of the metro by 2015. The 18-km route will run from St Stephen’s Green to Belinstown, 2km north of Swords.
"It will be a fast, reliable regular and efficient transport option for north Dublin," he said, adding that the metro would carry 35 million passengers in its first year and would be staffed by 350. Trains will generally operate from 5am-1am and run at four-minute intervals at peak period, carrying 20,000 passengers in each direction on an hourly basis.
The RPA said the metro would reduce traffic congestion, while creative a positive image of Dublin.
Mr Connolly said a comprehensive traffic management plan would have to be introduced to facilitate work on the construction of the metro. However, the RPA has predicted average peak-hour bus speeds will increase as a result of restrictions on private cars around College Green.
Several statues on O’Connell Street, including those of Daniel O’Connell and Jim Larkin, will be temporarily removed to the National Museum, while 20% of space in St Stephen’s Green will also be required for storage work which will result in the temporary removal of the Fusiliers’ Arch.
A temporary bridge will also be built over the River Liffey between Eden Quay and Burgh Quay, while 150 bus routes will be altered.
Addressing the fears of residents, Mr Connolly said the RPA was satisfied that the tunnel (at a general depth of 20 metres) will be sufficiently deep that its construction should not adversely affect any buildings directly overhead. However, he said the RPA had introduced a fast-track protection scheme for property owners along the route providing compensation of up to e30,000.
Mr Connolly said it was not releasing any estimate about its projected cost for commercial reasons.
The hearing is expected to last around eight weeks.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label metro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label metro. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Consultants are paid €38m for Metro that may be shelved
More than €38m has been spent on outside consultants to advise on Dublin's Metro project, which could now fall victim to government cutbacks in the worsening economic conditions.
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) spent almost €20m on Metro-related consultancy services in 2007 and a further €9m was spent between January and the end of September 2008 at a time when the government has been seeking to reduce spending across all state agencies.
Now the opposition has expressed fresh concerns that the government may be planning to "mothball" the project, which has not yet been finalised.
Labour party deputy leader and spokeswoman on finance, Joan Burton TD, said she could "not find a word" about the proposed Metro project in the Government's recently launched framework for "sustainable economic renewal", which outlines a range of investment priorities for transport.
"I think it is a disaster for the Greater Dublin region if the project does not go ahead," she told the Sunday Tribune. "I think it means that they may be mothballing it... or changing the format of the plans."
Tom Coffey of the Dublin City Business Association said he believed the State sector has "squandered money on consultants and produced very little for it.
"You couldn't actually build the Metro with the plans based on the €38m spent on consultants," he said. "The issue confronting this country is that the state sector is hiding behind more ministers, more meetings, and more consultants. And there are not enough results for the citizens out on the street."
However, a spokesman for the RPA said it "is satisfied it has achieved value for money in the spend to date" on both the Metro North and the Metro West projects.
For example, he said the Metro North spend included for the production "of a considerable body of work" such as a "detailed feasibility study", an outline business case for the project and 250 railway order plans.
"All expenditure is competitively tendered and contracts awarded on a most economically advantageous basis," he said. "The Metro North project is at an advanced stage in terms of both planning and procurement," he said. "Metro West is also proceeding very well but is at an earlier stage of development."
Asked how much the Metro was expected to cost, the spokesman said the agency is precluded from disclosing overall costs of projects "still in procurement".
"While Metro North is being delivered as a public-private partnership, certain advance works will be funded by the exchequer, including some service diversion works and property acquisition," he said.
"In addition to the spend on consultants, RPA has spent approximately €3.5m on Metro North on comprehensive geotechnical investigations, building condition surveys, utility mapping surveys and other surveys to support the reference design and EIS."
"Having selected an emerging preferred route and submitted an Outline Business Case, Metro West is now preparing for the submission of an application for a Railway Order. It is expected that this application will be made in late 2009," the spokesman said.
According to internal RPA figures obtained by the Sunday Tribune, the €38m spend on consultancy for the Metro forms part of a total of €74m worth of 'professional fees' paid out to external consultants by the RPA since 2002 for projects ranging from the Metro and the Luas to the introduction of integrated ticketing.
Some €19m in 2007 and €8.7m in 2008 was spent on the Metro North project, which is at a more advanced stage than the proposed Metro West rail link. The figure for 2008 also includes around €1m spent on advance works for the proposed Metro North line.
The RPA confirmed that it has also spent more than €17m to date on the long-awaited introduction of integrated ticketing, initially in the Dublin area – and that €4.5m of that total has been paid to consultants since 2002.
IBM has been contracted to oversee this project and the plan is for a 'soft launch' towards the end of the year, according to the agency.
Separately, the RPA has spent €3.4m on legal fees since 2002, the figures also reveal.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) spent almost €20m on Metro-related consultancy services in 2007 and a further €9m was spent between January and the end of September 2008 at a time when the government has been seeking to reduce spending across all state agencies.
Now the opposition has expressed fresh concerns that the government may be planning to "mothball" the project, which has not yet been finalised.
Labour party deputy leader and spokeswoman on finance, Joan Burton TD, said she could "not find a word" about the proposed Metro project in the Government's recently launched framework for "sustainable economic renewal", which outlines a range of investment priorities for transport.
"I think it is a disaster for the Greater Dublin region if the project does not go ahead," she told the Sunday Tribune. "I think it means that they may be mothballing it... or changing the format of the plans."
Tom Coffey of the Dublin City Business Association said he believed the State sector has "squandered money on consultants and produced very little for it.
"You couldn't actually build the Metro with the plans based on the €38m spent on consultants," he said. "The issue confronting this country is that the state sector is hiding behind more ministers, more meetings, and more consultants. And there are not enough results for the citizens out on the street."
However, a spokesman for the RPA said it "is satisfied it has achieved value for money in the spend to date" on both the Metro North and the Metro West projects.
For example, he said the Metro North spend included for the production "of a considerable body of work" such as a "detailed feasibility study", an outline business case for the project and 250 railway order plans.
"All expenditure is competitively tendered and contracts awarded on a most economically advantageous basis," he said. "The Metro North project is at an advanced stage in terms of both planning and procurement," he said. "Metro West is also proceeding very well but is at an earlier stage of development."
Asked how much the Metro was expected to cost, the spokesman said the agency is precluded from disclosing overall costs of projects "still in procurement".
"While Metro North is being delivered as a public-private partnership, certain advance works will be funded by the exchequer, including some service diversion works and property acquisition," he said.
"In addition to the spend on consultants, RPA has spent approximately €3.5m on Metro North on comprehensive geotechnical investigations, building condition surveys, utility mapping surveys and other surveys to support the reference design and EIS."
"Having selected an emerging preferred route and submitted an Outline Business Case, Metro West is now preparing for the submission of an application for a Railway Order. It is expected that this application will be made in late 2009," the spokesman said.
According to internal RPA figures obtained by the Sunday Tribune, the €38m spend on consultancy for the Metro forms part of a total of €74m worth of 'professional fees' paid out to external consultants by the RPA since 2002 for projects ranging from the Metro and the Luas to the introduction of integrated ticketing.
Some €19m in 2007 and €8.7m in 2008 was spent on the Metro North project, which is at a more advanced stage than the proposed Metro West rail link. The figure for 2008 also includes around €1m spent on advance works for the proposed Metro North line.
The RPA confirmed that it has also spent more than €17m to date on the long-awaited introduction of integrated ticketing, initially in the Dublin area – and that €4.5m of that total has been paid to consultants since 2002.
IBM has been contracted to oversee this project and the plan is for a 'soft launch' towards the end of the year, according to the agency.
Separately, the RPA has spent €3.4m on legal fees since 2002, the figures also reveal.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 29 September 2008
O'Connell monument must be moved for Metro work
THE O'CONNELL monument, which survived the devastation of O'Connell Street during the 1916 Rising and the Civil War, will have to be taken down from its pivotal position to facilitate a huge excavation for one of the underground stops on Metro North.
Other statuary scheduled for temporary removal include the William Smith O'Brien monument on O'Connell Street, the Thomas Moore statue on College Street, and the statues of Lord Ardilaun and Robert Emmet and O'Donovan Rossa memorial in St Stephen's Green.
The Fusiliers' Arch at the northwest corner of the green would have to be removed for the construction of a terminal stop at this location. Railings and trees would also have to be removed as some 20 per cent of the green becomes a building site.
So would the African Rose bowl, erected as recently as 2006, as well as "foot rails, perimeter railings, perimeter granite footpath, granite bollards and metal bollards and Victorian landscaping, including the Pulham rock", according to the the Railway Procurement Agency's Environmental Impact Statement.
St Stephen's Green itself is a national monument. "Detailed requirements and mitigation measures [in relation to the green] have been agreed with the Office of Public Works and the Department of the Environment", it says.
Mitigation measures for the green, which is owned and managed by the OPW, include the replacement of felled trees from the Victorian period with semi-mature trees and "the re-instatement of the existing pond, monuments, walls and railings and Fusilier's Arch".The green is protected by an 1877 Act of Parliament, that would have to be amended to permit part of it to be destroyed by the metro project.
No "method statement" showing how the O'Connell Monument, the Fusiliers' Arch or any other monuments are to be dismantled is included in the lengthy, three-volume statement. But Dublin City Council will be seeking such a statement from the agency.
In 2005, the council spent €300,000 on cleaning and restoring the monument and other statuary in O'Connell Street.
The monument, designed by noted Irish sculptor John Henry Foley, is a tripartite structure in granite and bronze, erected by public subscription in 1882.
Apart from the statue, it has a drum depicting his triumphs and four winged figures at its base. Dismantling it all would be the first of the preliminary works for the O'Connell Bridge underground stop. Construction would involve digging out a deep box on O'Connell Street and another on Westmoreland Street, linked by a tunnel beneath the River Liffey.
"Construction of all elements of the O'Connell Bridge stop will take four years to complete, which is the longest single task in the overall construction phase", the statement says. A 30-metre length of the river would be "decked over" to provide a working area.
Construction of a temporary bridge from Eden Quay to Burgh Quay to cater for some of the traffic diverted from O'Connell Street would result in the "temporary removal of part of the quay wall [a recorded monument] on both sides of the river," it says.
A total of 14 buildings, mainly houses, would have to be demolished along the 18km route between Belinstown, north of Swords, and St Stephen's Green. The most notable landmark is St Vincent's Centre for the Deaf on Drumcondra Road, facing the top of Clonliffe Road.
According to the agency, its demolition is required "to create a plaza area for passengers accessing the stop from Drumcondra Road". It is also needed to provide a works site for a cut-and-cover excavation for the stop, that would link up with the adjoining Maynooth rail line.
Demolition of the four-storey building and its chapel was also chosen because it would avoid diverting traffic and utilities on Drumcondra Road - the main route between the city centre and Dublin airport - if it had been encroached on to dig out the huge station box.
Other buildings scheduled for demolition are six houses on nearby St Alphonsus Avenue, two on North Circular Road, three in Leo Street, Phibsboro, as well as Westfield House on Ballymun Road and another house at Albert College Lawn, adjoining DCU.
All the property owners have been informed, it says. "Compensation will be made to those whose properties will be demolished. Sensitive design and reinstating current land uses where possible will mitigate the impact of these permanent land-takes".
However, in some cases where the demolition of buildings was required for the Sandyford and Tallaght Luas lines, sites remain derelict four years after these lines opened. Old Dundrum Railway Station, a protected structure, is now a fire-damaged, roofless shell.
The Metro North construction programme would result in "some negative socio-economic impacts", particularly in areas of retail, commercial and office-based employment, such as Westmoreland Street and O'Connell Street as well as in Ballymun, it concedes.
The level of disruption is not specifically quantified, although it would be much more severe and last longer than during construction of the two Luas lines through Abbey Street or Harcourt Street. The statement does say that footways of at least three metres would be maintained.
As a result of road closures, bus routes would be diverted and bus stops relocated. "In particular, over 150 bus routes in the city centre will be altered due to the closure of roads that are heavily used by buses, such as Westmoreland Street," the statement says.
• Copies of the full Environmental Impact Statement may be inspected at the offices of the Railway Procurement Agency in Parkgate Business Centre, Parkgate Street, at Dublin City Council's civic offices at Wood Quay, or at the offices of An Bord Pleanála at 64, Marlborough Street.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Other statuary scheduled for temporary removal include the William Smith O'Brien monument on O'Connell Street, the Thomas Moore statue on College Street, and the statues of Lord Ardilaun and Robert Emmet and O'Donovan Rossa memorial in St Stephen's Green.
The Fusiliers' Arch at the northwest corner of the green would have to be removed for the construction of a terminal stop at this location. Railings and trees would also have to be removed as some 20 per cent of the green becomes a building site.
So would the African Rose bowl, erected as recently as 2006, as well as "foot rails, perimeter railings, perimeter granite footpath, granite bollards and metal bollards and Victorian landscaping, including the Pulham rock", according to the the Railway Procurement Agency's Environmental Impact Statement.
St Stephen's Green itself is a national monument. "Detailed requirements and mitigation measures [in relation to the green] have been agreed with the Office of Public Works and the Department of the Environment", it says.
Mitigation measures for the green, which is owned and managed by the OPW, include the replacement of felled trees from the Victorian period with semi-mature trees and "the re-instatement of the existing pond, monuments, walls and railings and Fusilier's Arch".The green is protected by an 1877 Act of Parliament, that would have to be amended to permit part of it to be destroyed by the metro project.
No "method statement" showing how the O'Connell Monument, the Fusiliers' Arch or any other monuments are to be dismantled is included in the lengthy, three-volume statement. But Dublin City Council will be seeking such a statement from the agency.
In 2005, the council spent €300,000 on cleaning and restoring the monument and other statuary in O'Connell Street.
The monument, designed by noted Irish sculptor John Henry Foley, is a tripartite structure in granite and bronze, erected by public subscription in 1882.
Apart from the statue, it has a drum depicting his triumphs and four winged figures at its base. Dismantling it all would be the first of the preliminary works for the O'Connell Bridge underground stop. Construction would involve digging out a deep box on O'Connell Street and another on Westmoreland Street, linked by a tunnel beneath the River Liffey.
"Construction of all elements of the O'Connell Bridge stop will take four years to complete, which is the longest single task in the overall construction phase", the statement says. A 30-metre length of the river would be "decked over" to provide a working area.
Construction of a temporary bridge from Eden Quay to Burgh Quay to cater for some of the traffic diverted from O'Connell Street would result in the "temporary removal of part of the quay wall [a recorded monument] on both sides of the river," it says.
A total of 14 buildings, mainly houses, would have to be demolished along the 18km route between Belinstown, north of Swords, and St Stephen's Green. The most notable landmark is St Vincent's Centre for the Deaf on Drumcondra Road, facing the top of Clonliffe Road.
According to the agency, its demolition is required "to create a plaza area for passengers accessing the stop from Drumcondra Road". It is also needed to provide a works site for a cut-and-cover excavation for the stop, that would link up with the adjoining Maynooth rail line.
Demolition of the four-storey building and its chapel was also chosen because it would avoid diverting traffic and utilities on Drumcondra Road - the main route between the city centre and Dublin airport - if it had been encroached on to dig out the huge station box.
Other buildings scheduled for demolition are six houses on nearby St Alphonsus Avenue, two on North Circular Road, three in Leo Street, Phibsboro, as well as Westfield House on Ballymun Road and another house at Albert College Lawn, adjoining DCU.
All the property owners have been informed, it says. "Compensation will be made to those whose properties will be demolished. Sensitive design and reinstating current land uses where possible will mitigate the impact of these permanent land-takes".
However, in some cases where the demolition of buildings was required for the Sandyford and Tallaght Luas lines, sites remain derelict four years after these lines opened. Old Dundrum Railway Station, a protected structure, is now a fire-damaged, roofless shell.
The Metro North construction programme would result in "some negative socio-economic impacts", particularly in areas of retail, commercial and office-based employment, such as Westmoreland Street and O'Connell Street as well as in Ballymun, it concedes.
The level of disruption is not specifically quantified, although it would be much more severe and last longer than during construction of the two Luas lines through Abbey Street or Harcourt Street. The statement does say that footways of at least three metres would be maintained.
As a result of road closures, bus routes would be diverted and bus stops relocated. "In particular, over 150 bus routes in the city centre will be altered due to the closure of roads that are heavily used by buses, such as Westmoreland Street," the statement says.
• Copies of the full Environmental Impact Statement may be inspected at the offices of the Railway Procurement Agency in Parkgate Business Centre, Parkgate Street, at Dublin City Council's civic offices at Wood Quay, or at the offices of An Bord Pleanála at 64, Marlborough Street.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 18 February 2008
Metro stations get the green light in fast-track decision
Work on the Metro from Dublin city centre to the airport is to start, even though a builder has not been picked.
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has received Cabinet approval for the necessary Exchequer funding to be used to fast-track construction of stations at the new Mater Hospital and at Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport.
The RPA will now go ahead and build the station boxes at the Mater and Dublin Airport.
If they waited for the successful bidder to build these stations, it would cause significant disruption at both the Mater and the airport, as construction on the new hospital and new terminal would be already underway. By giving the green light to the RPA now to get construction underway, disruption will be minimised at both locations.
The Irish Independent has learned that the RPA is to invite the four international consortia that have pre-qualified to tender for the Metro North project to engage in a technical workshop in advance of inviting them to formally bid for the project.
It is understood that the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) will have to delay lodging its Railway Order Application to An Bord Pleanála by up to three months, because the design for Metro North is not sufficiently detailed for the purposes of a planning application.
The RPA had planned to lodge the application to the Board early this year under new legislation which allows for the 'fast-tracking of strategic infrastructure projects, but it could be the summer before the design is complete. This could result in a delay in Metro coming on-stream. Construction work was due to be completed by 2012, but the newapaper has learned from informed sources that it is likely to be 2013 before work is finished.
However, Minister Dempsey secured Government approval for the RPA to begin enabling works on the construction of the station sites at the new Mater Hospital and Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport. The Government has now agreed the financing structure of the project, so that the RPA can proceed with the bidding process.
The Metro will be the largest infrastructure project currently under way in Europe and the Minister said he was pushing to get it delivered as quickly as possible - adding that the Metro was vital as a cost-effective public transport alternative to get people out of their cars. "We can't let cars continue to pour onto our streets. It's unsustainable, it's causing traffic gridlock - costing the economy millions and people precious time" - he added.
The proposed route for Metro North would serve areas where the population is expected to double in the next 20 years.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has received Cabinet approval for the necessary Exchequer funding to be used to fast-track construction of stations at the new Mater Hospital and at Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport.
The RPA will now go ahead and build the station boxes at the Mater and Dublin Airport.
If they waited for the successful bidder to build these stations, it would cause significant disruption at both the Mater and the airport, as construction on the new hospital and new terminal would be already underway. By giving the green light to the RPA now to get construction underway, disruption will be minimised at both locations.
The Irish Independent has learned that the RPA is to invite the four international consortia that have pre-qualified to tender for the Metro North project to engage in a technical workshop in advance of inviting them to formally bid for the project.
It is understood that the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) will have to delay lodging its Railway Order Application to An Bord Pleanála by up to three months, because the design for Metro North is not sufficiently detailed for the purposes of a planning application.
The RPA had planned to lodge the application to the Board early this year under new legislation which allows for the 'fast-tracking of strategic infrastructure projects, but it could be the summer before the design is complete. This could result in a delay in Metro coming on-stream. Construction work was due to be completed by 2012, but the newapaper has learned from informed sources that it is likely to be 2013 before work is finished.
However, Minister Dempsey secured Government approval for the RPA to begin enabling works on the construction of the station sites at the new Mater Hospital and Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport. The Government has now agreed the financing structure of the project, so that the RPA can proceed with the bidding process.
The Metro will be the largest infrastructure project currently under way in Europe and the Minister said he was pushing to get it delivered as quickly as possible - adding that the Metro was vital as a cost-effective public transport alternative to get people out of their cars. "We can't let cars continue to pour onto our streets. It's unsustainable, it's causing traffic gridlock - costing the economy millions and people precious time" - he added.
The proposed route for Metro North would serve areas where the population is expected to double in the next 20 years.
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 10 February 2008
RPA defends capacity of proposed metro trams
Specifications for Dublin's Metro North to be released later this month are to concentrate on 90-metre trams as opposed to the higher capacity heavy rail carriages, the Railway Procurement Agency has confirmed. Tim O'Brien reports.
The confirmation comes amid mounting concern over capacity problems on the existing Luas lines as well as fears that Metro North could suffer similar peak-hour capacity problems within a decade of opening.
The Irish Times has learned the RPA was advised by some of the bidders for the Metro North contract that even if it opts for the narrower 2.4 metre tram system, it should build the tunnel wide enough to later convert to 2.8 metre carriages.
The RPA has also been told that comparable capital cities to Dublin, including Prague, Hamburg, Vienna, Berlin, Lisbon, Munich and Madrid all utilise the higher capacity, wider-bodied carriages in their undergrounds.
Munich, which was the subject of a Department of Transport visit in 2005, uses a "low capacity metro" at 2.8 metres wide, and is capable of carrying in excess of 30,000 people per hour in each direction , some 50 per cent more than the 20,000 capacity of the proposed Dublin underground. Dublin's Dart which can be up to 170 metres long has capacity for 36,000 people per hour per direction. The capacity issue comes as RPA planners face criticism over passengers being left on the platform during the morning rush because trams are full. A Dublin City Business Association spokesman, Tom Coffey, said "to be credible the underground has to have a capacity of about 35,000 people per hour in each direction.
"We can't have a metro which is going to reach capacity six years after it opens. There is no going back to widen a tunnel after it is built and this infrastructure should be designed to last 100 years, as it did in London and elsewhere," he maintained.
The issue also comes as a two-day conference on infrastructure heard details of a Dublin Institute of Technology Futures Academy report which predicted population on the island would rise to seven million people by 2020, with about 1.5 million extra people moving into the Dublin Belfast corridor.
A number of commentators including the head of the National Roads Authority Fred Barry said the population increase - similar in size to the existing population of Dublin - would require another large-scale increase in public transport. Mr Barry said the increase would result in demand for much more rail transport as part of "a successor to Transport 21, a Transport 22, if you like".
However, speaking at the conference the chief executive of the RPA, Frank Allen, said he was "absolutely confident" that the capacity of 20,000 people per hour in each direction was sufficient for Metro North.
He remarked that just "isolated parts" of the London and Paris metros were operating above that capacity and it would be very hard to find other examples in cities in Europe. He said he was "very, very confident" of the capacity of the 90-metre carriages operating at a two minute frequency during peak times.
Mr Allen said the population forecast in the Fingal County Development plan was more pertinent than the all-island forecast. Metro North was, he said, "fully integrated with population projections" and "Fingal is absolutely confident that the capacity is more than is required".
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The confirmation comes amid mounting concern over capacity problems on the existing Luas lines as well as fears that Metro North could suffer similar peak-hour capacity problems within a decade of opening.
The Irish Times has learned the RPA was advised by some of the bidders for the Metro North contract that even if it opts for the narrower 2.4 metre tram system, it should build the tunnel wide enough to later convert to 2.8 metre carriages.
The RPA has also been told that comparable capital cities to Dublin, including Prague, Hamburg, Vienna, Berlin, Lisbon, Munich and Madrid all utilise the higher capacity, wider-bodied carriages in their undergrounds.
Munich, which was the subject of a Department of Transport visit in 2005, uses a "low capacity metro" at 2.8 metres wide, and is capable of carrying in excess of 30,000 people per hour in each direction , some 50 per cent more than the 20,000 capacity of the proposed Dublin underground. Dublin's Dart which can be up to 170 metres long has capacity for 36,000 people per hour per direction. The capacity issue comes as RPA planners face criticism over passengers being left on the platform during the morning rush because trams are full. A Dublin City Business Association spokesman, Tom Coffey, said "to be credible the underground has to have a capacity of about 35,000 people per hour in each direction.
"We can't have a metro which is going to reach capacity six years after it opens. There is no going back to widen a tunnel after it is built and this infrastructure should be designed to last 100 years, as it did in London and elsewhere," he maintained.
The issue also comes as a two-day conference on infrastructure heard details of a Dublin Institute of Technology Futures Academy report which predicted population on the island would rise to seven million people by 2020, with about 1.5 million extra people moving into the Dublin Belfast corridor.
A number of commentators including the head of the National Roads Authority Fred Barry said the population increase - similar in size to the existing population of Dublin - would require another large-scale increase in public transport. Mr Barry said the increase would result in demand for much more rail transport as part of "a successor to Transport 21, a Transport 22, if you like".
However, speaking at the conference the chief executive of the RPA, Frank Allen, said he was "absolutely confident" that the capacity of 20,000 people per hour in each direction was sufficient for Metro North.
He remarked that just "isolated parts" of the London and Paris metros were operating above that capacity and it would be very hard to find other examples in cities in Europe. He said he was "very, very confident" of the capacity of the 90-metre carriages operating at a two minute frequency during peak times.
Mr Allen said the population forecast in the Fingal County Development plan was more pertinent than the all-island forecast. Metro North was, he said, "fully integrated with population projections" and "Fingal is absolutely confident that the capacity is more than is required".
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 17 September 2007
Shortlist drawn for €5bn Dublin Metro system
A SHORTLIST of international consortia has been drawn up to design, build and operate the proposed €5bn Metro from Dublin city centre to the airport.
The list of bidders, selected by the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA), includes some of the leading operators of Metro systems abroad.
It includes Veolia, which already operates the Luas.
Shortlisted consortia has until November 2 to compete for one infrastructure provider, one to supply the Metro carriages and one to operate the system.
It is intended that the Railway Order application process will commence in early 2008.
The pre-application consultation process with an An Bord Pleanala has commenced and the public consultation process is ongoing.
However, it is expected that the Metro will not be operational until 2016.
As well as Metro North, the RPA is planning the Metro West, a 25km line linking Tallaght with Ballymun and a number of Luas lines, serving Citywest, Docklands and Cherrywood/Shanganagh.
Irish Independent
The list of bidders, selected by the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA), includes some of the leading operators of Metro systems abroad.
It includes Veolia, which already operates the Luas.
Shortlisted consortia has until November 2 to compete for one infrastructure provider, one to supply the Metro carriages and one to operate the system.
It is intended that the Railway Order application process will commence in early 2008.
The pre-application consultation process with an An Bord Pleanala has commenced and the public consultation process is ongoing.
However, it is expected that the Metro will not be operational until 2016.
As well as Metro North, the RPA is planning the Metro West, a 25km line linking Tallaght with Ballymun and a number of Luas lines, serving Citywest, Docklands and Cherrywood/Shanganagh.
Irish Independent
Monday, 13 August 2007
Agencies rubbish reported €5bn cost of Metro
THE Department of Transport and the Railway Procurement Agency have rubbished claims that Dublin's Metro North rail system will cost over €5bn.
However, neither agency would say how much the project was likely to cost, citing "commercial sensitivity" and saying it would give companies an unfair advantage when bidding to build the 17km light-rail line.
Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act to a newspaper suggest that officials put the cost of completing the line from the city centre to Lissenhall at over €4.5bn at 2004 prices.
Although all figures in the documents were blanked out, the Irish Times said it could "discern" that the projected cost was €4.58bn - which would probably rise to over €5bn.
But the Department of Transport refused to comment on the claims, saying that not until a bidder was chosen to build the line would the price be revealed.
The project would be built under a public private partnership (PPP), where the private sector would meet some of the cost and the State the rest of it.
"The Department of Transport has noted media speculation today on the potential cost of the Dublin North metro," a statement said. "In line with international best practice in the area of PPP projects, no estimates on the potential cost of this project have been made available by the department pending completion of the procurement process in the interests of extracting the best deal possible for the exchequer."
The RPA, which is tasked with delivering Metro North, said the figures were not in line with its cost projections. Metro North is designed to carry 34 million passengers a year.
"Way back in time, when we submitted the outline business case for cabinet approval, we didn't release the figures on the basis of cabinet confidentiality," a spokesman said. "The number I've seen (in the newspaper) doesn't ring any bells. The figure will not be released to avoid giving bidders a clear indication of what's expected."
If correct, the €5bn price tag will make Metro North - due for completion in 2013 - the most expensive infrastructure project in the history of the State.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
However, neither agency would say how much the project was likely to cost, citing "commercial sensitivity" and saying it would give companies an unfair advantage when bidding to build the 17km light-rail line.
Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act to a newspaper suggest that officials put the cost of completing the line from the city centre to Lissenhall at over €4.5bn at 2004 prices.
Although all figures in the documents were blanked out, the Irish Times said it could "discern" that the projected cost was €4.58bn - which would probably rise to over €5bn.
But the Department of Transport refused to comment on the claims, saying that not until a bidder was chosen to build the line would the price be revealed.
The project would be built under a public private partnership (PPP), where the private sector would meet some of the cost and the State the rest of it.
"The Department of Transport has noted media speculation today on the potential cost of the Dublin North metro," a statement said. "In line with international best practice in the area of PPP projects, no estimates on the potential cost of this project have been made available by the department pending completion of the procurement process in the interests of extracting the best deal possible for the exchequer."
The RPA, which is tasked with delivering Metro North, said the figures were not in line with its cost projections. Metro North is designed to carry 34 million passengers a year.
"Way back in time, when we submitted the outline business case for cabinet approval, we didn't release the figures on the basis of cabinet confidentiality," a spokesman said. "The number I've seen (in the newspaper) doesn't ring any bells. The figure will not be released to avoid giving bidders a clear indication of what's expected."
If correct, the €5bn price tag will make Metro North - due for completion in 2013 - the most expensive infrastructure project in the history of the State.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Winner and loser on Metro
LIFFEY Valley Shopping Centre is to win and Lucan to lose when the route of Metro West is announced today.
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) is expected to announce this afternoon that the capital's latest rail project will run from Tallaght via Clondalkin before linking up with Metro North near Ballymun.
It is believed that the RPA has chosen a route which starts in Tallaght. It will serve Tallaght village, Clondalkin town centre, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Blanchardstown town centre and Abbotstown, before linking up with Metro North south of Dublin airport. It will run for 28km and is expected to be complete by 2014.
Irish Independent
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) is expected to announce this afternoon that the capital's latest rail project will run from Tallaght via Clondalkin before linking up with Metro North near Ballymun.
It is believed that the RPA has chosen a route which starts in Tallaght. It will serve Tallaght village, Clondalkin town centre, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Blanchardstown town centre and Abbotstown, before linking up with Metro North south of Dublin airport. It will run for 28km and is expected to be complete by 2014.
Irish Independent
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