TD and Metro from 80's

[Spudulika]

I'm trying to find the information on this though apart from being in a meeting as a kid and my Father talking about it ad nauseum since. As far as I remember a FG TD from West Dublin, who served one term (I'll wiki it shortly) put forward a proposal to co-ordinate an underground and above ground service in Dublin city and county that would have cost very little and taken in areas about to be expanded into. He fought tooth and nail for it (which is where I remember it from being at a talk/meeting) and he was shafted by FG and their buddies. Apparently roads were the main thing and removing the above ground construction lobby (which remains the power) meant he was running the gauntlet of the powers that be.

[dahamsta]

My understanding was that costings put an underground way above the cost of overground, although I've always maintained that the cost should have been taken on and I stand by that in light of the mess that is the Luas. If anything it's made traffic in Dublin worse. They should have ripped the city up, cut-and-cover (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_and_cover#Cut-and-cover) style. It's only has to be done once every hundred years, and there's a perfect example an hours flight away that could be used as a model.

[OneRedArmy]

There was certainly a plan to build a spur off the Dublin-Belfast rail line to run Darts to the airport.

[Dodge]

My understanding was that costings put an underground way above the cost of overground, although I've always maintained that the cost should have been taken on and I stand by that in light of the mess that is the Luas. If anything it's made traffic in Dublin worse
As someone who travels along a LUAS line it most certainly has not made traffic worse. Its helped a great deal

[dahamsta]

It's taking up half the road and only a minor has transferred to it, how can it NOT be making traffic worse?

Don't have figures for it though and I'm sure you'll be presenting numbers to prove me wrong, so while we're waiting for that I'll add a statement: driving in Dublin is an even bigger pain in the hole since the Luas was unceremoniously thrown into the mix.

[Dodge]

Personally couldn't care about once every forthnight types having a pain in their hole. For me, and others I know, the route we drive every day is far better now thatn it was 4/5 years ago.

The whole luas line doesn't take up "half a road" either. Only a bit of the naas road is like that on the red line and harcourt street on the green line

[shantykelly]

Dublin's ground makeup is exactly the worst in the world. Whilst not entirely suitable, a project to construct an underground railway wouldn't be all that technically challenging, and would be of huge benefit to the city http://www.gsi.ie/Programmes/Quaternary+Geotechnical/Projects/Subsurface+Geology+Central+Dublin.htm. public transport in Ireland is terrible, with the sole focus being on road construction.
Oh, and the constructuion wouldn't need to be open cut. a project like this could be carried out with minimal distruption to the city. Large sewer tunnels were recently constructed in belfast, and the only real problem was the collapse at Cromac Street last November http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8348066.stm. They used one of these big yocks - http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/belfast-road-collapse-and-the-bubbles-beneath-our-feet-14557273.html?action=Popup

[Spudulika]

The plan to build an integrated urban-suburban transport network was proposed to take care of developments that we see now - my Dad was working out at JFK/Bluebell at the time and this was how I ended up hearing and then listening to the subject. It was way ahead of it's time but there was no way the road building lobby would let it go ahead. As Dahamsta rightly says, such systems have a long lifespan between major upgrades, whereas above ground roads need yearly maintainence and intercession. Plus.....in some of the areas they put roads into, developers had lands next to them, so they were paid for the road and then could profit from the residential/commercial/industrial land on either side. However it was just pure greed and short sightedness that killed off the idea, now they're talking about Metro North, and it's baffling!

But does anyone remember or know this former TD's name? I've gone through the different Dail reps from the 1970's but nobody fits the bill, or when I recognise the name it's just that I know it.

[John83]

The whole luas line doesn't take up "half a road" either. Only a bit of the naas road is like that on the red line and harcourt street on the green line
The Green line is mostly constructed on the old Harcourt Street rail line, which was an overgrown, abandoned cutting we used to play in when I was a kid.

[Dodge]

Cheers. Wouldn't have been too familiar with it pre Luas tbh.

[Macy]

The Green line is mostly constructed on the old Harcourt Street rail line, which was an overgrown, abandoned cutting we used to play in when I was a kid.
That line would nearly go all the way to Bray still, but some developer was allowed build houses on part of it!