Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE NATIONAL TRANSPORT Authority has defended its decision to build a new MetroLink station at the Mater Hospital in Dublin despite a €12 million spend on a ‘station box’ structure 500 metres away for the shelved Metro North.
Locals in Dublin 7 are calling for the ‘station box’ site, built under the Mater for Metro North in 2012, to be incorporated into the revised MetroLink plan to prevent the dismantling of a local green space. A ‘station box’ is an underground station typically used for Metro lines. At the time of its construction, the new Mater Adult Hospital was under development.
Under revised MetroLink plans published last year, the Mater area will now be served with a MetroLink station located at the corner of Eccles Street and Berkeley Road adjacent to St. Joseph’s Church instead of the proposed ‘Metro North Mater’ stop, an underground concrete structure located beneath the forecourt of the Mater Adult Hospital.
Phibsborough resident Pauline Cadell is calling on the NTA to reconsider its design and use the ‘station box’ site under the Mater instead.
“We have so few green spaces in the North Inner City,” Cadell, who has started an online petition to prevent the Berkeley Road station plan, told TheJournal.ie. “We know that we need Metro, we know that. But that is a much-loved park.”
‘Stop-start approach’
Metro North, a 16.5km combined underground and surface light rail service, was due to link Dublin City centre with Swords via Dublin Airport but the plan was put on the back-burner in 2011 by-then Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar.
In the meantime, the Metro North Mater ‘station box’ site was completed by BAM Contractors Ltd. between January and July 2012. Built using concrete diaphragm walls, the overall excavation and construction costs of the structure totaled €12.9 million, the NTA confirmed to TheJournal.ie.
“Due to the location of the Mater Stop Box, it would not be possible to construct the stop box at a future date without causing significant disturbance to the operation of the Mater Adult Hospital,” a 2012 report noted.
In May 2018, the NTA announced plans to revive the metro project in the form of MetroLink.
Last month, a revised route was unveiled for the project, which will now terminate at Charlemont Luas stop on the Southside. The line is expected to open in 2027, with construction likely to take up to seven years.
According to a spokesperson for the NTA, the alignment of MetroLink has changed from Metro North which has resulted in “the angle of approach to the Mater shifting away from the previously planned station box”.
Metro North provided an interchange with Irish Rail’s Sligo-Maynooth rail services near Drumcondra. Under the MetroLink plan the interchange will now be at Cross Guns Bridge in Glasnevin.
“Given that the Phoenix Park tunnel is now in operation, MetroLink can avail of greater interchange opportunities at this station with the Newbridge-Hazelhatch line as well as the Sligo-Maynooth line,” the NTA spokesperson said.
Local Green Party councillor Ciarán Cuffe has said that this interchange between rail lines is a positive.
“I accept that the Berkeley Road stop will significantly impact, and close off, traffic…but it allows us to interchange between two rail lines. Surely that’s a good thing.”
Cuffe has said, however, that “the stop-start approach that we’ve seen on these major infrastructure projects is problematic”.
Four Masters Park, the plot at risk under MetroLink, features a large memorial cross erected in 1876 to commemorate the Franciscan friars of Donegal town who between 1632 and 1636 compiled a history of the ancient kingdom of Ireland which later became known as the Annals of the Four Masters.
Concerns expressed during initial public consultation for MetroLink included the impact on the park and the surrounding area as well as the station no longer being located under the Mater Hospital, as was originally proposed.
Sean McCabe, a candidate in the upcoming local elections, has said the lack of engagement of local communities by the NTA on the decision is a major issue.
“There’s a big difference between informing a community of what is happening and treating communities as partners in the development of public services,” McCabe has said.
“Poor consultation means that communities are in the dark about why they may lose this park when there seems to be a viable solution under the hospital.”
This breeds resentment. Meaningful participation, on the other hand, would seek to arrive at solutions that work for the project and are welcomed by the community.
The NTA spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that a “key strategy” of MetroLink is creating a fully integrated public transport system for Dublin.
The additional interchange opportunities under the Cross Guns Bridge design has been “deemed sufficiently advantageous to shift the alignment,” they added.
“This meant moving out of line with the station box originally proposed at the Mater. But we decided that benefits outweighed this cost.”
Public consultation on the revised MetroLink route continues until 21 May.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
How many ways can we feic up this country?
@Anne O’Hara: Are you going to run as a candidate in the next election Anne?
@Orla Smith: if everybody who had a grievance with how the planning in this country is handled ran as a candidate in the next election we’d have over 4 million people running.
Perhaps Anne as a voter in said elections, is allowed to just air her grievences like every disgruntled resident should rather than having to run in the election like you suggest.
Oh you were being facetious as always…
@Anne O’Hara: As many as debt will allow us to, we keep getting loans to do these things, then build them and then privatise them leaving the tax payer with the bill.
@Anne O’Hara: No matter what is done there’s just no pleasing some people. Sorrowful Jones So it’s time to shut up
@TamuMassif2019:
If you sell something you generally don’t get left with a bill…
@Orla Smith: knob head
@Tim Pot: you do, if you sell under value
@sue:
absolutely, but what recent infrastructure projects have we privatised that resulted in a bill left for the taxpayers??
@Orla Smith: Oh you’re such a tw*t, Orla.
The NTA and the department of transport, tourism and sport are among the biggest wasters of tax payers monies in this country. Joined up thinking doesn’t always have to come at a premium.
@Paul Linehan:
How would you have solved this particular conundrum then? geuinely interested.
While it looks possible to continue to build the station at drumcondra and connect the two rail lines. it would require additional works that would likely outweigh any potential saving reusing the matter station site.
@Tim Pot: the problem lies in planning and joined up thinking. it’s too late now, but the possibility of changing alignment should have been addressed when the station box was built
@sue: at the time of the construction of the matter box the phoenix park tunnel was not even being considered.
the planning was done on the basis of the best information available. the ‘box’ was built in 2011 based on metro north plans in 2008 and the phoenix park tunnel was announced in 2014.
@Tim Pot: okay, but the tunnel was already inn existence. that’s my issue. infrastructure that is existing already is not being properly considered. nor are allowances being made for upgrades. even if the box was being used right, in a couple of years it would probably need to be upgraded because they might direct other lines there. the station box should have been built in a way that allows connection from multiple directions, especially since the plan hadn’t been finalised.
Just to clarify… Is that 12 million of tax payer money wasted??
@Neil Mac:
would you have preferred they did not open the phoenix park rail line? without that we would still have our 12 million plus whatever it cost to refurbish the tunnel and track.
@Tim Pot: I think it’s great that they opened Phoenix park line, however it’s still a waste of taxpayer money because they didn’t plan properly.
@sue:
open to correction but the phoenix park tunnel was not being considered for any long term plans for dublin’s transport at the time of the metro north plans. It only came about due to squeeze on infrastructure investment cash during recession. cheap to do with limited increase in capacity.
@Neil Mac: in think you know the answer to that one already
“Lack of engagement of local communities,” that’s simply not true; there’s been numberous rounds of public consultation and the plans have been highlighted for years now.
@Shaner Mac: the plans for MetroLink were unveiled only last year and are not the same as for Metro North so no, people haven’t known about them for years.
@EillieEs: A metro line has been proposed decades ago and a specific stop near the Mater hospital has been presented from the original Metro North plan, so yes it has been known. Nimby’s need to stop playing an béal bocht the whole time.
It looks like John Delaney the failure is gone. Next up Leo Varadkar for the chop!
@Shane Murphy: Thick as treacle.
@Orla Smith: good one orla,not witty or funny as usual.
Easy come easy go
Zero accountability!
@Jim Buckley Barrett: how ?
@VKRS radio: will anyone be held accountable for wasting 12 million? the possibility of changing alignment should have been considered when the station box was built.
@sue:
to repeat, the ‘box’ was complete in 2011, the phoenix park line was announced in 2014. It was not being considered as an option before that. Plans and circumstances change. It would have been far more expensive to not build the box had they decided to use that station.
@sue: Do you think they should have built the box with no sides? That would allow for lots of change in direction!
It’s grand lads. We’ll pay for it!
Admittedly I’m drunk reading this so I skimmed but this is basically outside my front door. If they are acquiring the green area beside the church they are more than welcome to it as its closed off to the general public. If it is a part of Blessington park then it is sad because that is used by alot of people and is tiny as it is. In public terms it is a landing strip. People with dogs would have to put them in care to find the next reasonable green space. I include myself in that statement
@PΛÐÐY ЯOOПΣY: it seems to be the little green space beside the church
@EillieEs: Well then it is easy on the eye but used by absolutely nobody. Metro>church garden
@PΛÐÐY ЯOOПΣY: a horse used to graze there when I was a child and now a metro station…who’d have thought:)
@PΛÐÐY ЯOOПΣY: as another local I totally disagree with you
It’s a nonsense to say the route was redesigned to go via Cross Guns Bridge instead of Drumcondra because of better integration with mainline rail as a station already exists in Drumcondra and both rail lines that exist in Phibsborough of course also exist in Drumcondra. By making this change, they ruin the station already built at the Mater and, land and housing already acquired around in Drumcondra becomes defunct also.
@John Martyn: it would be interesting to know are the houses that were acquired through CPO for Metro North being rented at market prices and whether they’ll now be sold on the open market.
@John Martyn:
Yes but they are nearly 200m apart. not impossible but you would need to construct a platfrom on the phoenix park line and some (probably) underground connection route between the two stations. Not a whole lot of space if you check the map.
Contrast that with the cross guns site and you can see why it looks like they went with that option. Plus this area has the capacity for some new high density development nearby. Drumcondra by comparison is already built on.
There is a pretty big stadium nearby that will ensure Drumcondra station stays open!
@Tim Pot: good point Tim but still think that it very doable and many interchange stations in other cities are much further apart. I just think with Croke Park so near it’s a lost opportunity and when eventually the Dart comes out to the Maynooth line you will just be leaving drumcondra station and stopping 30 seconds later in phibsborough.
This whole Metrolink is complete manure, it will never happen.
John Delaney will sort it all out!
@Thomas heffernan: jump on a different bandwagon will you…
when planning new infrastructure, is nobody looking at the existing ones, even old ones that have not been used in years? surely it should be possible to create a transport plan that actually takes all that into consideration? I’m sure when the metro link is eventually built they will find something is missing, or needs to be changed, or doesn’t link up properly, or needs to be expanded. this patchwork process needs to stop.
@sue:
I can guess what the headline would have been in 2008′
Metro North planning a major ‘hub’ next to a disused railway line with no plans to open, whilst drumcondra station 1km away (next to croke park) gets no investment.
They made the plan with all the information that was available at the time. This was before the recession which majorly affected the investment decisions for national infrastructure.
@Tim Pot: that’s fair enough and I do understand circumstances change, but there still doesn’t seem to be any forward thinking. no future proofing of any project. I don’t understand either why the original plans didn’t want to use the tunnel?
@sue:
You do make a valid point also. but while plans generally do consider these options, the bits of those plans that get delivered are heavily influenced by the politicians in power at the time. Budgets are limited so not all projects will get delivered.
From memory the tunnel was not considered because of its diameter. meaning the trains cannot go full speed whilst in the tunnel (not sure if they can even pass each other). so while it delivers some immediate capacity relief, long term it is not going to deliver (by some margin) the same capacity and interconnectivity as say the dart underground proposal would have.
However the dart underground was 4 billion compared to the phoenix park tunnel upgrade at 12 million.
@Tim Pot: do you reckon then that we will soon come to regret using the tunnel because of capacity issues? (genuine question btw)
@sue:
In my honest opinion we should already. Because it means the dart underground is now much further away. It takes a lot of political ‘energy’ to deliver any rail projects in Ireland. Certainly with most of the parties we have in the dail.
Dart underground would treble capacity on the entire Dublin network whilst phoenix park tunnel allows you to go from Kerry to croke park. (which is useful to be fair) But its just not in the same league.
@Tim Pot: it’s a shame that everything just seems a political powerplay. unfortunately I think until this changes we will never have a first class integrated transport system
@Tim Pot: and let’s not forget that Bertie the Drumcondra man was in office when the plans for Metro North were unveiled.
Their excuse seems fair. The double interchange will give more people access to the new line. They shouldn’t have been building stations before the whole thing was signed-off and under construction. That’s the main problem. But even that is defensible because I’d imagine those actually working on it thought if they don’t start to build something they’ll never build anything. The residents next to this park don’t seem genuine. They make it sound like there’s no good reason to move the line.
During the debate on whether the luas should go over ground or be an underground metro. It was stated the geology in Dublin wasn’t suitable for an underground metro. Now it is, so has the geology in Dublin changed or has the technology changed?
@Katriona Wallace:
an overground tram has a much lower capacity and is much cheaper to build than a higher capacity underground metro.
We still cant build cycle routes because some people don’t think they will be used.
We can’t bring ireland out of car culture too quickly, it takes years of gentle nudging. Suggest you just be glad we have a luas and are planning for a metro.
Public transport to our hospitals should be a national priority without interference from local residents.
@Chris Kirk: that’s not really the issue though, as per the article
@Chris Kirk: the original plan, which cost €12 million to construct, was actually under the hospital. This is further away but yeah, blame the locals
Isn’t there an as-yet unused underground station at Dublin airport too?
@Charlie Carlisle: wouldn’t surprise me, but if there is, I’m sure we still need to build a new one because it’s too big, too small, wrong direction, wrong tracks … fill in any explanation you can think off really.
@Charlie Carlisle: no
Seriously!
Boo f’ing hoo ….
That’s not a problem Paschal Donohoe will take FULL RESPONSIBILITY and not resign.
Or wait, it might be someone else’s turn.
In fact, I’m feeling generous……put that one done to me.
I hereby take full responsibility that one lads.
Nothing to see here…… move along.
@Mark O’Driscoll: He wasn’t the minister in 2011 though
Put the station UNDER the 4-masters park. It is supposed to be a metro station after all. With a bit of forethought and care, they can reinstate anything that was disturbed during the works and (almost) everybody’s happy then. The box under the Mater will be useful for something in due course…maybe they could fit a dozen hospital beds and a few trolleys down there – that should easily recoup the €12 million of “sunk” (geddit?) costs in no time at all judging by some of the costs of staying in the Mater I’ve seen for an elderly relative recently.
an overground tram has a much lower capacity and is much cheaper to build than a higher capacity underground metro.
We still cant build cycle routes because some people don’t think they will be used.
We can’t bring ireland out of car culture too quickly, it takes years of gentle nudging. Suggest you just be glad we have a luas and are planning for a metro.
have your say