ALAN
FARRELL TD Working for you in Dublin Fingal
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Metro for the North County New Metro North has been chosen as the transport option to serve the longterm needs of Swords, Dublin Airport and the surrounding communities. The announcement by the Minister for Transport, Paschal Donohoe TD, that New Metro North is to be developed will greatly benefit the North County, both in terms of increasing tourism to Dublin Fingal and promoting further investment in Swords, and throughout the constituency.
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Metro system was proposed by the previous government at a time when the project was simply unaffordable. However, in contrast with that, the New Metro North system announced by this Government will have funding allocated from the current capital plan in order to allow the development process to begin as soon as possible.
Finally, we have certainty in relation to the future of transport to serve the needs of our local community. Since I was elected to Dáil Éireann, I have met with Minister Donohoe numerous times regarding the necessity to provide a long-term, sustainable, rail-based solution which will be able to adequately cater for the increasing levels of demand which will be created as the population in Dublin Fingal continues to grow. After all, Census 2011 identified Fingal as having a growth
Questions & Answers? How much will it cost? The cost of New Metro North will be approximately €2.4 billion. This total is €1.3 billion cheaper than the original proposal. How large will the Metro carriages be? The trams will be 60 metres long. This means they will be 50% longer than the current length of Luas trams. How frequent will the service be? The frequency of the Metro service will be up to 30 trams per direction per hour allowing for a tram travelling in each direction every 2 minutes.
What is the expected capacity of the service? The New Metro North system will carry over 30 million passengers per year. How many jobs will be created? Over 3,500 jobs will be created as part of the construction phase for the New Metro North project. Are the proposed stations near essential community services? New Metro North will provide convenient access to hospitals, including the Mater Hospital and Temple Street Children’s Hospital and it will provide greater connectivity with DCU, St. Patrick’s College and Trinity College.
rate of almost four times that of Dublin City. Furthermore, I continuously stressed that a travel time of less than 35 minutes between Swords and the city centre was of the utmost importance in order to provide an adequate service for those who live and work in Swords, Dublin Airport, and the surrounding areas. New Metro North will deliver this. New Metro North will comprise of 14 stations, 6 of which will be underground.
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Furthermore, the route will utilise 2 tunnels, with a total length of 8.5km. The main tunnel will be 5.5km in length and will begin at St. Stephen’s Green and end after the Griffith Avenue stop with another tunnel passing under Dublin Airport. A 5 or 6 year period is required for the construction phase of this project, commencing in 2021. The journey time between Swords and O’Connell St. will be 31 minutes, while the travel time between the Airport and O’Connell St. will be 19 minutes.
Why is construction not starting for five years? New Metro North will require a new “Railway Procurement Order”, this planning process can take between two and four years to complete. Thereafter, the project will go to tender which will take an additional six to nine months. This project, the largest of its kind in this state, must be right from the start. It would be my view that it is better to get it right, than to plan for a flawed, unaffordable service which will not meet the demand of this constituency. When construction starts, how long will it take? Construction of the complete project is scheduled to take between five and six years, therefore New Metro North will be completed by 2026 or 2027. Why was this announcement made in the run-up to a General Election? National capital infrastructure plans generally operate on a five year rolling basis. The current capital plan expires in 2015. When we took office in 2011, the Capital Plan was reviewed and Metro was paused. We stated at the time that we would reconsider the proposal in 2015. Unlike the previous proposal, funding has been provided for the full project. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), formally the
Alan Farrell TD with Minister Paschal Donohoe following the announcement of plans for New Metro North
Railway Procurement Agency and the National Roads Authority, has been given the green light to begin the entire process. Could a future government scrap this project? As highlighted by the unprecedented collapse of our economy, no government can ever be sure of the expenditure of €2.4 billion of taxpayers’ money. However, in light of our on-going economic recovery, I am confident that all parties who may be part of a future government will row in behind this critical infrastructure for the North County.
DART Extension for Donabate, Rush & Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan I am delighted that the DART is to be extended to serve the local communities in Donate, Rush, Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan. In combination with New Metro North the extension of the DART service from Malahide to Balbriggan is of the utmost importance in terms of reducing the levels of congestion on our roads while providing real infrastructure to incentivise further investment and job creation throughout the North County. The DART extension project will be commenced within the timeframe of the current capital plan. This will allow for substantial improvements to be made in terms of the frequency of rail services to stations between Malahide and Balbriggan which will cater for the increasing number of people commuting between the North County and the city centre, particularly as the unemployment rate continues to fall. Iarnród Éireann have projected that the overall DART extension project should not take any longer than four years from beginning to end. This allows for a two year period to complete the design process and to gain statutory approval with the final two years for the construction period. As part of the project, Balbriggan station will be provided with the infrastructure necessary for it to act as a terminus and to allow trains to return to the city.
Alan Farrell TD with a DART for Balbriggan
I am pleased with this announcement by Minister Donohoe as it will undoubtedly benefit local residents in Donabate, Rush, Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan, particularly those who commute into the city centre on a daily basis. There is no question of the substitute of services for the North County. DART will be an additional service providing greater capacity and frequency for local residents.
Alan Farrell TD – Working for you in Dublin Fingal
Alan Farrell TD with An Tao iseach, Enda Kenny TD, the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan TD & the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar TD
Alan Farrell TD with the Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD Alan Farrell TD at Balbriggan Library;
Committee
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Alan Farrell TD in Oireachtas
ALAN FARRELL TD Working for you in Dublin Fingal Alan Farrell TD Dรกil ร ireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
01 6184008 alan.farrell@oir.ie /AlanFarrellTD @AlanFarrell
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Your local Fine Gael team with Alan Farrell TD: Minister James Reilly Brian Hayes MEP Cllr Anthony Lavin Cllr JP Browne