Linking commuter lines further out

[drumcondra commuter]

I took the 630am train from Cork Kent to Dublin Heuston yesterday morning and was pleased with the service but something struck me as we crawled past the upgraded Celbridge / Hazelhatch stations:

what if there was a tram or light rail going from Maynooth station to this station? Not only would it link the Sligo line to Heuston but, extended, it could link the N4 with the N7 allowing people to think more flexibly about combined train and car use. Of course, any case could be made to link two individual stations but...

Then this morning I did some scoping around irishrail.ie and google maps. The attached images demonstrate that walking from Maynooth to Hazelhatch takes less time than taking the train. That's right: walking. And the train time does not include getting to the station and waiting of course.

[Mark Gleeson]

Its called Metro West

[drumcondra commuter]

Very clever, I see what you've done there. From the RPA website:

"The route then crosses the New Nangor Road and turns west towards Fonthill Road beside Dunawley Avenue. From here the route again turns northward to run along Fonthill Road crossing the Grand Canal and the Kildare railway line at Fonthill Stop, a new Interchange Station to facilitate interchange between Metro West and Irish Rail services.

The route continues along Fonthill Road via Rowlagh Stop to serve Liffey Valley Town centre from Liffey Valley Stop at the junction with St Lomans Road. The route then crosses the N4 (Lucan by-pass) either going under the road through the underpass or over the road on a new bridge from the adjacent embankment. It runs beside the Hermitage Clinic before crossing the River Liffey and Valley on a new bridge."

Not quite what I am suggesting but, what do I know.

[ThomasJ]

under the DTO's original Platform for change document didn't they suggest that the interconnector DART would be from Maynooth to Kildare?, imagine taking that trip when it would take to get maynooth to kildare it would be less to walk and take the bus!

Also under the same document there was a suggestion of 2 lucan stations- 1 on the maynooth line, adamstown on the kildare line. am sure would have been a bus link between the 2 didn't materialise though!

[Mark Gleeson]

This is getting into crayonism.

There are plans for a line from Tallaght via Kisoghue (Kildare Line) Porterstown (Maynooth line) which provides the link. It not going to be a heavily used route

Given current outlook, looks unlikely to go ahead in the short term, that said the land purchase cost has collapsed in recent weeks making it a lot cheaper.

Any further discussion on Metro West, this thread http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=2692 please

[Colm Moore]

... via Kisoghue (Kildare Line) ...Just two clarifications clarification, Metro West goes via Clondalkin Fonthill and "Kisoghue" is Kishoge (Iwas spelling it wrong myself :)).

[shweeney]

no need for crayons - just run a bus between the 2 stations.

[Prof_Vanderjuice]

A QBC from Confey to Hazelhatch was proposed in (actually, judging from the context, more likely in advance of) the 2000 Scott Wilson study of Dublin Bus, but it never materialised: http://www.dublinbus.ie/images/about_us/Figure5_1.jpg

[Mark Hennessy]

no need for crayons - just run a bus between the 2 stations.

Absolutely, sometimes the easiest solutions are the best :D

In theory, there is a feeder bus, then a 67a but I somehow doubt that could work too well.

[dowlingm]

The trick would be to ensure integrated ticketing not just for metropolitan users but for intercity as well, as with connecting from Heuston to Connolly.

The other problem would be that many IC services would not stop at the station in question, especially on the Kildare line, so it would be difficult for a Sligo passenger to access a Cork train without one or more further connections.

[Colm Moore]

I'm not sure how its done in other countries, but one wonders if there is the possibility of a "superstop" in suburban areas where both intercity and suburban services would stop.

Ideally they would interchange with other services (bus, Luas) and be destinations int heir own right - that is a meaningful population and employment density. Dun Laoghaire and Bray are the best current examples, but Drogheda, Malahide, Maynooth, Clonsilla, and Clondalkin-Fonthill are or will be other models. The cluster of Sallins-Newbridge-Kildare is a bad model as various intercity services stop at each of them in an inconsistant manner

[Mark]

I would throw Porterstown into that fray too.