My fantasy T21...
More or less as T21 but...
Rail:
1. 4-track East Wall Junction to Malahide, plus add passing loops at stations like Skerries where room allows to allow non-stop trains to overtake stopping ones.
2. Electrify to Drogheda and Kildare.
3. Relay Belfast and Cork lines to be capable of at least 150mph (125mph is so last century).
4. Build airport spur and offer airport express service non-stop to Spencer Dock and then all stations to Heuston.
5. Reopen Navan-Drogheda.
6. Reopen Athlone-Mulingar.
7. Aim to achieve frequencies of 5 mins pean and 15 mins off-peak within 30km of city (Bray, Maynooth, Hazlehatch and Balbriggan).
8. Frequencies of 10 mins peak and 30 mins off-peak within 50km.
Metro:
1. Aim to build full orbital Metro.
2. Build central underground section as a single project to avoid multiple TBM insertions.
3. Continue south of Stephen's Green, splitting into southern branch connecting to existing Green line, and western branch to Harolds Cross and Tallaght.
4. Start Metro West from north, initially linking to Blanchardstown and Lucan.
5. Last section will link two arms of orbital metro. This means that metro will always be connected, removing need for multiple depots.
6. Continue Metro North to connect with Northern line, increasing opportunities for connections.
Luas:
1. New Luas route to connect Stephen's Green-Ranelagh to when rest of Green line converted to Metro. Possibly would connect to UCD and Stilorgan.
2. Continue Liffey Junction to Finglas, and on to connect with Metro (possibly at Metro Park).
Note that the above would give a total of 12 radial routes out of the city - 4 Rail (Drogheda, Maynooth, Kildare and Bray), 4 Metro (Swords, Blanchardstown/Liffey Valley, Tallaght and Cherrywood/Bray), and 4 Luas (Finglas, Lucan, Tallaght and Stilorgan).
City buses:
1. Build proper busways - either dedicated lanes the whole, or where possible dedicated streets. Send all buses through the city centre on a limited number of routes.
2. Provide quality interchange "hubs" where routes cross (preferably close to rail stations).
3. Remove all city centre termini and make all routes cross-city.
4. Make all buses cashless, and provide TVMs at the busiest stops, and make tickets available from all newsagents.
5. Provide electronic information signs at major stops.
6. Provide a high-frequency service and a reliable timetable.
General:
1. Create a proper, independent transport authority for Dublin.
2. Introduce a common zone and fare system across all operators (public and private).
3. Allow transfers between operators.
4. Restructure pricing to encourage more use of season tickets.
5. Introduce a "Travelcard".
6. Dramatically improve quality of passenger information, and make system easier to use.
Well, I can dream.
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