Hansfield Station

[Mark Gleeson]

RTE Radio 1 Drivetime

Some time just after 18:00

[ThomasJ]

I missed it!

What was said?

[Mark Gleeson]

Recording later

[Mark Gleeson]

Link http://www.railusers.ie/podcasts/aud...d_01062011.mp3

[m3parkway]

There has to be some kind of access to the station, how did the construction workers get access, they could just have pedestrian access via a gravel path until the road and car park are finished.

[Mark Gleeson]

All that is needed is a 2m wide strip of tarmac and some lights

The access must meet accessibility standards thats a problem

Problem is mainly a legal matter that Irish Rail don't own the land approaching the station so they can't build a path

The station was actually refused permission for a car park when it was built so Irish Rail are asking for trouble

[Colm Moore]

Video and photos at link.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0618/hansfield.html

Minister pledges to open Dublin station
Updated: 19:58, Saturday, 18 June 2011

The Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has pledged to open a disused railway station after passengers protested today.

The Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has said he is hopeful that the disused railway station in West Dublin will be able to open for service soon.

Protestors gathered to demand the opening of the €10m train station that has yet to be put into operation by Irish Rail.

People living nearby say they watch as trains pass through the fully completed Hansfield Station on a daily basis.

Residents say the catchment area saw tens of thousands move to the surrounding villages of Clonee, Clonsilla and Mulhuddart and yet it has no dedicated rail service while its bus operations are facing cutbacks.

Leo Varadkar has said that agreement must be reached with land owners who control unfinished access roads, which the Minister has now allocated €1m in funding to finish.

Irish Rail has said it built the station, but a developer did not finish its access roads preventing a full opening - a situation they are trying to resolve.

[ThomasJ]

Originally Posted by Colm Moore

Viedo and photos at link.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0618/hansfield.html

I love the keywords/tags rte has assigned to that news article!

[Jack O'Neill]

The Irish Times - Monday, June 20, 2011

A NEW €10 million railway station at Hansfield in west Dublin is unlikely to open before the end of the year despite a local campaign and the intervention of Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar.

Residents who were promised a railway station offering commuter links to Dublin by mid-2010 have been told that agreement on completing outstanding works is imminent.

However, Irish Rail confirmed yesterday that the timetable for the outstanding works – a new access road of less than half a kilometre and a park-and-ride site – would be six months from the signing of the agreement.

The agreement was brokered by Mr Varadkar and involved Fingal County Council and Irish Rail, as well as property developers Menolly Homes and Manor Park Homes.

The solution involved Mr Varadkar confirming €1.4 million in funding from the National Transport Authority’s capital budget to complete works and the access road and a car park.

It is understood the property developers have provided the land.

Up to 100 locals staged a protest march at the unopened railway station at the weekend, waving as trains carrying passengers from M3 Parkway and Dunboyne sped by on their way to Dublin.

June McEvoy said many residents had been attracted to local developments by advertising hoardings which proclaimed: “Look what’s coming Summer 2010 – Hansfield’s very own Train Station” with the text “Choo Choo Choose Barnwell Hansfield”.

However, Ms McEvoy added, they were disappointed when the line, which serves Clonsilla, Hansfield, Dunboyne and the M3 Parkway, opened last September without access through Hansfield station.

“From our homes we can hear the trains going by every half hour, they just don’t stop.”

The €10 million station, built by the property developers at their own expense, is a higher specification than that envisaged initially by Irish Rail.

It was the subject of a separate planning application after the initial railway order was granted for the reopening of the Clonsilla to Dunboyne line.

Irish Rail said it had fulfilled all its obligations but the developer had not completed the access road.

The station is capable of handling 15,000 people a day but development in the area has all but stopped in the last two years.

The weekend march was organised by the Ongar Facilities Action Group.

Participants marched to Manor Park showhouses and from there to the unopened train station.

They also marched to Mr Varadkar’s nearby constituency office to hand in a letter calling for the speedy opening of the station.

[Thomas J Stamp]

a million euro of taxpayer money for an access road which a developer would not build?

ok, i understand the argument that without it a 10 million euro station is going to waste and also of the other correct point regarding the value the opened station will bring, I just hope that the developer is chased for the money. (though I know of no legal method to do so).

[Mark Gleeson]

The bigger problem is the land is owned by NAMA at this point

[Thomas J Stamp]

ah well, just a form of churning so.

[Mark Gleeson]

Irish Rail has complicated matters as there is permission for a road etc already in place.

Irish Rail now want a car park (which Manor Park homes was refused in the first place) when means new planning permission and more cost and hassle

[Jack O'Neill]

Whilst I think that a car park will enhance the station's appeal and economics and would support its need and construction...

but could they not just build the access road now and go ahead with seeking the permissions / constructions etc for the car park in its own delayed time?

[sean]

That would be my question too. Why not deal with the road first and the car park next?

[Thomas J Stamp]

well, as mark says, manor park were refused one, probably because the LA wanted people in the development to walk to the station and/or encourage the useage of a feeder bus service instead of using cars. if the adjacent development has not gone ahead, or is empty, i guess those reasons go out the window and for the station to operate at all they need a car park now.

[dowlingm]

A bus loop for a future service should be a condition of altered planning, with no expansion of the car park permitted in the future until feeder buses have maxed out potential modal shift.

[Mark Gleeson]

As far as I'm aware a bus stop was always in the plans.

The planners refused car parking on the grounds that it was inappropriate given the proximity of houses to the station and a desire to avoid attracting business from outside the area, after all they have car park at M3 and Dunboyne

[Jack O'Neill]

Local free newspaper has an opening date now for June 2012

[raveon]

A brand new train station lies idle in a built-up area of west Dublin because developers refuse to build an access road to it! Hansfield station follows Clonsilla on the Dunboyne rail line and could allow thousands of commuters from Ongar, Castaheany and Greater Blanchardstown to get to the city centre in 20 minutes or so, rather than the 1 hour and 20 minutes on the bus. Developers, Manor Park and Mennolly Homes, were to build the access road as part of Phase 2 of the Hansfield SDZ housing development. However, because of the property collapse, developers can’t sell all their existing houses and have stopped building.
An SDZ (Special Development Zone) was a concept devised by Bertie Ahern to fast-track housing during the boom. Socialist Party councillors on Fingal voted against it as the necessary schools, transport and infrastructure were not being put in place for the frenzied development going on in Blanchardstown.