James, the capacity of a simple double track line is not limitless. Yes you can keep adding stations, reducing signalling headways, running more trains but there are consequences in that services, especially for longer distance commuters become less and less attractive and ultimately descend to the Rosslare state where miserable journey times lead to depleted patronage which puts all but the inner commuter sections at risk of closure.
The greatest potential for development would appear to be along the Kildare corridor beteen Heuston and Hazelhatch which could relatively easily support 8 car trains running every 5 minutes with limited impact on other services. If we had an integrated transport system with frequent bus services radiating from Heuston in addition to LUAS we might have a moderately useful, quickly implementable interim transport solution to support rapid housing development in the Heuston to Hazelhatch corridor.
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