[Articles] DART Underground

[Peter1966]

I had read the info on http://www.railusers.ie/campaigns/extendthedart/
It's all good stuff and a compelling case is made for the underground interconnector - which I am strongly in favour of.

I am worried about Ruadhan Mac Eoin's idea of using the Pheonix Park Tunnel instead of buliding the underground interconnector. It's strikes me that his scheme would be inadequate due to:

1. Lack of capacity
2. Slow train speeds
3. Lack of integration
4. No service to the Dublin 2 area.
5. Still a two track from Inchicore to Heuston

Can anybody provide some facts and figures to flesh it out ?

i.e. Under Mac Eoin's scheme:
What would the additional journey time be to get from Parkwest to Spencer Dock ?
How many less passengers and trains per hour could the line from Parkwest to Spencer Dock accomodate ? I noted that Mark says 2,000 vs. 30,000 - is that the PPT route (2,000) vs. the Underground Interconncetor (30,000) ?

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Peter1966

I noted that Mark says 2,000 vs. 30,000 - is that the PPT route (2,000) vs. the Underground Interconncetor (30,000) ?

Yup

The park tunnel really can only be used to its maximum after the interconnector and let us be clear it must be used. But it cannot match the interconnector tunnel in terms of capacity, journey times or connectivity

Inchicore to St Stephen's Green would be 10 minutes up to 16 times an hour

Park West to Docklands by interconnector by about 15 minutes via the Park Tunnel be somewhere in the bracket of about 25 minutes plus