Louth

The proposed Metrolink will go from Charlemont (Ranelagh) to Swords with connections to the Irish Rail system at Tara Street and Glasnevin only (not Connolly or Heuston). It will be built to a different gauge to Irish Rail so integration can never be achieved. Consequently rail travellers from most parts of the country will face a convoluted journey getting to the airport. For example, those on the northern line will in effect pass close to the airport travelling into Dublin, transfer to the metro at Tara St and then have to go all the way back north on the metro. At the Bord Pleanala hearing, Duncan Stewart advocated an extension of the DART to the airport as the best solution. This has recently been recommended by Jim Meade of Irish Rail who said it could be completed in 5 years. In the 1970s, CIE proposed a branch off the Belfast line running through Swords and the airport, then into Dublin. If the planners had made provision for this even 10-15 years ago in land-use planning, it could have been built for a fraction of the cost of Metrolink. Ireland seems to adopt very expensive infrastructure projects that are badly thought through and offer poor value for money (the Children's Hospital comes to mind). Sometimes we get what we deserve and only have ourselves to blame!

When I heard of Irish government investment in cross-border infrastructure, I really expected a major upgrade of the Dublin-Belfast rail line. €50 mil for Casement Park and a paltry €12.5 mil for the rail service, not to mention the €600 mil for the A5 road. Metrolink will cost €9.5 billion with a connection to the Irish Rail system at Tara St and Drumcondra only. No joined-up thinking there. It all just doesn't make sense.

Under the EU TEN-T transport policy, Dublin Airport is part of the "core" transport network and is required to be connected to the "long distance" rail system by 2030. Metrolink will not fulfil this requirement as it will be light rail, a different gauge and unconnected to the Irish Rail system. Our transport planners have studiously ignored EU TEN-T especially in the proposed change from 32 to 40 million passenger per year.

Patrick you are a craftsman and artist combined in one great railway modeller. Kevin

Absolutely magnificent Patrick. It is a classic GNR(I) station building. You are setting a gold standard!

Got four of the CIE "broken wheel" versions. Lovely models. Thank you Leslie. They will go well with a few of the IRM Bulleid open wagons. Perfect for a mid-1970s setting.

C Class?

Leslie, if you are going to the Blackrock exhibition I would like to reserve two please. I met you at St Paul's last year and was asking about GNRI wagons from the 1970s. These are perfect and look really great. Kevin

Thanks for that article Branchline121. Currently there are 3 Enterprise sets along with spare coaches. A 200 metre FLIRT (or similar) would comprise about 10 carriages with a capacity of about 400+ passengers, similar to the current Enterprise sets. So 8 new sets should facilitate the proposed hourly service. The two big questions are whether the new units will be in service for the 2028 European Soccer Championships and whether a journey time of under 2 hours could be achieved once the DART is extended to Drogheda. I assume the planners in IR, NIR/Translink, the NTA, Dept of Transport, etc., are discussing these issues in the context of DART+ and the Strategic All-Island Rail Review. Hopefully some rational proposals will emerge later in the year.

If you need any measurements of the Dunleer station Patrick, let me know. Access to trackside is a bit of a problem though. The car park side is no problem. Kevin

Thanks again Patrick. The Wizard finials are perfect. Below are photos before cladding and after painting from the side. Kevin

Thanks Patrick. I will take a few photos and put them up. I'll check out Shapeways and would very much appreciate the link to the white metal finials. Kevin

Dunleer is an great prototype and your model looks great (the island waiting room in Drogheda is somewhat similar to the now demolished one in Dunleer). I recently completed a GNRI platform shelter using Ratio signal box windows. The building had to be constructed slightly over-scale to get the proportions correct. Dimensions were based on the shelter in Gormanstown which is one of the few remaining on the system. I have almost completed a GNRI signal box, again using the Ratio windows, but am a bit stymied by how to do the gable-end finials. Help anyone??

Enterprise journey times in 1970 were 2 hours and 15 minutes with stops at Dundalk and Portadown. What is at issue here is not the headline time which can vary depending on time of day and number of stops, but that the Dublin-Belfast service will be considerably slower once DART+ is implemented. It is also contrary to the aspiration of "higher speed" Intercity services.

Most of the route could cater for a third track without further land acquisition, but yes there would still be a significant cost. Irish Rail and NIR are planning for an hourly Enterprise service with "higher speed" Intercity trains. This just cannot be achieved with the current DART+ proposal.

At the same time, Irish Rail are extending the DART to Drogheda with a big increase in the number of commuter trains. The Enterprise already crawls in from Malahide and in the future will crawl from Drogheda. In 1947 when the Enterprise service started, it took 2 hours 15 min from Belfast to Dublin with steam locomotives. Journey times are the same today. Based on DART+ timetable estimates from Irish Rail, the Enterprise will in the future take well over 2 hours 30 minutes at peak times (and this is being optimistic). Another consequence of DART+ is a shuttle service between Howth and Howth Junction rather than direct services to Dublin. The solution is to increase the number of tracks from 2 to 3 or ideally 4 between Malahide and Connolly as was done on the Heuston-Hazelhatch portion of the Cork line. If you wish to make a submission to Irish Rail, send an email to DARTCoastalNorth@irishrail.ie by Friday 23 of June. Full details on www.dartplus.ie

Johnson's Atlas and Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland gives a wealth of information on historic lines and stations but unfortunately doesn't seem to distinguish between single and double tracks. However if you have great patience and eyesight, you can look at the historic maps on the Ordinance Survey Ireland website (osi.ie). These show which lines were single and which were double.

DART+ will add more commuter traffic to the Dublin-Drogheda line. This will slow up services from Belfast and Dundalk which tend to crawl in from Malahide already. The only solution is to four-track the line from Malahide to Connolly (passing loops would be an interim solution) and to remodel Connolly itself. DART Underground would also make a big difference and allow services to run straight through to the Heuston and beyond. We will have to wait for the outcome of the Strategic Rail Review and DART+ consultation process to see what solutions are proposed.....but I wouldn't be holding my breath! We will probably get hydrogen powered trains instead.

Best bet would be a Hunslet and a set of maroon/blue Mk 2b coaches. I can't guess the third but am waiting with much anticipation!