Unique Reference Number: CVQ-3001 Author: Balheary Golf Course Submission: Metro North for Swords and

Consultation: Status: Submitted Draft Fingal Development Plan 2017 – 2023 (Stage 2) Date Submitted: 28.04.2016 - 7:33pm

Advocation for the Metro North for Lissenhall, Swords to City Centre

Chapter: Written statement » Chapter 6: Economic Development

North and especially Swords needs a proper rail based solution for its public transport needs. If Swords is to prosper and grow into the future, a rail based connection from Swords to the Airport and the City Centre is vital. North commuters, business people and tourists arriving in want to get to Dublin City Centre quickly, cheaply and easily. They do not want to be diverted onto existing over-congested routes that take them further away from the City Centre.

DART spurs to existing rail lines are half baked and must be immediately ruled out as well as the BRT Swiftway as it will not be adequate to meet the requirements of the population as a replacement for Metro North.

We think the original Metro North Scheme as proposed by the RPA and approved by An Bord Pleanala in 2010 is the best option for North County Dublin for various reasons.

1. The Swords area is in dire need of regeneration and investment with, numerous buildings, oces and factory’s remaining fallow for the last number of years. The Metro North would add inward investment to a dilapidated area and create a signicant resurgence in the area.

2. The greater Swords area is ever expanding and is currently one of the largest towns in the Dublin region with gures suggesting there are currently over 40,000 people residing in Swords with numbers increasing year on year. This gure increases if the greater Swords area is taken into account. Proposed gures also suggest that this number could rise to 60,000 in the next 15-20 years.

3. Swords could be a business and development mecca with its close proximity to the airport (5 minutes by Metro) and Dublin City Centre (30 minutes)

4. Dublin is the only remaining Capital city in Europe that does not have an interlinked rail network servicing the airport to its city centre.

5. Trac on roads connecting Dublin City Centre and the airport/Swords are at maximum capacity, with bottle- necks in Drumcondra, Whitehall, Ballymun, Road and . The Metro North is preferable over the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) as it would be 70% underground and it would alleviate the strain on the roads with less cars and busses.

6. We have to look to the future. Dublin city and county is ever changing with developments ongoing. This Metro North is designed to be a long-term solution, where extra capacity can be controlled by adding an extra carriage rather than the constant widening of roads and in some places like Drumcondra, it is impossible.

7. A park and ride could be built in Lissenhall Little or Lissenhall Great, to facilitate commuters to transport themselves into Dublin City Centre without clogging up the main arteries of the Swords area.

1 8. A misconception that was expressed regarding Lissenhall is that it oods in bad weather. Lissenhall has never ooded and the recent survey of the area in 2010 conrmed that.

9. Dublin Airport is now catering for over 25 million visitors per year and it requires 1000 perople to service 1 million passangers. Therefore the proposed new runway will add even more visitors to the already packed transport network and will require more local sta to service the need.

Benets of the Metro North to Swords

• The scheme satises the project objectives and, having already been developed to detailed design, is technically feasible.

• The proposed route serves a very dense catchment area and many of the major trip generators within the area. • The service has a very high capacity potential which would be future proof for the ever expanding region. Metro North was proposed with a capacity of 8,000 passengers per direction per hour (ppdph) based on 5 minute headways in the AM peak. Capacity was proposed to increase incrementally through the procurement of additional vehicles with the ultimate capacity, based on a 2 minute headway, in the order of 20,000 ppdph. This capacity reected an expected forecast demand at the time of approximately 17,000 ppdph. This is much higher than any of the other proposed solutions.

• The service oers excellent journey times owing to the level of frequency and segregation proposed. • The proposed Metro North alignment has formed the basis for spatial plans within the study area for some time, therefore it integrates excellently with future planning proposals.

• The scheme has already been through the required statutory planning processes and was granted planning approval to be developed.

• The cost of the scheme is high relative to all other schemes being assessed however this is a long-term solution.

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