All sensible proposals but they ignore two crucial aspects:
Just glanced at this site. If you wondered why we have the politicians we have…you’d understand after reading the unmitigated uninformed nonsense spouted here.
Be laughable if it wasn’t so shockingly bad.
Regarding Metro North, Hanif is one of the few who has his (actual) facts correct.
The majority of Dubliners polled want MN built.
Reading the demented ravings here make a few things clear.
Message boards like this are infested with a hard core of elderly cranks who seem to have abandoned any tenuous grip on the real world and this is the sad sole outlet where they can vent their bizarre take on llife.
Total waste of time. Unless you’;re a crank 
2 simple questions:
Is Dublin bus providing an optimal service with the resources available?
Do you ever think integrated ticketing will be in place?
couldnt agree more , there was even some fella who posted here, and gave a big spout about how much spouting there was and how uninformed everyones arguement was, best part about it, the person didnt provide a single fact to back up there claim.
I mean how mad is that, ’ its all uninformed and factless debate and heres a factless rant to back up my point’ .
that person needs to ‘get real’ dont you think 
Sure the majority of Dubliners polled wanted FF in govt for the last 12 years…
I assume you take it they were right in that decision hence they are right in the MN poll…
Oh and by the way theres 25 other counties who might have an interest in 5billion being spent maybe they are all cuclchie cranks as they say round here
Crank by birth … ‘not a dub’ by the grace of god.
Welcome aboard, I hope you’ll be very happy here.
-Rd (mid 30’s)
Where do you start when this defeatist attitude passes for opinion in Ireland?
Of course, Metro will solve some problems - for people located on its spur. It should be the start of a proper metro system
of 4-6 lines built over 20-30 years. And every other country in europe can afford one - why can’t the richest one in Europe ?
Thanks, getreal. Saved me writing it.
However, i think this MB is more representative of decision makers in Ireland than you think.
There is a whole generation that know nothing other than dublin bus = public transport, car = my transport.
They cannot imagine a better future, and certainly don’t want to pay for one for other people (as they will stick
to their car in any case).
Based on your previous post, I presume this comment is also aimed at least partially at me. So I’ll answer it.
I use public transport. Dart AND Buses, occasionally taxes, once in a blue moon LUAS.
I have no problem paying for more public transport.
I have no problem with Metro North being built.
I do have a problem with the shamefull way that Dublin Bus operates. The attitude towards it’s users. I haven’t even mentioned yet the way that wildcat strikes can be sprung on the travelling public with apparently little punishment of those involved, and let’s not get onto that tangent, but it’s an example of what I’m talking about.
We still don’t have integrated ticketing. How many years of promising has it been now?
Build Metro, Don’t Build Metro. I don’t care. But if we can come up with billions over a period of 10 to 20 years to build a Metro, then surely to christ we can begin fixing Dublin bus.
Sorry if these opinions don’t come up to your high standards.
-Rd
Thanks for that. I checked google maps and reckoned that’s where it went. Clearly the capacity isn’t sufficient for a complete solution though.
Budapest (and Warsaw) have indirect rail links. Dublin has none whatsoever.
And I’m sure people note the irony of former Soviet bloc countries being ahead of us in this regard. Sums us up I think.
Somebody mentioned taxis. Are you kidding or joking? The money they gouge from you would tempt you to walk instead. Public transport options are supposed to be “attractive” in order to get people to use them.
For the love of Christ can we put this MYTH to bed once and for all.
Whoever started this rumour should be shot - the Iraqi Information Minister wouldn’t come out with such shit!
Someone on boards.ie has already picked no fewer than 4 or 5 countries in Europe that contradict this statement!
…and they call this the knowledge economy!
Yeah, but what do THEY know.
The whole airport angle for selling Metro to the public is more trouble than it’s worth.
There are lots of ways of getting to and from the airport. I’d like some of them to be a bit
cheaper, and I’d like more of them to use the Port tunnel, but the Airport in itself isn’t a problem.
To be fair some do try to talk up the benefits for the areas in between, but for some reason
it always seems to come back to…“b…b…b…but we must have a rail link to the airport”.
Then of course if you dare to question ANY element of it, you’re a defeatest crank who’s opinion
is worthless.
Hey! You! Moron! I need your money to build a train, now shut up and pay up!!!
How to win friends and influence people eh!
-Rd
No, IT actually. One of the most cynical people I know.
theres a rail line from Shermetovo to Moscow city center.
If ireland can falsely believe that o’connell st. is the widest thoroughfare in europe or that the phoenix park is the biggest city park in europe, then it can easily believe that it has the only airport that forgot to build a rail link.
Are you sure?
there wasn’t one two years when I was there.
I had to get a connection by mini-bus.
The nearest metro station was about a 15 minute mini-bus ride away from the airport.
Good to see they progressed in the last three years though.
I agree. Sure, it’s somewhat ridiculous that Dublin doesn’t have a decent rail system, but the state of the buses is far more ridiculous. If the will was there to do it Dublin could have a world class bus network in 3 months. It would be a hell of a lot faster and easier to get up and running than building train lines.
And once it’s up and running it would then be justifiable to introduce a city congestion charge as commuters could get on the buses. Reducing traffic on the roads and making the buses more efficient. The money raised from the congestion charge could then be pumped back into the buses. When that is running properly it would then be a good time to assess the need for rail networks.
Actually I think you have it the other way around. People in Dublin are bloody obsessed by the rail links, to the point of being blind to logic. It’s this massive collective inferiority complex that we must have a decent rail system in order to hold our heads up high to the rest of the world. And we’ll take and pay for a rail system even if it doesn’t make the most sense. London has a complex rail system, beyond the tube we have a large overland rail system run by several different companies, the DLR and the Tramlink. And a HUGE bus system. The buses are seen as being just as important as any other link in the transport system and there is no stigma attached to traveling on them. In many ways they are more important as they are flexible and routes can be changed quickly if circumstances change.
So yes, rail is important, but focusing on rail systems in Dublin while the buses are such a total mess is like trying to teach a baby to write cursive before it can hold it’s head up by itself.
Has there been a published cost benefit analysis for the Metro North or is that too much to ask for a €5bn project?
there’s been 2. one for the OTC and another for the RPA.
sorry to disappoint.
Krakow is similar to Dublin in size (bigger as city, smaller as metro area) and it has public transport system based mostly on buses and trams (known here as LUAS). The trick to make it work is just reasonable planning, and few bus lanes. It was listed as 9th best public system. I think that reason behind this success is fact that instead of spending money on upgrading buses, trams or infrastructure the local council has choosen to spend them on very expensive consultants in first place and I’m pretty sure this is the approach that Dublin or Galway need now.