You understand that areas of dense population have higher demands than areas which light populations?
Your basically arguing against one off rural housing
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Some people have vision, others are wedded to the failed business as usual model. You will be wanting another lane added to the M50 soon.
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There’s dense population there because where people used to live has been ignored for generations.
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The west and midlands are subsidized by the pale mate
Sorry bud. I’m just frustrated because I’m getting no where with a bullshit report at work and I’m lashing out at you.
I still love you.
You can lash out bro
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Local Link has been dramatically expanded.
Ireland has consistently prioritised rural areas over urban ones since its inception, that’s a fact. That holds even until today- why was the National Broadband Plan prioritised like it was?
You give out about Ireland constantly but the one thing it is an absolute outlier on is investing in urban transport.
Indeed one thing lost on Muldoons is that this will free up lots of capacity in the system to go elsewhere in the country. Ireland has an extraordinary amount of buses and bus drivers which is heavily subsidised by the State. They drive Local Link and the School Transport routes (both predominately benefit rural dwellers), regional routes, urban to urban routes and within urban areas.
The fact that MetroLink is automated means you can free up a lot of bus drivers and buses to go elsewhere. The costs you quote above include 30+ years of operation of the system. This will be an oven baked system requiring minimal PSO which can be thrown elsewhere. MetroLink is good for the country as a whole.
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I find it interesting that so many non Dubliners don’t get that most Dubliners rarely use the M50.
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Can you source that for me because I’ve lived next door to a bus company most of my life and the owner’s experience here would not tally with that at all
Has anyone blamed Oasis yet?
Or Israel
Ireland has something like twice the number of bus drivers than the U.K. per capita and also more than Germany.
IIRC Dublin has more bus drivers than cities in Europe with multiples of the population.
Thats what happens when you don’t invest in general rail and rapid transit infrastructure. Buses are cheaper on capex but heavier on opex (rail can be far worse when not run properly granted).
Public transport use in both Dublin and Cork should dramatically shift to rail (still not as much as other countries) and that will allow the State to move the capacity and subsides elsewhere.
Ireland already has a large school transport scheme (far larger than the U.K.) that prioritises rural dwellers and those with special needs & wants to expand that further.
It might have the routes but the drivers are incredibly scarce
Yes, Tim, I give out about Ireland, because in far too many areas we perform very poorly.
You invariably arrive to big up the Government and assure everyone there’s nothing to see: sweep, sweep, sweep. You’re practically its main PR man at this stage. Fair enough that’s your job…
Local Link has improved, and about time, but large parts of rural Ireland are still inadequately served.
The pattern of coverage often appears influenced by political patronage, although I’m not getting dragged into every individual example with you.
I’ve made my position on MetroLink perfectly clear. At €18 billion, I don’t believe the benefits justify the cost, and I wouldn’t proceed with it at those figures
If a Spanish/Chinese consortium could deliver it properly for €5–€6 billion, that would be a different discussion. But once a project is approaching €18 billion before the main contracts are even awarded, you would be brave to assume it will finish there.
Given our record on projects such as the National Children’s Hospital, €30 billion and twice the timetable hardly feels impossible.
So yes, I’ll continue giving out when I believe something is wrong.
Your mantra may be that everything is grand and there’s nothing to see here, but I’m not obliged to join in. If that pisses you off, Tim, so be it.
It’ll easily pass 30 billion. Bookmark it
No it has the drivers, but it very challenging to backbone a public transport service with buses to the level we do.
Based on current passenger numbers, you could redirect one third of Dublin Bus by just having MetroLink.
Whats our record like on teansport projects such as luas cross city
I’m literally criticising the State for prioritising rural dwelling for far too long and you act like it’s a defense!
You criticise Ireland for not doing what other countries do, yet criticise it for finally investing in underground rapid transit!
Again deal with the substance here, you have yet to acknowledge the costs are not “like for like”.
Are you aware that we literally have had Spanish companies in the consortiums to build ML? Of course not….
I don’t believe for one minute that MetroLink will reduce the number of Dublin Bus drivers required.
Quite the opposite. If the passenger forecasts depend on people travelling from areas beyond walking distance, they’ll need frequent feeder buses to get them to and from the stations.
People aren’t going to walk miles or make an awkward journey simply because a metro exists. So the buses and drivers won’t disappear, they’ll have to be reorganised and quite possibly increased to deliver passengers to the line.
Any supposed saving from needing fewer bus drivers looks like a complete red herring to me, Tim.
And the National Broadband Plan that benefitted who exactly?