Talk:Interconnector (rail tunnel)

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[edit] Someone is confused

There is confusion here and in the Docklands railway station article. The current Docklands station on Sherrif street is the terminus for the Midland line has absolutely nothing to do with "the planned Docklands railway station" for the Interconnector. Admittedly, Irish rail have started referring to the proposed Interconnector station as the "station at the Docklands" instead of Spencer Dock Station which does not help but there is no connection between the proposed station for the Interconnector and the existing Docklands station. If no one objects, I will remove the link from this article to the article on the existing Midlands line station and will also ammend the last paragraph of the the latter. Jimg (talk) 13:08, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Work allready started?

There was news in May of work allready begining on the project. I still have a copy of the Friday 12th of May Issue of the free Herald am newspaper which claims work has started on the Interconnector. No major construction is happaning but it can be seen that track is being replaced in the spencer dock area. This track appears to be new concrete sleepers and most likely continous welded track. This are will be an important area in the future of the proposed Spencer dock station and as of yet this is the only current construction or visable effort to launch this project. 11th of September 2006 0341 am.

[edit] Alternative routes and public scrutiny

Are there alternatives to the project which could achieve the same results, or are there possible alternative routes? And has the route/project been subjected to any official scrutiny by the public? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.176.230.101 (talk • contribs) 13:35, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Alternative routes from Heuston to Spencer dock are the Luas (Spencer Dock end not yet built) and the phoenix park tunnel route. The river is also a very remote possibility. I think Olivia Mitchell questioned the wisdom of the interconnector due to these alternatives. There has been no public scrutiny but there will be. Curtains99 21:12, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. I take it when the time comes that there will need to be a couple of realistically possible routes presented to the public. If I'm not mistaken, there are EU regulations regarding this. The latest proposed route for the metro includes a station under the river at O'Connell Bridge. This would seem an obvious alternative location for integration of DART and metro, but one wonders if it is physically possible for the interconnector to be built through such a location. If it is not possible, it's hard to see how any alternative routes could be presented to the public, as may be required under EU regulations.

Luas is useless as an alternative, the main purpose of the tunnel is to increase capacity of the rail lines so that they can actually accomodate the demand they face. It is an important link between Heuston and the Docklands area as well but much more than solely that. As it stands the interconnector route is pretty much set down for engineering reasons, the curves a train can take are very long particularly compared to a tram, and the concerns about the route affecting Trinity college are of course an issue. So if they are to connect it to Stephen's Green they don't really have much choice with the route. It is always important to examine all your options but this tunnel is essential if Dublin is not to grind to a halt, no matter what Olivia Mitchell claims.

Could you point out what EU regulation specifies that alternative routes have to be presented to the public? Alternatives have been considerred years ago, including tunnelling under Connolly station but all alternatives have very obvious flaws. Jimg (talk) 13:09, 17 May 2008 (UTC)