Metro group meet minister to outline proposal for extension
REPRESENTATIVES from the Metro South West group recently met with Minister Eamon Ryan and a cross-party group of TDs in the Dáil to outline their proposal for the extension of the MetroLink
The group of South Dublin residents is calling for the MetroLink, which is to be built on the Northside of the city, to continue from the city on to Knocklyon/Firhouse, Tallaght and Rathfarnham.
Metro South West members had meetings last week with cross-party Oireachtas members and the Fianna Fáil Dublin Parliamentary Group, facilitated by Senator Mary Seery Kearney and Deputy John Lahart respectively.
These meetings were then followed by a meeting with Minister Eamon Ryan, during which the group gave a detailed presentation about why the MetroLink project should be extended.
The points raised in the presentation included the group’s view that the existing bus lines in Dublin South West are insufficient for the population of the area.
The group also questioned the validity of a proposal for two new Luas lines to Tallaght after 2042, as similar proposals were considered and rejected in 2008 and 2016.
At those times, the roads in Dublin South West were deemed too narrow and as such a Luas line was “not feasible”, according to the Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2016-2035.
The Metro South West Group, constituted by 39 residents’ associations to promote the provision of MetroLink to the area, is calling for a feasibility study for the extension of the underground transport line to Dublin South West, and they reiterated this in their presentation.
A spokesperson for the group stated: “It is imperative that the National Transport Authority take the public transport needs (and related climate action goals) of the South West city and its 350,000 residents seriously.
“They have not done this to date. This must be a feature of their plans for the next 20 years, currently in the final stages.”
The MetroLink project has been beset with delays, and last year it was announced it would be postponed for ten years. Now, the project isn’t expected to be completed until 2032 at the earliest.
