What Dublin's transport network SHOULD look like [English/Gaeilge]

Dublin is a city with so much transport potential and yet so many short-sighted plans. Every couple of years, the NTA (National Transport Authority) releases a transport strategy with little ambition, probably covering about 1/3 of what’s in this map (and that’s being generous). I’ve included all of these proposals and added a bit of steroids to them. I’ve been working on this map for a good 2 years or so now and I think I’m finally done with it. I’ve been messing around with it over the last few weeks deciding if I should be realistic or just go full throttle with my ideas. Then I remembered that this entire map is fairly unrealistic so I just did whatever I want for the most part. Hope everyone is pleased with it :) The DART is essentially an S-Bahn style service serving coastal areas of Dublin. In my vision, the DART is completely grade separated from other Iarnród Éireann services and acts as its own rapid transit system entirely, without having to give way to faster trains. I’ve colour coded all of the lines, with the odd numbered lines serving the DART Tunnel and the even numbered lines serving the Loopline Bridge (exception being Line 35 which is a branch of Line 3). I’ve added loads of stations along all lines, mainly the Southwestern Line to complement and spur new developments along the network. Line 1 – MacBride <> Kildare: This line follows the Northern Line from Drogheda to East Wall Junction, where it heads into the DART Tunnel to Heuston and follows the Cork mainline to Kildare. Line 2 – Maynooth <> Wicklow/Wexford: This line follows the Sligo mainline from Maynooth to Connolly, over the Loopline Bridge and down along the coast to Wicklow. Some peak services will continue non-stop to Wexford, but usually passengers will have to change here for a shuttle to Wexford. As per the All-Island Rail Review, faster service to Wexford will likely be routed away from this coastal line and instead follow the inland line via Waterford. Line 3 – Navan North <> Naas: This line follows a brand new proposed rail line to Navan, mostly following the historic alignment but with some deviations here and there. It joins Line 2 at Clonsilla and follows it to Ballybough before heading into the City Tunnel and heading all the way out to Sallins, where a new branch brings it to a central Naas station. Line 35 – Ashbourne <> Heuston: This line is more of a branch line from Line 3, so it’s been numbered accordingly. It starts in a new station in Ashbourne and follows a completely new alignment until it meets Line 3 at M3 Parkway. The two lines head together to Broombridge, where Line 35 enters the Phoenix Park Tunnel to terminate earlier in Heuston. I envision that on race days out in Fairyhouse, there could be service changes depending on the demand. Line 4 – Dublin Airport <> Daly: This line begins in Dublin Airport and follows a new spur off the Northern Line (made possible by the four-tracking of the entire line between Connolly and Drogheda) to Clongriffin, where it serves the existing DART coastal route down to Bray. Line 5 – City Loop: This uses both the DART Tunnel and Phoenix Park Tunnel to loop around the city centre. Inspired by the Ringbahn in Berlin, it’s not a complete circle, as trains technically terminate at Inchicore and head back out from there. The Luas is Dublin’s tram system, at present made up of two lines—the Red and Green Lines. I’ve added three more, roughly based on lines previously proposed, and reconfigured the current lines to suit the new system. I tried not to interline them as much as possible (costly, I know, but for me it’s worth it). Red Line – Connolly <> Saggart: This line mostly follows its current alignment. At Fatima, however, it crosses the city west to east on the south side before turning north and terminating at Connolly, making use of the underused Luas stop there. The branch to Tallaght has been upgraded to Metro standard for use by the Metro Purple Line. Green Line – Meakstown <> Bride’s Glen: This line begins at a new stop in Meakstown, before joining the planned extension to Finglas. As the old Harcourt alignment has been handed over to the Metro Blue Line, it swerves east after Harcourt to serve Donnybrook and UCD before meeting the Blue Line again in Cherrywood at its current terminus of Bride’s Glen. Pink Line – Lucan/Adamstown <> Sandymount: This line is completely brand new, and follows an alignment for a line to Lucan outlined in the recent feasibility study with an extra spur to serve Lucan village more centrally. This feasibility study suggests interlining the Pink and Red Lines between Blackhorse and James’s but again I wanted to keep that to a minimum. Yellow Line – Tyrellstown <> Poolbeg/Grand Canal Dock: This line is admittedly a bit redundant, following the DART Line closely, but it seeks to serve Blanchardstown more centrally. A line along this alignment was also suggested in the Dublin Transport Strategy. Brown Line – Balgriffin <> Tallaght/Ballinteer: This line follows an old plan to link Christchurch to Dundrum via Terenure with a few liberties taken. I can admit that this would likely be unfeasible due to how much land would have to be purchased to make it a reality but still a boy can dream. A line to Balgriffin was also suggested in the Dublin Transport Strategy. MetroLink, which is planned to connect the city centre and Swords through the airport, has so much potential to be expanded into a full Metro system. This system would consist of three lines, two radial and one orbital, and, like the Luas lines, each line is named after its own colour. Blue Line – Donabate <> Daly: This is the current MetroLink proposal on steroids. I’ve extended it to Bray along the Harcourt line and to Donabate to serve DART trains on the Northern Line. Orange Line – Donaghmede <> Mallin: The old Metro West proposal to link the suburbs with an orbital line is back with a vengeance, fully grade separated and expanded to cover a full C-shape around the city and connect key centres like Donaghmede, Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley, Tallaght, Ballinteer, and Dún Laoghaire. Purple Line – Howth <> Celbridge: To curb the NIMBYs who keep complaining about the Charlemont terminus of the MetroLink, this new north-south line fills in transport gaps in the southwest and northeast and takes over service on the Howth spur of the DART, adding even more capacity to the DART lines into Dublin. I could not decide where to have the line terminate and ultimately settled on sending it up to Celbridge, although I’m still not sure I like this to be honest. I had another Metro line on the map a while back, the Emerald Line. I thought it was way too outlandish so I removed it. I dreamt it up as a Yamanote line-style metro, operating as a circle line through one of Dublin’s biggest stations (Connolly) and around the city and suburbs. Maybe one day it won’t be so unrealistic. Finally I have the Regional (East) trains. These are much like the current commuter trains, except they use the tracks reserved for InterCity trains. You’ll notice they follow a separate tunnel in the city centre from the DART tunnel to facilitate quicker journeys. Yes, this is completely unrealistic. But again, it’s MY map and that’s where I think we should be taking our rail network. RE 1 – Clarke <> Adamstown: An overhaul of the current Northern Commuter service. After Drogheda, it follows a brand new Express Northern Line, entering the Mainline Tunnel in a new underground long-distance station at Connolly to Heuston, where it follows the Cork line out to Adamstown. It’s essentially an Express service of DART Line 1. RE 2 – Kells <> Portlaoise: Like the existing Southwestern Commuter service, the service begins at Portlaoise and follows the Cork Line before entering the Mainline Tunnel at Heuston, heading to Connolly and following the new Express Northern Line up to Drogheda. It serves the freight platforms at MacBride and then heads out to Navan and Kells along the existing freight railway. RE 3 – Mullingar <> Donaghmede: This line follows the existing Sligo line to Maynooth, where it interchanges with DART Line 2. From there, it follows a new alignment down to the Cork line, joining it shortly before Adamstown. It heads into Dublin and out to Donaghmede, where it terminates. RE 4 – Athy <> Connolly: This line follows the Waterford line from Athy to Heuston, into the Mainline Tunnel and terminates at Connolly. Depending on service patterns and time of day, it may be extended further north. Anyway I think that’s everything. Thank you everyone for liking the map and sending on some advice – I’ve tried to take as many into account as possible. See ya!