COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SDZ, LAPS AND PLANNING PROJECTS

Friday, January 26, 2018

MOTION NO. 295

MOTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

That table 4.3 be amended to include, in

• In the phase requiring opening of Kishogue train station: “Provision of five day a week peak and off-peak rail service and a weekend off peak rail service from the Kildare rail line to Grand Canal Dock Station.”

• In each phase after the phase requiring opening of Kishogue train station, the following requirement: "Provision of additional commuter train service capacity on the Kildare rail line to cater for increasing demand.”

Co-sponsored by Cllr’s Casserly, Egan, Higgins, Lawlor, C. McMahon & Donovan

REPORT:

The subject motion is one of a number of motions proposing to amend Table 4.3 of the Scheme in relation to Kishoge Railway Station.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) is a statutory body established by the Minister for Transport. At a national level, the National Transport Authority has responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger land transport services. This includes the provision of subvented bus and rail services by Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail.

Kishoge Railway Station has a constructed platform and station however, the station is not operational at present. It is recognised that the operation of the Kishoge Railway Station is critical to delivering the vision, the projected transport modal share and a sustainable community. The railway station is fully integrated into the density, land use, urban centre hierarchy and street network in the Draft Planning Scheme.

The NTA has stated that it is envisaged that the Kishoge railway station will open in 2020 once development occurs in its vicinity. The level of train service is a function of the service providers and outside the control of SDCC and the SDZ landowners. At present, the NTA outlines that 7 services operate on this line inbound between 6:30am and 9:28am and 8 outbound in the evening. The NTA indicate that Kishoge will be served by the same number of trains as the existing serve to Adamstown, including those which are provided via the Phoenix Park Tunnel. The NTA indicate that off peak services will be introduced in 2018. Prior to the roll out of the DART Expansion Programme, the NTA have indicated that further improvements to the service will occur to deliver a higher capacity, higher frequency service to Clonburris.

The Phasing Programme includes for agreement on the timeframe for opening in Phase 1A. In this context and noting that the station requires some works to reopen, the Chief Executive considers that the opening of the railway station as part of Phase 1B is a balanced provision to support critical mass for the railway station and allow time for the works to be carried out in tandem with residential construction.

In relation to the inclusion of frequency of transport services in the Phasing Table, the Chief Executive considers that such provision would be difficult to implement in practice as the provision of services is outside the control of SDCC and is open to change by the service providers. As such, in general, it is considered that the Phasing Programme should be measureable and focus on fixed infrastructure. Public transport services and frequency requirements could cause ambiguity in the phasing and unnecessarily delay the delivery of housing and other associated infrastructure.

In relation to the subject motion, no rationale is offered to support the frequency proposed.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the motion is not adopted.

Strategic Environmental Assessment of Chief Executive’s Recommendation

No interaction with Strategic Environmental Objectives.

Appropriate Assessment Screening of Chief Executive’s Recommendation

No significant adverse impacts on European sites within the SDZ’s zone of influence is predicted.