Platform 11 is a rail transport pressure group in Ireland whose agenda is centred on the idea that there is an economic case for expanding rail transport in Ireland though better utilization of existing infrastructure with only minor expansion of existing routes. Through press releases, lobbying and leafleting they have promoted the Interconnector, a proposal to build a tunnel south of the Liffey to link up Dublin's Heuston Station with the existing DART and LUAS lines.

The Platform 11 organisation

Membership

Although slighted by opponents as favouring "Palerail", a reference to their theory that higher ridership Dublin services should be expedited, the principals actually hail from areas such as Sligo and Clonmel, and often have more experience of the more rural parts of the network than those who criticise them.

Style

Their own on-line discussion boards showcases their combative style, their detailed knowledge of transport issues and their dislike of groups such as West-on-Track who make a heritage or development case for rail expansion where this case tends to require virtually total subsidisation from some level of Government. They are highly sceptical of rail enthuasiast groups whom they assert tend to have the interest of trainspotting enthusiasts, many of them from overseas, at heart rather than that of local rail users and taxpayers. This scepticism has led to conflict with these groups on internet message boards.

Areas of concern

As well as making the case for expanded commuter services in the heavily urbanised Greater Dublin Area, the group advocates suburban rail for Galway and Limerick if combined with a focused planning environment such as the Cork LUTS study. They also advocate bus services connecting to railheads where rail is not feasible. They also support direct rather than connecting services to Clonmel.

Gradualist approach

Where existing infrastructure is to be re-activated, they tend to advocate stepwise re-opening to prove each stage before embarking on the next. In respect of the Western Railway Corridor they advocate re-activating the Ennis-Athenry section first, followed by Athenry-Tuam if practicable. The group considers the corridor north of Tuam unviable on current evidence unless the first two re-openings far exceed expectations and Galway and Mayo County Councils perform huge levels of urban development focused on the corridor.

Projects

Effect of the Interconnector

The Interconnector joins several major revamps of the Greater Dublin rail infrastructure.

• The mainline from the southwest gains two new tracks under the Kildare Route Project. On arrival at Inchicore/Heuston a tunnel skirts the south bank of the River Liffey, with a link at St. Stephen's Green with the LUAS line towards Dundrum.

• The tunnel continues on to intercept Pearse Station, connecting with Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) services south to Greystones and mainline services to Rosslare.

• The tunnel terminates at Spencer Dock Station, which when constructed will supplement Connolly Station, a short distance west on the proposed LUAS Line C1. It is intended that the track from Kildare will be electrified and thus that Malahide-bound DART services will relocate from Connolly to Spencer Dock. The Malahide electrified line would be electrified to Drogheda and DART service extended there.

• Irish Rail wish to operate an airport DART to Dublin Airport but this may result in eliminating Howth as a direct DART destination. Services from re-opened sections of the Clonsilla-Pace-Navan line would also terminate here, as would certain services operated via the Phoenix Park Tunnel under Platform 11's "D-Connector" plan.

• The Maynooth line is also electrified under this plan and services from Greystones will terminate there via Pearse and Connolly Stations, the latter remaining the final destination of Belfast mainline service.

The current re-signalling of the Dublin Area network (the DASH project stages 1 and 2) is critical to the plan as it allows higher throughput of trains per hour. However this alone will not allow the project to proceed as the "Loop Line" bridge and Connolly Station's platforms cannot cope with the number of planned services.

Dublin Metro Project

The Rail Procurement Agency wishes to proceed with a plan to operate a metro from Dublin Airport to Dublin City Centre. While behind the metro concept in principle, Platform 11 has expressed concerns that the metro plan as currently released offers insufficient interconnections with other parts of the rail network, with few opportunities for "one-change" journeys from various parts of Dublin. They are also concerned that building the metro to European rather than Irish rail gauge would limit the scope of interoperability with DART. The RPA has proposed removing the extensions of the line to Swords and to St. Stephen's Green to reduce the cost of the project, terminating instead at the Airport and at O'Connell Street.

LUAS

In its initial period of planning and operation, Platform 11 raised doubts about the RPA's assertion that 40 metre trams could not operate on the line to Tallaght. The trams on this line are now experiencing extremely high load factors. The 30m trams have operated on the Dundrum line when tram availability was low, the issue is whether 40m trams can safely operate on the Tallaght line. They also wish to push the planned southeastern extension of the Dundrum LUAS line and the linking of the A and C/C1 lines, with a possible extension northwards from that link.

Unitary Transit Authorities

While being a rail lobby group, what Platform 11 admires most in other transit systems such as Munich's Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund and the Toronto Transit Commission is the integration rather than competition of various transport modes such as subway/metro, heavy rail, light rail and bus. Many of their members wish to see Dublin and Cork have an integrated system of routes to encourage seamless door-to-door public transport journeys, and for easy to use transit maps and payment schemes to be available for residents and visitors to be able to access all these modes.

Urban Planning

Platform 11 members tend to believe in focused planning strategies which place public transport as a primary determinant of development and which discourage car-dependent sprawl and one-off housing.

Rail Freight

Rail freight is viewed sceptically by the group given the low distances and tonnages involved in most rail freight operations in Ireland and the poor rail connectivity of many Irish seaports. They tend to favour diesel or electric multiple unit vehicles solely for passengers rather than dual-use locomotives.

External link

• Platform11.org