If commuters are to be encouraged to leave their cars at home, then Ireland needs a 21st-century transport network, Marie Clynes says. But before any rail expansion to Raheny train station is set for construction, “we need to see the small print”.
Clynes is among many Raheny locals with a mixed view on plans for a big expansion of the Dart rail line between Dublin Connolly and Malahide that will see the current two tracks expanded to four.
Construction on the project, estimated to cost more than €1 billion, is expected to continue into the early 2030s.
Angela O’Connor (72) and Leslie Donegan (76) live in the same housing estate as Clynes in Raheny, around the corner from the station, which is one of 10 affected by the proposed track expansion.
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O’Connor, a retired teacher, has lived in Raheny “all her life” and “might be happy with three tracks” as opposed to the expansion to four.
O’Connor says the “total disconnect” between rail services and bus services needs to be amended if work on the rail is potentially going to halt Dart services.
The Irish Rail announcement means gardens and other privately owned land along the 10 railway stations needing to be remodelled will potentially be needed for construction.
“People are going to lose their gardens,” O’Connor says, adding: “Is this going to be another Rathgar? ‘Let’s get rid of all the beautiful trees.’”
In any case, O’Connor thinks she’ll be “shooting up the daisies” by the time the project is completed.
[ Billion-euro expansion announced for country’s most congested rail lineOpens in new window ]
Clynes, also a retired teacher, has lived in Raheny for 30 years and welcomes the expansion and thinks “overall” it is a good idea.
She says, however, “we need to see the small print” and wants reassurance that Raheny residents will be consulted with on the process.
Donegan worked in the fish trade and was a regular commuter to Howth “going back years ago”. He agrees the widening of the tracks is needed but for him it’s about “how many billions” will the project cost in the end.
“Everything in this country, no matter what it is, bicycle sheds or anything like that, it always costs three or four times the amount,” Donegan says.
Robert Peat (53) moved to Valencia in Spain when he was 27 to be an English teacher but returns during the summer to Raheny, where he grew up, to teach English to Spanish students.
Peat is struck by some of the progress made in infrastructure in the area since he left for Valencia. Driving down the Malahide Road, he was “amazed at the amount of building that’s going on”.
“Services are going to have to match that amount of construction,” Peat says, adding that transport is an “essential” service.
“If they don’t do it now, they’re going to have to do it at some point in the future, so you’ll just kick the can down the road, which I think, unfortunately, is a lot of what happens here.”
Maxine Maher (60) works in the pharmacy neighbouring SuperValu in Raheny village but cycles in from her home in Donaghmede.
“I wouldn’t have thought it would be needed, four lines,” she says.
Maher says “you see congestion at certain times, maybe” due to people making their way into town, but otherwise she does not hear of much traffic frustration from locals.
“It will affect the village, definitely” if homes are bought under a compulsory purchase order, Maher says, but weighing up the pros and cons, she says she would be “fifty-fifty on it”.
Maher says: “It’d good for the village in a way that people can come in and stop off, but then you’ve got those people that live there that would have to be selling their houses and they’re probably there a long time.”
