Latest news with #Luas
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Full list of transport updates & road closures over Bank Hol weekend as Forbidden Fruit Festival and marathon kick off
AN URGENT warning has been issued for thousands of commuters and motorists with traffic restrictions in place over the busy weekend. A number of events in the capital have resulted in some road closures and diversions. Advertisement 6 Commuters and motorists are set to face some traffic diversions this weekend Credit: Getty Images - Getty 6 The Women's Mini Marathon is kicking off in Dublin on Sunday Credit: Sportsfile - Subscription 6 The Forbidden Fruit festival is currently being held at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham Forbidden Fruit Festival, Bloom in Phoenix Park, the Leinster VS Scarlets clash and the Women's Mini Marathon will make it a busy time for commuters. As a result, Irish Rail and Met Eireann confirmed that there will be "unsettled The Forbidden Fruit Festival has kicked off at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham today and continues tomorrow. Advertisement READ MORE ON DUBLIN Due to the event being held, St John's Road will close to traffic both ways from 10.15- to 11.15pm each night between South Circular Road and Steeven's Lane. The following diversions have been put in place for Saturday and Sunday, meaning routes 52, 60 and C1/2/3/4 are affected. Normal route to Con Colbert Road then divert left to South Circular Road, right to Conyngham Road, Parkgate Street & continue straight to normal route. Normal route to Victoria Quay then divert right to Frank Sherwin Bridge, Parkgate Street, Conyngham Road, left to South Circular Road, keep left to loop around onto Con Colbert Road to normal route. Advertisement MOST READ IN THE IRISH SUN Exclusive Due to this, stops 4413 and 2637 are impacted by the diversions. For inbound commuters, they are asked to use the 1474 stop, while the outbound commuters are encouraged to grab it from the 7078 stop. Moment smoke billows from toll plaza on busy Irish motorway after vehicle bursts into flames The The chiefs confirmed that the Luas will run on normal services for Saturday and Sunday during the Advertisement However, the Luas will run Sunday Operating Hours and Frequency with services beginning at 7am on the Green and Red lines on Monday. The It is expected that over 25,000 people will be participating in the 10km race. Due to the great demand, there will be significant road closures and diversions over the weekend. Advertisement The routes of Wexford Bus has confirmed that they will be unable to serve all of their regular stops as they can only guarantee pick-up at Dublin Airport, Northwall Quay, Georges Quay, Talbot Hotel Stillorgan and Cherrywood for Southbound services. This means that Herbert Street will be closed from 8am on Saturday, May 31, to 7pm the following day. Full list of road closures Sunday June 1 from 4 am to 7 pm : Herbert Street Herbert Lane Pembroke Row Cumberland Road Fitzwilliam Street Fitzwilliam Place Fitzwilliam Square North Fitzwilliam Square South Wilton Terrace Lad Lane Baggot Street Lower As well as: James's Street East Fitzwilliam Lane Fitzwilliam Street Lower Merrion Square East Merrion Square South Mount Street Upper Stephen's Place Baggotrath Place From 8:30 am to 5 pm: Stephen's Green East Stephen's Green South Stephen's Green North Kevin Street Lower Cuffe Street Merrion Street Upper Pembroke Street Dawson Street Kildare Street From 10 am to 4 pm : Leeson Street Lower Earlsfort Terrace Hatch Street Lower From 11:30 am to 4 pm : Adelaide Road Leeson Street Upper Stillorgan Road (Fosters Avenue to Donnybrook Road) Donnybrook Road Herbert Place Nutley Lane Merrion Road (Ballsbridge to Merrion Gates) Morehampton Road Baggot Street Upper Pembroke Road IRISH RAIL ROUTES SUSPENDED Thousands of people across the country are making their way to the heart of Dublin to Advertisement However, Bank Holiday weekend, stating that engineering works will take place today and will continue until Monday June 2. Irish Rail typically perform engineering works over the bank holiday weekends due to the extra weekend day allowing them to achieve more progress. As a result of the engineering works, the affected rails are between Dublin Connolly and Dun Laoghaire. This means there is no DART service between the stations and the Rosslare services will provide bus transfers between Connolly and Bray. Advertisement Customers are urged to pre-book their seats on the services to avoid any disappointment, as there is high demand on Heuston Intercity routes. There are a number of trains on Intercity routes that are already sold out, including some trains from EXTRA RAIL SERVICES Due to the great demands, there will be extra weekend Intercity services from Cork and Galway to Dublin Heuston for Bord Bia Bloom. And there are extra Northside DART, Maynooth Commuter trains and Malahide DART services after St Anne's Park concerts and Aslan at Malahide Castle. Advertisement There will be early trains from Cobh, Mallow and Midleton to Cork for the Cork City Marathon on Sunday. Extra trains from DUBLIN COACH UPDATES ON SERVICES The popular green bus has shared an update on all of their services during the bank holiday weekend. Dublin Coach has increased their capacity on Route 300 from Advertisement They have warned passengers of Route 600 that their Andersons Quay bus stop will not be in operation due to the All buses until 9:05pm service will operate from outside the Cork City Council Office on Anglesea Street. They have encouraged commuters to pre-book their tickets to avoid disappointments as the services across the country are expected to be busy during the weekend. WEXFORD BUS SERVICE CHANGES The popular east coast bus company has issued an update on their services for the Bank Holiday Monday. Advertisement Route 740, 740X, 740A and 340 are set to operate on a Sunday/Public holiday schedule. Customers of the Route 340 are warned that there will be no 8:30pm or 10pm services starting at However, Route 376, 884, WX1 and WX2 will not be operating on Monday. 6 The Leinster VS Scarlets clash kicked off this afternoon Credit: Sportsfile - Subscription Advertisement 6 Luas chiefs confirmed there will be no travel disruption during the weekend Credit: Getty Images - Getty 6 Irish Rail has announced travel diversions for many of their routes due to rail works Credit: Alamy
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Fare dodging on Dublin and Cork rail services cost Iarnród Éireann €4.6m in 2024, NTA study finds
Some of the highest rates of fare-dodging took place on commuter rail services last year, according to data collected by the National Transport Authority (NTA), while one Dublin Bus route recorded non-payment by 20.6 per cent of passengers. Regular surveys conducted on public transport services last year found 6.9 per cent of passengers on Dart and commuter trains for the greater Dublin region and Cork did not have a valid ticket for their journey. This resulted in an estimated loss in revenue of €4.6 million for Iarnród Éireann . By contrast, NTA figures revealed the lowest fare-evasion rate on any public transport service was on Iarnród Éireann's intercity routes. Only 1.4 per cent of passengers were found travelling without a valid ticket on these routes, which run between Dublin and Belfast, Cork, Waterford and other cities. This resulted in a further estimated loss in revenue of €2.2 million in 2024. Luas data was not included. READ MORE Despite high overall fare-evasion rates, Iarnród Éireann did not suffer any deductions last year. This is because a rate of 6.9 per cent for Dart and commuter rail services is within the permitted threshold allowed by the NTA before financial penalties are enforced. The company received incentives totalling almost €37,000 for the high compliance rate on its intercity trains, making Iarnród Éireann the only public transport operator last year to receive such a payment. Alongside rail services, NTA provided an overview of fare evasion across three different bus companies including Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Go Ahead Bus. Dublin Bus, the country's largest public transport operator in terms of passenger numbers, had the greatest estimated loss in revenue due to fare dodgers, at €6 million in 2024. However, the fare-evasion level recorded on its services was one of the lowest of any operator, at 3.4 per cent. Dublin Bus was the only one of the large bus companies surveyed to find a fare-evasion rate below the target of 3.9 per cent for bus services. The highest evasion rate on a Dublin Bus service was 20.6 per cent recorded on the 43 (Talbot Street-Swords Business Park) route. Full compliance was found among passengers on 26 of 84 routes surveyed. A breakdown of fare-evasion types showed that instances of 'no ticket' accounted for 65.8 per cent of cases while 'over-riding' accounted for 32.5 per cent. Fare-loss proportion was highest for 'no ticket' at 84.6 per cent. Sunday afternoons were found to be the most popular time for fare dodgers using Dublin Bus services, with an evasion rate of 5.1 per cent recorded on Sundays from 12pm to 6:59pm. Bus Éireann suffered deductions of more than €118,000 over its failure to meet the 3.9 per cent target rate last year, while the loss of revenue from fare dodgers across its services was calculated to be at least €4.5 million. The company's range of subsidised routes recorded evasion rates of approximately 5 per cent. This included commuter and city bus services in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford and several large towns, as well as commuter services in the greater Dublin region. Bus Éireann's highest fare-dodging activity was found on two services in Cork – the 220X Ovens-Crosshaven route (35.3 per cent) and 206 Grange-South Mall (34.3 per cent). This was followed by 190 Drogheda-Trim (23.9 per cent) and 419 Galway-Clifden (20.4 per cent). Go Ahead Ireland – a third large bus operator with NTA contracts – recorded some of the highest non-compliance rates with fares across its network of 34 routes within the Greater Dublin Area in 2024, resulting in a €1.3m loss in revenue. [ Construction contract for first BusConnects corridor to be signed next month Opens in new window ] [ Dublin traffic changes: Pearse Street 'noticeably quieter' since left-turn ban Opens in new window ] The company had an average fare-evasion rate of 6.2 per cent on its 'outer metropolitan' services in Dublin and a 5.4 per cent rate on its commuter route in greater Dublin including services to Tullamore, Newbridge, Kildare, Naas and Athy. The rate on its W4 (The Square-Blanchardstown) and W6 (The Square-Maynooth) routes was 6.9 per cent, far exceeding the recommended 3.9 per cent target rate. Like Bus Éireann, Go Ahead Ireland was hit with deductions last year – more than €121,000 – over failure to meet targets. Commenting on the findings of last year's reports, a spokesman for the NTA said: 'We believe that progress is being made in tackling fare evasion and NTA will continue to work closely with transport operators to further address this issue.'
Sunday World
27-05-2025
- Sunday World
Man (20) admits to starting fire on a Luas which caused €5m of damage during Dublin riots
Evan Moore was spotted by gardaí at another anti-immigration protest the following May and admitted immediately that he had been at the Dublin riots. Workers clean up after the Dublin riots in 2023 A man who started a fire on a Luas during the Dublin riots has been remanded in custody pending sentence next October. Evan Moore (20) of Grangemore Road, Donaghmede, Dublin 13, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to rioting, damaging a Luas by fire and damaging the windows of a Luas tram on November 23, 2025. The riot broke out after a five-year-old girl was severely wounded in a stabbing at Parnell Square earlier that day, where two other children and a creche worker were also injured. The court heard that the Luas service was suspended for 24 hours and the tram damage was estimated at just under €5m after seats and wiring was damaged. The estimated cost of the clean-up by council workers after the riot was €159,000 and €115,000 worth of damage had been caused to property in the area. A 12-minute video – a compilation of CCTV footage and videos on social media from the day – was played to the court. This demonstrated that Moore's involvement in the riot lasted from 7.05pm to 7.40pm that evening. He could be seen moving a bin that was alight and bringing it onto the Luas before damaging windows on the tram. Detective Inspector Ken Hoare accepted in cross-examination by Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC, defending, that subsequent analysis of Moore's phone found conversations with his mother in which she was asking her son to return home. 'Scumbags wrecking their own city,' Moore's mother messaged followed by a message a minute later: 'Get out before it is too late and something happens.' Then finally she messaged him: 'Please, please leave Evan …. my heart is racing.' Det Insp Hoare agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that Moore's parents found it 'abhorrent' that their son was in the city that day and the messages found on his phone 'were reflective of his family's attitude to him being there'. Det Insp Hoare told Stephen Montgomery BL, prosecuting, that a group of anti-immigrant protesters had gathered at the Garden of Remembrance around 3.30pm following the earlier incident at Parnell Square. A hostile crowd gathered at around 4pm on Cavendish Row, at the bottom of O'Connell Street and the Luas line was blocked there by the gathering. A total of 600 gardaí were deployed to deal with the riot and it was estimated that at its height, 500 rioters were involved. Det Insp Hoare confirmed that the riot began with the burning of a garda vehicle. Workers clean up after the Dublin riots in 2023 News in 90 Seconds - May 28th A Luas tram was initially blocked at 4.40pm by around 10 protesters preventing it from passing onto O'Connell Street. The passengers got off the Luas but the driver remained on it until the violence escalated. He was then removed for his own safety and the tram was locked. Det Insp Hoare said the footage showed Moore damaging widows on the Luas at around 7.30pm before he and others brought materials from a bin that had been set on fire onto the tram. He agreed that he had got 'caught up in the moment' and that he was ashamed of his behaviour and regretted his involvement Gardaí viewed 17,000 hours of CCTV footage and identified over 100 suspect rioters. Moore was spotted by gardaí at another anti-immigration protest the following May and admitted immediately that he had been at the Dublin riots. His home was later searched and his phone seized for analysis. He was arrested on May 14 last year and during interview, Moore identified himself on footage. He agreed that he had got 'caught up in the moment' and that he was ashamed of his behaviour and regretted his involvement. Det Insp Hoare confirmed that Moore has no previous convictions and was 18 years old at the time. He agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that the riot was 'one of the most shameful acts in Irish history'. He acknowledged that Moore made immediate admissions when he was stopped by gardaí during the May protest. Det Insp Hoare agreed that there were different levels of criminality involved in the riot that day which had started on the back of 'a horrific attack on a child'. Judge Orla Crowe said a probation report would be of assistance, adding that there were 'particularly troubling aspects in the case'. She revoked Moore's bail and remanded him in custody until October 13 next for sentence and ordered the preparation of a report from the Probation Service.
BreakingNews.ie
27-05-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Man who started fire on Luas during Dublin riots to be sentenced in October
A man who started a fire on a Luas during the Dublin riots has been remanded in custody pending sentence next October. Evan Moore (20) of Grangemore Road, Donaghmede, Dublin 13, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to rioting, damaging a Luas by fire and damaging the windows of a Luas tram on November 23rd, 2025. Moore was spotted by gardaí at another anti-immigration protest the following May and admitted immediately that he had been at the Dublin riots. Advertisement The riot broke out after a five-year-old girl was severely wounded in a stabbing at Parnell Square earlier that day, where two other children and a crèche worker were also injured The court heard that the Luas service was suspended for 24 hours and the damage to the tram was estimated at just under €5 million after seats and wiring was damaged. The estimated cost of the clean up by council workers in the days after the riot was €159,000 and €115,000 worth of damaged had been caused to property in the area. CCTV A 12 minute long video – a compilation of CCTV footage and videos on social media from the day – was played to the court. This demonstrated that Moore's involvement in the riot lasted from 7.05pm to 7.40pm that evening. Advertisement He could be seen on the footage moving a bin that was alight and bringing it onto the Luas before damage windows on the tram. Detective Inspector Ken Hoare accepted in cross-examination by Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC, defending, that subsequent analysis of Moore's phone found conversations with his mother in which she was asking her son to return home from town. 'Scumbags wrecking their own city,' Moore's mother messaged following by a message a minute later: 'Get out before it is too late and something happens.' Then finally she messaged him: 'Please, please leave Evan….my heart is racing'. Advertisement Det Insp Hoare agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that Moore's parents found it 'abhorrent' that their son was in the city centre that day and the messages found on his phone 'were reflective of his family's attitude to him being there'. Det Insp Hoare told Stephen Montgomery BL, prosecuting, that a group of anti-immigrant protestors had gathered at the Garden of Remembrance around 3.30pm following the earlier incident at Parnell Square. A hostile crowd gathered around 4pm at Cavendish Row, at the bottom of O'Connell Street and the Luas line was blocked there by the gathering. A total of 600 gardaí were deployed to deal with the riot and it was estimated that at its height, 500 rioters were involved. Advertisement Det Insp Hoare confirmed that the riot began with the burning of a garda vehicle. A Luas tram was initially blocked at 4.40pm by around 10 protestors preventing it from passing onto O'Connell Street. The passengers got off the Luas but the driver remained on it until the violence escalated. He was then removed for his own safety and the tram was locked. Det Insp Hoare said the footage showed Moore damaging widows on the Luas around 7.30pm before he and others brought materials from a bin that had been set on fire onto the tram. 17,000 hours footage Gardaí viewed 17,000 hours of CCTV footage and identified over 100 suspect rioters. Advertisement In May the following year during another anti-immigration protest, Moore was spotted by officers. He was stopped and admitted that he had been in the city centre the previous November during the riots. His home was later searched and his phone seized for analysis. He was arrested on May 14th, 2024 and during interview Moore identified himself on footage. He agreed that he had got 'caught up in the moment' and that he was ashamed of his behaviour and regretted his involvement. Det Insp Hoare confirmed that Moore has no previous convictions and was 18 years old at the time of the riots. He agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that the riot was 'one of the most shameful acts in Irish history'. He acknowledged that Moore made immediate admissions when he was stopped by gardaí during the May protest. Det Insp Hoare agreed that there were different levels of criminality involved in the riot that day which had started on the back of 'a horrific attack on a child'. He acknowledged that many young people had 'been whipped up into a frenzy' by ill-informed 'malignant narcissists' and 'horrific racist commentary' on social media following the attack. Det Insp Hoare accepted that Moore was one of those people that fell into the category of being 'whipped up' and influenced by others. Moore's mother, Karen Moore, told Mr Ó Dúnlaing that she had pleaded with her son to come home once she had learned he had gone into the city. She said she was disgusted, embarrassed and ashamed by his behaviour. 'He was always raised to respect the law and the gardaí,' she said. She agreed that he has since completed an anti-racism course online and is an apprentice electrician. Mr Ó Dúnlaing submitted that his client is from a stable family and has positive employment and is someone who could engage positively in society. A letter of apology was handed to the court. Counsel said Moore was also involved with his local GAA club. 'He can be a force for good,' Mr Ó Dúnlaing submitted. He said his client was a 'very impressionable young person' at the time that had been 'swept up in anti-immigrant sentiment'. He asked for the case to be adjourned to allow for the preparation of a probation report. Judge Orla Crowe said a probation report would be of assistance adding that there were 'particularly troubling aspects in the case'. She revoked Moore's bail and remanded him in custody until October 13th next for sentence and ordered the preparation of a report from the Probation Service.
The Journal
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Ireland is wasting a golden Green Line opportunity to appease misguided south Dublin fears
IRELAND HAS AN open goal. Rather than scoring, we're about to stumble, trip and faceplant. Of course, what else could we be referring to, other than the Luas Green line metro upgrade? We'll explain in more detail below, but essentially, this would upgrade the section of the Green Line running from Charlemont to Sandyford to metro standard. This will allow far more trams to run on the line per hour. These trams will also move faster along a metro line compared to a 'standard' tram line. The result? More people will be moved around in a shorter amount of time. In an area which desperately needs it – the Green Line is already operating near capacity. Commuters are often packed in at peak hours in the mornings, and sometimes people can't get onto trams at all. This problem is set to get worse in the coming years as the population living near the Green Line rises. Upgrading to a metro would be a straightforward way to alleviate this. Even better – the hard work is already done. When the Green Line was built in the early 2000s, it was constructed in a way which allowed for it to be easily upgraded to a metro. If done as part of the MetroLink project, as intended, the upgrade would also be relatively cheap – it's estimated it may only cost about €300 million . Providing a metro service for a decent section of the south of the city for just €300 million would be incredible value. For context, the northside MetroLink section is estimated to cost just under €10 billion, rising to over €20 billion in a 'worst case' scenario. So a cheap infrastructure upgrade which will benefit thousands upon thousands of people. And yet – Ireland isn't going to do it. The upgrade was originally shelved due to political pressure and local lobbying a few years ago. Earlier this week, Fianna Fáil TD Shay Brennan suggested this decision should be reversed and the Green Line should be upgraded as soon as possible. Here's why he's right. The Plan Metrolink Metrolink The Green Line upgrade was originally meant to be rolled in with the MetroLink plan. The proposed MetroLink involves building an entirely new metro line with 16 stations running from Swords, just north of Dublin airport, to Charlemont, in the south city centre. This next part is where there has been confusion. The Green Line already runs from Charlemont to Sandyford, so why would the metro go along the same route? Because – the metro on the southside section never involved building an entirely new metro line. It was always intended as an upgrade to the Green Line. This is why the Green Line was built to Metro standard in terms of the track bed and track widths. So we could easily replace Luas trams with larger higher capacity metro carriages. Advertisement The MetroLink northside project provides a golden opportunity to do this. Once the project is finished with the northside section to Charlemont, it could continue and do the upgrade works between Charlemont and Sandyford. This would also allow a full metro route to run between Swords and Sandyford, allowing people to rapidly cross the city. This was the original plan, because transport officials recognise that the Green Line is already near capacity. It will have to be upgraded to a metro sooner or later. This is an important point, so it bears repeating – the upgrade *has to* happen. Or the Green Line will be completely overwhelmed in the coming years. Given that the upgrade has to happen, why not do it now, rather than later? A few reasons have been put forward. Opposition to the plan The key sticking point is fears around disruption to the Green Line. In 2019, media reported that it may have to be closed for up to four years to facilitate upgrade works. Then transport minister Shane Ross came out strongly against this , both in the media and in meetings with transport officials. Other prominent south Dublin politicians also fought the plan . These politicians tended to have constituents near the Green Line, who opposed metro works. The end result was that the Green Line upgrade got removed from the MetroLink project. Transport officials cited the opposition to 'significant network challenges during the years of construction' as a driving reason for the change. It was only later that it emerged that the entire Green Line would actually not have been shut. Instead, sections of the track would have been closed over a period of four years. While this would no doubt cause significant disruption, it would not be nearly as much as a closure of the entire line. For example, the initial 18 months of upgrade works would have been at the Beechwood station only. The Green Line could continue to function south of Beechwood and north of Ranelagh. Consultants for the plan also suggested an alternative way of upgrading the Green Line, which they said could reduce the closure period by 'around 14 months'. Now, obviously closing parts of the Green Line at all is not ideal. But what's the alternative? Leaving the line to run as is, until it gets completely overwhelmed with passenger demand? All transport officials have recognised that the Green Line should be upgraded to a metro to improve capacity. If this must be done, better to do it sooner rather than later, as capacity problems are only getting worse with more and more people living near the route. Metro West There have also been some suggestions that, instead of upgrading the Green Line to a metro, MetroLink could instead 'go west'. This would involve building a line out towards Rathfarnham . Something like this has been proposed by several politicians, including the likes of former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan. Honestly – this is just confusing two things which have zero relation to each other. This is because a western metro would basically be an entirely new project. The Green Line is already there and ready to upgrade. By contrast – you can't just 'extend' MetroLink to west Dublin. You have to build an entirely new metro line. Related Reads MetroLink's new project director Sean Sweeney to be paid €550k Metrolink station could be renamed to honour pub set to be demolished during project construction Firms tell planning hearing Metrolink tunnel will hit building basements unless plans redrawn A western metro would likely have a similar cost to the northside MetroLink section – so, say in the region of €10 – €20 billion. This means the €300 million to upgrade the Green Line would be 3% the cost of €10 billion to build a new western one. Or potentially, 1.5%, if building a new line ended up costing closer to €20 billion. The two projects don't even remotely compare. A hypothetical western line isn't even a firm idea as things stand. It would have to go through rounds of design, public consultation and planning, just like MetroLink. Given MetroLink was first announced in 2005 and building still hasn't started 20 years later, there's approximately a 0% chance a western route would be ready to go by the time the northern line is expected to finish up construction. By contrast, the Green Line is there, ready to be upgraded cheaply. Trying to frame the Green Line upgrade as an 'either/or' compared to an imaginary western line makes absolutely zero sense. 20-year delay Finally, let's come back to what transport officials said in 2019, when it was decided that the Green Line upgrade would be shelved. They said a proposed upgrade of the Luas Green Line may not be needed for 'up to 20 years' . That announcement was already made more than six years ago. It was recently reported that the northern MetroLink would be completed 'in 2035' . That would be 16 years from 2019 – not far off the 'maximum' of 20 years the Green Line could continue without the metro upgrade. And that's if the MetroLink timeline doesn't slip further, which it almost certainly will. Department of Transport / YouTube It's very conceivable that building work on the MetroLink could finish at Charlemont sometime in the mid 2030s. And, rather than continuing south and doing the extremely straightforward Green Line upgrade, the MetroLink team would pack up and go home. Then, with the Green Line undoubtedly heaving at this point, transport officials will have to do the upgrade as an entirely separate project to MetroLink. The Green Line metro upgrade would have to go through planning hoops separately. All the tendering, separately. Then construction, separately. Rather than costing €300 million, the price would soar, possibly into the billions. And it would mean that people along the Green Line would have a much worse transport service for years and years more than needed. This would all be unimaginably stupid. And yet, it is exactly the plan as things stand. The politicians opposing the Green Line upgrade need to have a deep, introspective look at themselves. They understand everything which has been outlined in this article. And yet, they still oppose the Green Line upgrade. They should have a think about why. And if they want to be the ones held responsible when people spending their mornings crammed like sardines on the Green Line realise that they've been duped out of a metro service due to political wrangling. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. 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