Dublin MetroLink accused of burying figures rather than providing for predicted bicycle parking demand

— Expected unmet demand of 6,500 bicycle parking spaces in Dublin City when metro opens.
— Project team only planning to meet 31% of demand inside M50 and 20% inside city centre.

Plans for MetroLink, a high-capacity railway between Swords and Dublin City Centre, significantly under-provide for predicted bicycle parking demand, and instead of fixing the issues, the project team have been accused of attempting “to come up with a new analysis and unenforceable side promises.”

In a submission to the latest MetroLink consultation, the Dublin Cycling Campaign accused the project team of providing an “updated analysis that massaged the numbers.”

The level of extra overall information provided by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) was seen as so significant that the An Bord Pleanála inspector ordered extra public consultation before planners would make a decision on the project’s railway order application. It was known this would be the outcome when the oral hearing ended in March.

It took the An Bord Pleanála until July 1st to formally seek the move and then took TII until the second half of August before it opened the consultation, blaming the delay on “logistics associated with printing this volume of material and the delivery of it to the locations concerned”.

According to Kevin Baker, a member of the infrastructure group of the Dublin Cycling Campaign: “The applicant knows they have significantly under-provisioned cycle parking. Instead of turning up to the oral hearing with revised plans they provided an updated analysis that massaged the numbers. For example, the original planning application did not provide for 29% of demand at Griffith Park station. Instead of increasing the area of the underground cycle parking at this station their new analysis shows there is less demand.”

Metro stations such as those planned near DCU at Collins Ave, beside Na Fianna GAA Club on Mobhi Road and a new Glasnevin/Phibsborough station at the Royal Canal are planned at points where planned and already partly constructed cycle routes meet.

In the group’s submission, Baker wrote: “The applicant has not provided for a public transport project that sufficiently integrates with cycling because of the underprovision of cycle parking. Instead of examining options and alternatives to provide more cycle parking the applicant has instead attempted to come up with a new analysis and unenforceable side promises to hide away from this issue.

“When you lay them out plainly, it is clear they have significantly under-provisioned cycle parking in the Outer City and City Centre locations,” he said.

He said that the TII project team only provided numbers for 2035 when every other part of the transport impact analysis provided — including for walking, public transport and car use — looks at scenarios through to 2050 and further to 2065.

He said that Transport Infrastructure Ireland provided an apparent letter of comfort from the National Transport Authority outlining that the authority would work with local authorities and others on bicycle parking as part of other projects and initiatives but the campaign said that relying on promises outside the scope of the application for MetroLink is not an appropriate way to ensure adequate cycle parking is provided.

Baker said that “significant changes” to the bike parking assessment were presented to the oral hearing in its final hours just before the Dublin Cycling Campaign was scheduled to ask questions of the applicant but that TII was still unable to adequately describe why cycle parking was not being provided to an adequate level.

The MetroLink team was dismissive of using two-tier cycle parking stands, which are a common approach used by private developers in Ireland and at high-capacity bicycle parking at train stations in other countries such as the Netherlands and the UK.

The campaign said that it has been recommending two-tier cycle parking stands in multiple submissions over the last few years but that “the only response at the oral hearing was that this would have a negative visual impact.”

Baker said that this contention doesn’t appear to have been assessed anywhere in the MetroLink Environmental Impact Assessment Report documentation. He said: “There are multiple places where two-tier cycle parking racks could have been used… with negligible impact”.

Examples of this include upgrading existing cycle parking at Charlemont station by the Green Luas and tucked away at the back of Glasnevin train station, which is “hardly in a visually sensitive area”.

Baker said that TII generally said there was a lack of space for cycle parking but that while this may be true at stations with constraints, no answers were provided to a question from the campaign as to why TII-controlled land surrounding the Tara metro station could not be used.

It is widely seen that there is resistance in Ireland to providing bicycle parking at city centre train stations where land is at a premium. This goes against the advice from authorities in the Netherlands, who are seen as the leaders in combining bicycles and rail.

Around 40% of rail passengers arrive by bike, and the Dutch highlight that the most premium space is not at transport hubs but on trains and trying to carry bicycles on trains is not a scalable solution for most countries.

Retrofitting bicycle parking at train stations can be a costly business, with Dutch transport authorities spending €60 million on 7,000 bicycle spaces under the canal outside of Amsterdam Central Station after the city’s new metro line opened.

Baker also wrote: “At Glasnevin, where provision is short by 376-480 cycle parking spots, TII could have attempted to incorporate cycle parking on the first storey of the metro station building above the ticket hall. There is no floor plan for this storey in the “Structures Details Book 2 of 3” submitted with the original planning application, so it is unclear what usage this space will have.”

“It is not clear that the applicant has considered alternatives that would have provided for the necessary cycle parking. Instead, they have thrown up their hands [as] if there wasn’t superfluous space adjacent to stations,” he said.

Baker added: “What options this leaves the board with is up to the inspector and the board. It might be possible to secure additional cycle parking at multiple stations along the route via conditions, or it might require more further information from the applicant that explores the alternatives.”

The project team was contacted this morning for comment on the campaign’s submission.

The following table was provided in the campaign’s submission with text explaining that the table contains data from “Table 4.1 Potential Cycle Demand Accommodated by Project Proposals” and adds the ‘Design Year’ with 21% predicted increase in demand, unmet demand percentages and summaries for the areas “Outer City” and “City Centre”:

7 thoughts on “Dublin MetroLink accused of burying figures rather than providing for predicted bicycle parking demand”

  1. Great article and great points brought up.

    I’m in personal conflict, as I fully agree with the points, but I’m also so tired of the drawn at process that it’s worn me down to do anything at this stage.

    Hopefully they do provide the appropriate bike parking from the beginning though, although I find myself a bit skeptical they will, but glad that people are fighting for it still! I’m sure the tide will change on the issue eventually.

    Reply
    • Yeah I agree with that we need place’s to leave our bikes as it’s a big part of cutting out emissions me personally love cycling and I’m sure that it is a good way forward.

      Reply
  2. Im a little sceptical on the need for metro mainline yes as if you park your bike then travel by metro how do you finish the journey at the other end for example glasnevin needs it as a mainline interconnection but ballymun may need a hire scheme instead with the college nearby . I dont honestly know but as a dublin based metro i cant see many people cycling a short journey to then use metro then walk taxi or bus afterwards. I agree bike parking over car parking at the stations but maybe more hire bikes availability and bike lockers as part of the solution for anti theft

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    • Martin, why would Dublin be any different to anywhere else with cycle routes in attracting people cycling to metro stations?

      Dart stations are packed with bicycles, why wouldn’t metro stations?

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    • If one is living within a 15 minute cycle of the stations, cycle to the station over a distance of what otherwise in Ireland as seen as too far to say within accessible distance of a station.

      At the other end, I know from experience living in more bike-oriented countries, people often have a crappy cheap bike left at the “O’Connell St” station which they then use to get to end destinations, returning it at end of day to the station and getting the train home.

      Not to say that there cannot be tons of bike share stands, but it shouldn’t be either/or.

      Last comment… O’Connell St “****ZERO****” provision… WTAF? That is literally THE place to have a 500+ spaces underground. Every continental hub I know of is drowning in bikes and bike parking. This is the station that will allow interchange to 2 x Luas lines, adjacent to Connolly etc. The lack of vision for a 30 year programme is mind-boggling.

      Reply
  3. Best to have bike space for convenience of travelling-on when we get off train. Also, despite using the best locks, I have had two bikes badly (and expensively) vandalized at train stations and on each occasion Irish Rail said they hadn’t any video footage “at that specific point.” Personally I think money would be better spent to improve our third-world health service or on social housing than a Metro.

    Reply

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