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Over 1,000 passengers an hour could be carried each way on a bus rapid transit route in Ireland’s capital, Dublin. The proposed ‘Blue Line’ route, the first bus rapid transit route in Dublin, would run every six minutes at peak times. The system is likely to use Nantes-style bus rapid transit vehicles on a route linking the Sandyford Business Estate with the Dart station at Sydney Parade.
The proposed “Blue Line”, which could be built at a cost of €33 million – a small fraction of the estimated €5 billion price-tag for Metro North – would offer “a high quality, high-frequency, high-capacity public transport service featuring all the benefits of a fixed-rail tram system”.
The proposed service would carry more than 1,000 passengers per hour each way, running every six minutes at peak times and operating 18 hours a day. There would be 10 intervening stations on the line, each with real-time passenger information displays, at St Vincent’s hospital, RTÉ, UCD main gate, “UCD Central”, Roebuck Road, Mount Anville, Goatstown, Kilmacud, Stillorgan and the Luas stop at Sandyford.
Each Blue Line station would have off-board ticket machines and shelters with “comfortable seats” and lighting. And with an overall journey time estimated at 18 minutes, the line would provide a “high-quality public transport link between the Dart, bus and Luas services”.