South Dublin’s population is to grow by an additional 46,518 persons up to a total population of 325,285 persons by 2028 as envisaged under this plan and yet it is without an intercity train stop to serve these people. A major barrier to train utilisation in South Dublin is the fact that it will take someone 1 hour at best to get into the city centre to use an intercity train at Heuston. Whilst there is access to the Luas red line, the majority of south Dublin does not benefit from this access. This is despite the fact that the train will ultimately traverse to within 15-20 minutes of the majority of the population on the Kildare line. As per SM3 Objective 22, it is welcome to note that SDCC proposes to "investigate the option of an inter-county rail service stopping at Kishogue station which would provide access to new employment space at Clonburris and give direct access to the Grange Castle Business Park."
I propose that SDCC amend this objective to remove a specific reference to a station at Kishogue given that Kishogue station is a poor location for intermodal interchange. Parkwest or the new proposed station at Kylemore would surely make for a better location for an intercity stop given the re-development potential of the area, accessibility, and existing population base.