Metro line to Dublin airport back on track

The plans to develop a metro line out to Dublin airport looks to be back on track – this time it could only cost €2bn and take just 35 months to complete.

Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar, has resurrected the prospect of a Dublin Metro North linking the City Centre to the airport, saying it could be done much cheaper and much quicker than previous estimates.

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He said it could only cost E2bn and take just 35 months to complete. Cormac Rabbitt, a transport engineer and managing director of Metro Dublin, says a rail line can be built in a very short time, with just 12km of underground tunnel needed.

“The National Transport Authority (NTA) will shortly commence a feasibility study to look at all options for a rail corridor from the city centre to Swords and on to the airport,” a spokesperson for Mr Varadkar said. Cllr. Andrew Montague, Chair of Dublin City Council’s Transport and Traffic Committee, has welcomed the announcement from Transport Minister, Leo Varadker that the National Transport Authority will look at all options for the rail corridor from the City Centre to Swords. Metro Dublin, an engineering consortium, has set out plans for building a metro system for Dublin at a much lower price than the original government plans and in a much shorter time-frame.

“I believe that these new plans should be evaluated thoroughly and if they are viable they should form the basis of a new plan to provide a metro for Dublin” stated Cllr Montague. “I invited Cormac Rabbitt, managing director of Metro Dublin, to present his metro proposals to the City Council’s Transport and Traffic Committee last November. Our committee voted to request the Minister to undertake substantive engagement with the Metro Dublin proposal.

I’m delighted that the Minister has agreed to our request” “The Metro Dublin plan proposes building three metro lines that will meet up in the city centre, one from Swords, one from Blanchardstown and one from Adamstown. The plan makes use of existing rail lines in a way that will require far fewer tunnels than the original proposals. This is one of the ways that keeps the costs down.”