A decision on the MetroLink rail line, which has spent almost three years in the planning system, is expected to be issued within weeks, An Coimisiún Pleanála documents show.
The 18.8km line from Swords to Charlemont, with 16 stops serving areas including Dublin Airport and the city centre, is the largest infrastructure project before the planning commission, which took over from An Bord Pleanála last month.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) lodged a planning application for the mostly-underground line with An Bord Pleanála in September 2022. At the time the State transport body anticipated a 12-18 month planning process, and said if permission was then granted, and the final business case for the line approved by the Government, MetroLink would take six to eight years to construct.
In August 2023, the board confirmed it would hold public hearings on the project. The hearings opened on February 19th 2024 and closed on schedule on March 28th. However, with just two days to go before the end of the hearing, board inspector Barry O’Donnell said there would be a “requirement to re-advertise” the project due to new information submitted by TII.
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TII had submitted close to 200 additional documents during the hearing, including 39 on the first day. Public consultation on the additional information was reopened in August last year and closed in October. A decision on the project, expected to cost more than €9.5 billion, has been awaited since.
The board, and now the commission, does not generally discuss live cases. However, briefing documents submitted to an Oireachtas infrastructure committee state a decision on the Metrolink project is due to be issued “by end of summer”.
This is the first indicative timeline the board, or the commission has given for a decision on the project. A grant of permission in the coming weeks, could allow to the line to begin operations by its most recent target date of 2035.
In September MetroLink director Sean Sweeney plans to hold a series of “global market briefings” to drum up interest from firms with the capacity to develop the project. The first briefing will be held Dublin on September 4th, with similar events in Berlin, Paris, Milan, London, Vienna and Madrid to be held later in the month.
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien, through whose north Dublin constituency the metro will run, is expected to attend the first market briefing in Dublin.
It is anticipated the commission’s decision will have been issued in advance of these briefings. If a grant of permission is received TII must then seek indicative tenders for construction of the line, before formulating a final business case, which it will submit to the Government for approval. It is at this point the probable cost of the line will be known, however it is expected to be at least 20 per cent higher than the previous €9.5 billion estimate.
Before its application in 2022 TII had to submit a preliminary business case, which included potential costs, to secure Government approval to lodge the Metrolink application with the board. At that time €9.5 billion was the midpoint of a “credible” cost range of €7.16 billion-€12.25 billion. However, €23 billion was cited as the extreme upper limit of costs, if all potential risks and overruns were to be eliminated.
In May Mr O’Brien told The Irish Times Metrolink remained a “high priority” for Government.
“The Metrolink is a critically important project, not just for the airport and the region but nationally too. I want to see construction work begin on the Dublin Metro during this term of Government,” he said.
